In the OHSAA boys state wrestling tournament, two Division I teams finished in the top 10 while Sycamore's Eugene Harney battled through injury to win his bracket.
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Harney is 1st Aves champion since 1999
Eugene Harney admitted that for him to win a state championship, he needed to lose first.
Harney finished as both sectional and district runner-up to Springboro's Conner Kleinberg, who finished in fourth place in the 150-pound bracket.
"A great wrestler, Conner Kleinberg. I love that kid," Harney said. "He showed me I needed to do just a little more work to win this title.
"That second-place medal, I would carry it around," Harvey said. "Yesterday I slept with it on me to remind me. You should keep these medals if you're in second, third or fourth. Keep them. Use them as motivation. Look at it and think about yourself and how much work you need to put in to get that gold."
Harney sustained an injury in his quarterfinal against Perrysburg's Wynton Denkins, the bracket's top seed, that would re-open and force him to take blood time during the semifinals and finals. For Harvey, it was no problem: "It's just a battle scar. I love that so much."
Springboro, La Salle go top 10
The usual suspects won the team titles in the boys brackets and only a pair of local squads finished in the top 10 of any of the three divisions.
Springboro scored 58 points to finish No. 8 in Division I while the La Salle Lancers were just behind in the ninth spot with 56 total team points.
Of seven qualifying wrestlers, four Lancers placed, including runner-up at 165 pounds Carson Thomas. Thomas fell to undefeated Joey Blaze from Perrysburg 9-3 after a pair of pinfall wins and a major decision victory.
Springboro also qualified seven wrestlers with four placing. Myles Johnson fell to eventual 190-pound champion Camden McDanel in the semifinals before placing in third with a 5-2 decision in his final match.
Local placers
Division I
106 – Alijah Mohanna (La Salle), 7th; 113 – Konner Lambers (Elder), 8th; 120 – Aiden Allen (La Salle), 3rd; 132 – Holden Huhn (La Salle), 7th; 138 – Wyatt Brock (Harrison), 7th; Micah Cottrell (Princeton), 8th; 150 – Eugene Harney (Sycamore), 1st; Conner Kleinberg (Springboro), 4th; Flint Guerra (Lebanon) 7th; 165 – Carson Thomas (La Salle), 2nd; Jack Hoffman (Springboro), 8th; 175 – Matt Kowalski (Springboro), 6th; 190 – Wyatt Ferguson (Oak Hills), 2nd; Myles Johnson (Springboro) 3rd; 215 – Brentan Simmerman (Little Miami), 4th; Will Adkins (Moeller), 6th; Aidan Weimer (Springboro), 8th; 285– Lucas Stuerenberg (Moeller), 4th.
Division II
120 – Jimmy Lalezas (Taylor), 6th; 138 – Thane McCoy (Wilmington), 6th; 144 – Nathan Kulbe (Batavia), 4th; 150 – P.J. Murphy (Reading), 3rd; 175 – Dickie Engel (Reading), 5th; 285 – Billy Foster (New Richmond), 7th.
Division III
113– Logan Dean (Bethel-Tate), 3rd; 132– Wyatt Hinton (Norwood), 6th.
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