by TVHS wrestling coach Jon Hardman
Tri-Valley had a rough time in the Sectional Tournament at Claymont HS. It offered some great competition and the Dawgs ended the day with six district qualifiers. Several of TV’s stronger wrestlers finished just short of qualifying. Tri-Valley finished in 3rd place overall, behind Carrollton and Minerva. Despite the high placing, it was tough to see some of the wrestlers not make it out.
Fast forward to the district tournament at Gallia Academy High School, where several teams brought larger numbers than Tri-Valley. Not all sectionals are created equal though; While those numbers dwindled for the other teams, the Dawgs kept fighting on.
Here is a rundown of how the qualifiers finished up:
126 – 3X State qualifier, Joseph Eckelberry (Senior) was one of the bright spots from the Sectional Tournament, winning his weight class. He was tested throughout Districts, but never let a match get too close for comfort. In the semifinals, Eckelberry bested Lisbon Beaver junior, Mark Emmerling 8-5. He got off to a great start in the finals, going up 8-0 in two periods against Miami Trace’s Weston Melvin. The match finished as an 8-1 victory and sets Eckelberry up as one of the four #1 seeds for next weekend’s state tournament.
138 – Returning State Qualifier, Cullen Van Rooyen (Senior) also came out of the Claymont Sectional as a champion. At Gallia, Cullen escaped a late match scare to defeat Steubenville’s Savier Faulks in the quarterfinals. He found a familiar opponent in the semifinals in Kody Beal from New Lexington. Cullen caught Beal and pinned him in the MVL finals. This match was much closer, going into two overtimes before Van Rooyen came away with the 2-1 victory. In the finals, Cullen fell 7-5 to Lisbon Beaver’s Devon Salsberry.
145 – Returning State Alternate, Isaiah Armstrong (Junior) finished 2nd at the Claymont Sectional. He won his first district match, before getting pinned by the eventual champion, Logan Ours from Lisbon Beaver. Armstrong battled back with wins over opponents from Washington Courthouse and Steubenville. In the consolation semifinals, Isaiah ran into Wyatt Abele from New Lexington. Abele scored a tech fall (15pt victory) on Armstrong in the MVL finals. This match was much closer, seeing Abele fend off several close calls and defeating Armstrong 2-1. Isaiah wrestled Domanick Speelman from Carrollton for the 5th place match. Armstrong pinned Speelman to become a state alternate for the 2nd year in a row.
160 – David Coleman (Senior) had a very good Sectional performance at Claymont, qualifying for districts at one of the tougher weight classes. At Gallia, Coleman fell to Scott Eastes of Hillsboro in the first round. It was a back and forth match for the early periods, but Eastes scored the pin midway through the 3rd period. In consolation, Coleman lost 11-3 to the host school’s Hudson Shamblin.
182 – Karter Jones (Senior) wrestled well at Claymont, but was disqualified in his 3rd/4th place match for an illegal slam. The District meet was a great place for Jones to redeem himself and avenge a few losses. In the first round, Karter drew Jayden LeBeau from Miami Trace HS. LeBeau won his sectional. Karter wrestled a great match, holding LeBeau off in the final seconds to hold on to a 9-7 victory. In the second round, Jones drew David Harper from Philo. Harper defeated Jones in the MVL finals this year. Midway through the match, Karter scored a quick reversal and the ref called a pin. Harper’s feet were tangled in the coaches’ chairs, so they called the pin off. At that point, Jones’s confidence seemed to increase. He defeated Harper 10-5. Jones faced Seth Ferguson from Claymont in the semifinals and lost a close 10-8 match in the final seconds. This led us to the match that determined if Jones would go to state. He faced Garrett Hilliard from Minerva, the wrestler who he got disqualified for illegally slamming the week before. This time, Jones made sure to keep his composure and came away with a 12-3 victory. Jones fell to Caden Kenworth in the 3rd place match, but his ticket to the state tournament was already punched.
285 – Seth Schneider (Senior) was a 3rd place finisher at the Claymont Sectional. Seth started off strong, pinning Zane McCoy from Lisbon Beaver in the first round. Schneider fell to Kade Rawlings from McClain HS in the second round, 8-2. Seth battled back through consolations, defeating Logan Fry from St. Clairsville. This set up a match with a familiar face from the MVL in Gauge Samson from Maysville. Samson and Schneider have had some really close matches in the past and this one was no different. In the end, Samson held off Schneider’s attacks and came away with a 3-0 victory.
Tri-Valley finished 9th out of 38 on the day, while fellow MVL schools New Lexington and Sheridan finished 10th and 11th respectively. We are proud of the performance of these six wrestlers. It is tough to see that a few of our kids that didn’t qualify would have competed well here. Claymont is a tough road to go through to get into districts. The wrestlers came prepared and all wrestled great matches all weekend. The three qualifiers and one alternate will work all week to be prepared for the Division 2 State Tournament that will be held at Marengo Highland HS this Saturday and Sunday.
CAPTION: Left to right: District Champions Cullen Van Rooyen, Karter Jones, and Joseph Eckelberry with their metals. (submitted)
