COLUMBUS - Revenge is sweet, especially when it comes at the state wrestling tournament.
Delta's Reid Rayfield exacted some revenge in the first round of the Division III tournament held at the Schottenstein Center Thursday.
Rayfield used a pair of slide-bys to earn a takedown in each of the first two periods, then held on to claim a 5-1 victory in his 135-pound first-round match against Kyle Begg of Bluffton.
"I didn't know anything about [Begg] except he wrestled and beat my brother [Ryan] here last year," said Rayfield, who improved to 42-8 with the victory. "So I wanted to get some revenge for my brother."
Thursday was the first match Rayfield, a senior, wrestled at the state meet. So he sought advice from Ryan and from his father, Robin, the former wrestling coach at Delta.
"They just told me to take things one match at a time, so that's what I was trying to do," Rayfield said. "I'm glad I got that first match out of the way, because it was nerve-wracking. Now I'm good to go."
Rayfield was one of eight area wrestlers to remain alive in the championship bracket. All of Thursday's first-round winners advanced to the championship quarterfinals, which begin this morning. All eight will need to win twice today to advance to the championship match Saturday night.
Rayfield's Delta teammate Jonny Tolson advanced at 112 with a pin of Zach Porter from Bellaire in 2:45. Tolson has a 46-6 record this year.
Elmwood's Nick Goebel won his first match at 103, pinning Jimmy Harrison of Reading in 5:12 to improve to 44-0 on the season, while teammate Alex Betts (45-3) moved on at 145 after notching a fall over Kenny Nickerson of St. Clairsville at 3:55.
And Liberty Center saw a pair of wrestlers post first-day wins as Jake Elling pinned Kyle Lingg of Dayton Northridge in 31 seconds at 160 to improve to 32-11, while Sean Slee earned a 5-4 decision over Scott Barnes of Spencerville at 215 and improved to 23-6.
Alex Lopez of Patrick Henry advanced at 125 with an 11-4 decision over Zane Goldberg of Casstown Miami East, making him 43-3 this season, while Kyle Gladieux from Cardinal Stritch now is 37-2 after he earned a 9-5 victory over Matt Meadows of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy to move on at 152.
Among those who are still alive in the tournament - who lost their opening match but bounced back with victories in the consolation - are Elmwood's Westley Lee at 119, 130-pounders Jordan Cowell of Archbold and Tyler Yant of Delta, Michael Kleman of Lakota at 189, Ayersville's Mark Castillo at 215, and 285-pounder Mimmo Lytle of Swanton.
All six of these wrestlers will compete in the second round of the consolation bracket this morning.
Troy Christian scored 22 points to take a half-point lead in the team competition over second-place Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.
Elmwood is tied with Massillon Tuslaw and Spencerville in ninth place with nine points.
-John Wagner
First Published March 6, 2009, 10:40 a.m.
