Friday night, Harris threw and pinned Alec Schenk of Perry at the 3:59 mark to move into today’s Division II, 182-pound title match at the state wrestling tournament at the Schottenstein Center.
“I almost had to force that one,” Harris said of the throw that secured the win. “But, I do that. I knew coming out I had to win, that I wasn’t going to lose.”
Harris will be one of 10 area wrestlers vying for a state title. Greeneview’s Logan Lacure (145) and Amani Robinson (182); Mechanicsburg’s Kaleb Romero (138) and Austin Reese (160); and Graham’s Eli Stickley (113), Brent Moore (132), Kyle Lawson (138), Michah Jordan (145) and Alex Marinelli (160) all advanced to the championship finals.
“I’m lucky to get one more shot,” Reese said as he choked up. “The past two years, I’ve had chances and I’ve come up short. Tthis is what we have been dreaming about since we were little kids.”
While Reese is at the end of his career, Romero, a freshman, gets his first shot after bulling into the finals with a 10-3 decision.
“It’s crazy,” Romero said. “I don’t think it will set in until I make weight, but it is an amazing feeling. I’ve worked my whole life for this one match, those six minutes.”
Lacure has been working to get back to those six minutes after dropping a decision in the finals last year.
“It’s good to know I am in the finals again, but the mission is not complete,” Lacure said. “I have one more win to get what I have trained my whole life to do.”
Mechanicsburg sat in third in the D-III team race with 47 points through the last round of consolation matches Thursday night. Greeneview was 10th in the team race with 31 points.
Graham wrapped up its record 14th consecutive title by goinga 5-2 in the semis. Mario Kastl (120) and Josh Couchman (195) will wrestle in the consolation semis Saturday morning.
Springfield senior Devin Nye’s state title chances ended with a 5-2 loss in the Division I 220 semis. Northwestern’s Devin Rogers also advanced to the semis before falling at 126 in D-II.
Rogers defeated Graham’s Eli Seipel in the quarters in overtime, 4-3, before falling to returning state champ Anthony Tutolo of Mentor Lake Catholic 6-3.
“I feel like I competed the best I could,” Rogers said. “I had two state champs in a row and I beat one and lost to one. Seipel beat me by major decision earlier this year and winning that match was a big step for me.”
Mechanicsburg’s Joe Ziegler (145), Catholic Central’s Anthony DeCarlo (152), Graham’s Justin Sticklety (106) and Eli Sepel (126) and Kenton Ridge senior Preston Bowshier are all still alive in the consolation bracket and have earned placement.
Kenton Ridge’s Elijah Cochran (126) and Tyler Sowards (145) lost in their placement matches.
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