Saturday night in the finals of the Division I district tournament at Fairmont’s Trent Arena, Cochran made his first move toward redemption, claiming a 5-2 win in the title match over Moeller’s Brett Bryant.
The top four in each weight class advanced to the state tournament beginning March 9 at the Schottenstein Center.
“After winning the sectional, the goal was to win the next tournament,” Cochran said. “I wanted to be one of the ones coming out of district.”
Cochran had defeated Bryant 6-2 in December at the Coaches Classic and knew the Moeller wrestler would be gunning to get a little revenge.
“I knew who we was and what he was going to come at me with,” Cochran said. “I knew all season he’d be looking forward to that rematch.”
Cochran was the lone area wrestler in Division I to qualify for state.
Division II: Graham won 10 of the 14 weight classes and advanced 11 to state in cruising to the Division II district title at Wilmington High School.
In the marquee match of the finals, Valley View’s Stone Day won for the third time in four meetings with Graham’s Kavan Sarver, taking the 195 title with a 3-2 win.
Kenton Ridge’s Bryce Davis battled back from a loss Friday night to finish fourth and advance at 113after winning three straight matches to open Saturday.
Division III: Mechanicsburg had five champs and advanced seven to state in defending its D-III district title at Troy's Hobart Arena.
The Indians got titles from Tyler Wetzel (126), Alex Rhine (132), Tanner Smith (145), Colt Yinger (152) and Kaleb Romero (170) in amassing 186 points.
Troy Christian was second with 141.
Greeneview’s Devan Hendricks advanced after finishing second at 106 while Triad’s Zack Zizzo also advanced with a third place finish at 145
On deck: The 80th state wrestling tournament runs March 9-11 at the Schottenstein Center at Ohio State University.
Wrestling will begin with Division III at 3 p.m. Division II will start at 4:10. with Division I following at 5:40.
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