By Ben Stroup
The Delaware Hayes and Olentangy Orange wrestling teams handled themselves quite well during the first day of the GMVWA Holiday Wrestling Tournament Monday at Wright State University’s Nutter Center.
The Pacers’ Jalill Barnes (132), Greg Brusco (152), Max Wright (160), Carter Davidson (170) and Chris Martinez (195) all advanced to the championship quarterfinals with solid showings.
Brusco was nothing short of dominant, winning all three of his matches with first-period pins — his second taking just 35 seconds.
Wright also advanced thanks to a trio of pins, forcing Versailles’ Corey Dierenger to the mat in 4:53 to earn a spot in today’s quarterfinals. Davidson had a first-round bye, but edged Dublin Coffman’s Nate Longo 2-1 before pinning Fairborn’s Michael Coker in 55 seconds to move on, and Martinez outworked Troy Christian’s Levi Sims 9-3 to cap a perfect day.
Barnes was solid in his three opening-day wins, too. He beat Dublin Coffman’s Lugman Mohamud 10-5 before handling Clinton-Massie’s Bryson Mills 13-4 and pinning West Branch’s Thomas Caserta in 3:08.
Zach Williams (106), James White IV (120), Garrett Young (145), Jakota Carter (182) and Paul Lance (285), meanwhile, still have life in the consolation bracket.
Olentangy Orange also had a slew of wrestlers make some serious noise.
Gary Byas (145), who had a bye in the first round, won his opening match via pinfall before knocking off Hilliard Bradley’s Riley Amador 8-3 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. Logan Broskie (152) also punched a ticket to the quarters, pinning Milton-Union’s Jordan Cress in 1:16 to complete a 3-0 day, while Hunter Knipp (182) dominated Indian Lake’s Nate Warniment 10-2 to stay in championship contention.
Connor Evans (132), Chris Wallace (160), Christian Hipsher (170) and Albert Van Fossen, meanwhile, are looking to reach the podium with nice runs through the consolation brackets.
Medina Invitational
Olentangy didn’t finish with any placers, but the Braves’ Braden Held came closet, falling one win shy of reaching the podium at the ultra-competitive Medina Invitational Tournament Monday in Medina.
Held (152) won each of his first two matches, pinning Copley’s Jared Murray in 1:10 before handling Oak Hills’ Adam Goldfuss 9-4 in the second round.
New Lexington’s Clayton Glick knocked him into the consolation bracket, where he won another pair of matches, the first 14-0 and the second 5-3, before a loss ended his run.
Zander Gore (138) also made some noise for the Braves before leaving his second consolation match with concussion-like symptoms after being slammed to the mat. After a first-round bye, he pinned Fairview’s Tommy McNamara in 2:49. A 6-0 setback to Cloverleaf’s Greg Briggs sent him to the consolation bracket, where he beat Beavercreek’s Beau Smith 9-7 before the injury against Westerville North’s Mitch Potterf ended his run.
Olentangy scored 29 points to finish tied for 40th.
Marion Holiday Classic
Bailey Munday and Anthony Pisano cruised into the semifinals of the Marion Harding Classic, winning their quarterfinal matches with ease Monday in Marion.
Munday won 15-1 in his quarterfinal showdown while Pisano advanced with a quick pin.
Four other Golden Eagles survived after being bumped into the consolation bracket as six of the nine BW grapplers who made the trip will compete in today’s second and final day.
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Follow Ben Stroup on Twitter @delgazette_ben.
