The Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association state dual meet will be hosted at Lakewood St. Edward on Feb. 11 as the final eight teams in Division I will battle for a state title.
After winning district championships, La Salle and Springboro qualified for the weekend's state tournament. Also in the southwest district, Graham Local and Butler advanced in Division II while Legacy Christian and Versailles won their brackets in Division III.
At districts on Feb. 4, top-seeded Springboro hosted and beat Miamisburg 58-15 to reach the finals where the Panthers topped Moeller 47-23 to qualify. In the other side of the bracket at Ross, No. 2 La Salle dispatched Beavercreek 45-18 before a 31-27 finals win over Elder to reach state.
Springboro enters the state portion with a 14-1 record in dual meets, drawing the No. 4 seed in the state tournament. The Panthers will meet No. 5 Dublin Coffman in the state quarterfinals. Should Springboro keep up its dual meet success, it will meet the winner of No. 1 St. Edward and No. 8 Avon Lake.
La Salle's path through the tournament begins with the No. 7 seed with No. 2 Brecksville-Broadview Heights. The winner of that match would see either No. 3 Wadsworth or No. 6 Olentangy Liberty in the semifinals.
Each of the eight teams that reached the final meet were the top two seeds in their respective districts, but history says that wins for either local squad would be a big-time upset.
St. Edward has won the last three dual state championships, including a 29-28 finals victory over top-seeded La Salle in 2019. Since 2013, either St. Edward or Brecksville-Broadview Heights have won the Division I championship at every dual state meet except for 2018. St. Edward has also won every Division I state title at the OHSAA championships since 2015.
The Lancers will bring some of their top wrestlers in Aiden Allen at 120 pounds, Elijah Marengo at 132 pounds, Holden Huhn at 138 pounds and Carson Thomas at 165 pounds. All of those Lancers also earned wins in the district championship with Elder.
Some of Springboro's wrestlers to watch include Ryan Wissmar (who picked up career wins No. 100 and 101 at the district championships) at 132 pounds, Conner Kleinberg at 150 pounds, Matt Kowalski at 175 pounds and Myles Johnson at 190 pounds. All of those Panthers won in the district finals as well.
The OHSWCA Division I state duals will begin at 11 a.m. at St. Edward. Each tournament round will kick off approximately 15 minutes after the conclusion of the previous round.
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