DIVISION II, III

Delta, Central dominate early

10 of 12 Panthers advance; Irish place 7 in quarterfinals

Delta’s Drew Mattin, top, stares at Kyle Denier of Blanchester as he scores back points in their 106-pound match in Columbus. He opened the tournament by pinning his first opponent at the 2:10 mark.

THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON
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Delta’s Drew Mattin, top, stares at Kyle Denier of Blanchester as he scores back points in their 106-pound match in Columbus. He opened the tournament by pinning his first opponent at the 2:10 mark.

Archbold’s Logan Day looks to turn Joe Ziegler of Mechanicsburg in their 145 pound match. Day held off Ziegler for a 3-0 decision.

COLUMBUS — Delta and Central Catholic put together strong showings on the first day of the state wrestling individual tournament on Thursday at the Schottenstein Center.

Ten of Delta's 12 state qualifiers for the Division III competition made it through the first day, including seven who are competing in the championship quarterfinals.

Seven of Central Catholic's nine Division II state qualifiers are still in the hunt, including five in the championship bracket.

The Panthers finished the opening day leading the Division III team scores with 31 points, followed by Dayton Christian with 22 points.

Delta's undefeated 113-pound sophomore Jake Spiess didn't have any trouble improving to 46-0.

The 106-pound state champion a year ago, Spiess needed only 40 seconds to pin Andover Pymatuning Valley's Mitch Skleres in an opening round match. He wasted little time and didn't expend much energy before he put Skleres on his back.

Drew Mattin, Delta's 106-pounder, also opened the tournament by pinning his first opponent, Blanchester's Kyle Denier, at the 2:10 mark. Kyle Keller (120) kept the Panthers' pinning ways intact when he stopped Magnolia Sandy Valley's Joe Newman at the 3:55 mark.

Jesse Beverly, the fourth Panther to advance to the quarterfinal round, scored a tournament-opening pin. The 152-pounder and West Jefferson's Cody Dingess mixed it up for 4 minutes, 55 seconds before Beverly rolled Dingess and was awarded a pin. Tyler Fahrer (160) recorded Delta's fifth pin of the afternoon when he locked up Cincinnati Deer Park's Kamran Alexander after 32 seconds to win.

Noah Mattin (126) earned an 8-5 decision for Delta over Rocky River Lutheran's Tim Mecklenburg. Panther Ryan Patchin (182) didn't score a pin, but came through with a 10-3 decision over Atwater Waterloo's Will Bolanz.

The Panther’s seventh win came from Chance Veller (285) when he pulled off a 6-1 decision over Sugarcreek Garaway's Ben Sexton.

Todd Miller didn't extend the Panthers' opening-round dominance after running into trouble against New Paris National Trail's Zach Sullivan, who scored an 8-3 win. Miller rebounded with a 3-1 win over Centerburg's Jared Pack in a consolation match.

Delta's 132-pounder Dustin Marteney topped Kirtland's Evan Francis 3-0 in a consolation match to stay in contention while Devon Richards (220) pinned Monroe Central's Tanner Potts at the 2:05 mark of a consolation contest.

Archbold's Kenny Price (138) pinned Casstown Miami East's Austin Rush at the 3:13 mark of a first-round match.

Otsego's Jordan Hendrix (160) impressed with a 15-0 tech fall victory over Ada's Austin Windle. Trent Soto was also victorious for the Knights on the first day when he posted a 5-0 decision over Harrison Central's Hunter Pizzino.

Genoa's Jay Nino looked good in scoring a 6-0 shutout against Jamestown Greenview's Adrian Harding to move forward in the 220-pound winner's bracket.

J.D.Reisinger of Swanton advanced to the 120-pound quarterfinal by outlasting Fredericktown's Carson Mills for a 7-6 decision. Liberty-Benton's Tyler Sarreshteh survived a close match to score a 3-2 decision over Grandview Heights' Brendan Fitzgerald.

Elmwood's Jacob Wise earned a 3-2 victory over Delphos St. John's Wes Buettner in a 170-pound opener.

Logan Day (145) of Archbold held off Mechanicsburg's Joe Ziegler for a 3-0 decision, but Genoa's Nathan Moore won a consolation match with a pin of Centerburg's Austin Glasscock at the 1:58 mark to remain in the hunt. Fremont St. Joseph Catholic Central's Corey Durbin earned a 10-4 decision win West Lafayette's Kelly Barthalow.

In Division II, Central Catholic senior Alex Mossing (152) stepped on to the mat under the weather. But that didn't slow him down once his match began with Dover's Alex Arbogast. The defending 138-pound state champion scored a 9-0 major decision to move forward in the winner's bracket.

Central's Chris Norwood avoided defeat by scoring a 3-1 win over Alliance's Adontis Watson in a 220-pound match while Irish teammate J'Quan Fisher prevailed 7-0 in a match that he controlled from start to finish against Lisbon Beaver's Cody Martsolf.

Earlier, Irish’s Josh Venia (106) made the most of his state tournament debut by tallying an 8-3 decision over East Liverpool's Alex Potts. Central Catholic’s Nate Hagan pinned Miami Trace's Bryson Laytart at the 5:47 mark to move on in the 132-pound winner's bracket.

Josh Mossing came through with a 4-0 win over Canfield's C.J. Frost at 138 to help the Irish's cause. Central is ranked fourth in the team scores with 18 points. St. Paris Graham Local leads the way with 35 points.

Wauseon’s Tre Campbell (160) advanced with a dominant 17-3 major decision victory over Athens' Troy Stalde.

Napoleon's Seth Beard pinned Minerva's Josiah Hrusch at the 3:37 mark of a 113-pound match.

Wauseon's Wade Hodges scored a 9-4 decision over Kenton Ridge's Seth Cochran in a 132-pound meeting.

Oak Harbor's Rhett Petersen defeated London's Garrett Blackburn by a 3-0 count in a consolation round.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.