HILLIARD — After Day 1 of the 84th annual Ohio High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament, there were 10 Greater Cincinnati wrestlers still in the running for a state championship.
When the dust settled Sunday evening, only one remained.
La Salle senior Dustin Norris picked up win No. 39 on the year and the 126-pound state championship that came along with it. Norris defeated Brecksville sophomore Brock Herman by a 3-1 decision.
More:10 Greater Cincinnati wrestlers still alive for OHSAA state championships
Norris is now the program's second two-time state champion, joining Lucas Byrd, who is now at the University of Illinois. Norris was a state runner-up at 106 pounds as a freshman, then won a state championship at 113 pounds in 2019. He was a state qualifier last March, but had to wait a year for his chance at another first-place medal after the 2020 tournament's cancellation due to the pandemic.
"It's different this time around," Norris said. "It's still an amazing feeling. I would've liked to of had it last year but obviously, with COVID, it got postponed one year. I'm very happy about it."
Norris said having a trip to state taken away from him was the fuel needed to return to the summit of his weight class to polish off a stellar high school career.
"There were points where we would have little underground wrestling rooms so we could get guys in and start training," Norris said. "A lot of motivation. Winning that two-timer last year, getting that taken away from you the day you're supposed to leave, it hurts a little different. It definitely pushed me to make sure that I didn't lose it this year."
La Salle head wrestling coach Rico Hill added: "He (Norris) has done everything right this year as far as being a leader. I can depend on the kid and he's headed to Purdue right now and I'm so proud of him."
La Salle boasted four of the area's five wrestlers to make a sparkling entrance in the dimly-lit championship arena Sunday at Hilliard Darby High School.
"It was good," said Hill, La Salle's first-year head coach. "We wanted to get everyone to the podium. We brought 7 up here and we got 5 of them to do it — that's pretty good.
"I'm proud of this group. This was the last dance for them. These seniors really earned it. I know we didn't end the way we wanted to with the last three matches; they wrestled hard, they wrestled tough — it's just some discipline things we can fix and we'll be back."
After Norris took top honors at 126, teammate Casey Wiles had his perfect season broken up (26-1) by Richard Delsanter of Lakewood St. Edward in the 132-pound final. Delsanter notched a two-point take-down just 15 seconds into the match and held off Wiles the rest of the way for a 7-4 win.
In the 145-pound class, La Salle senior Darnai Heard fell to unbeaten Westerville North junior Connor Euton (29-0).
One of the most thrilling matches of the championship round was the 138-pound final featuring La Salle junior Jake Niffenegger and Perrysburg sophomore Joey Blaze. The two were a combined 84-1 going into the match and didn't disappoint, battling to a 2-2 tie at the end of the third period.
After a scoreless first overtime, Blaze scored a game-winning pin in the second extra stanza to remain undefeated (45-0) and take the top spot on the podium.
Hill believes Niffenegger will learn from the narrow defeat with a strong comeback next season as a senior.
"I told him, 'other people wrestle their style; you need to wrestle your style,'" Hill said. "In those last 30 seconds, he kind of wrestled Joey's (Blaze) style. I've been telling Jake, he (Blaze) is the guy you look in the mirror and know you want to beat.
"For the last 30 seconds, Joey wanted it a little bit more. But he'll get another crack at him. Jake is coming back and we'll work hard to get it together."
Fairfield senior Brandon Smith finished third at the district tournament but battled his way to a state championship appearance. On Saturday, he opened the event with a 5-4 victory over Lakewood St. Edward's Jonny Slaper. In Sunday's session, he upset district champion, Jake Nelson of Groveport-Madison, to advance to the finals.
In his final prep bout, Smith fell 3-0 to Olentangy Liberty sophomore Dylan Russo, who capped the match's scoring with a takedown in the second period.
The Enquirer will update this story.
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