Wrestling: Ross advances seven to district

Rich Dunn has taken some pretty strong Ross High School wrestling teams into the postseason.

He has watched the Division II Batavia sectional get tougher each year, so advancing seven to the district tournament was a great way to cap the weekend Saturday.

Austin Hamblin claimed the title at 160 and Karson Chasteen breezed through the 285 field as the Rams finished second to Western Brown.

“Having seven guys moving on to the district tournament is a pretty good number for us,” Dunn said. “This year, the sectional was a lot tougher tournament. We finished second to a great Western Brown team, and I am proud of our guys and how they competed.”

Badin also had a pair move on to the district tournament as Jacob Fontaine (126) and Kane Schmidt (132) both finished fourth.

The top four in each weight class advance to the district tournament next weekend at Wilmington.

Monroe advanced six from the Graham 1 sectional, led by runner-up finishes from Sam Price (106) and Cody Tracey (120).

Fenwick placed two in the finals of the sectional won by host Graham with returning state placer Alex Kowal finishing second at 145 and Michael Patterson placing second at 285.

Talawanda got a second-place finish from Preston Bressler at 170.

Madison had a pair of champs in the Graham 2 sectional tournament in returning state placer Gunnar Dawson (160) and Zach Banks (195).

Division I: Fairfield battled a loaded Hamilton Division I sectional field to finish third behind state-ranked La Salle and Elder.

The Indians advanced eight to the district tournament and got titles from Jabari Thomas (120) and Andrew Sams (170).

“I was proud of the team,” Fairfield coach Jason Laflin said. “Like most tournaments, we had some pleasant surprises and some letdowns. We still have some work to do if we want to contend at the district and state tournaments, but we got out of sectionals healthy.”

Nick Feaver advanced for Hamilton, grabbing the final qualifying spot at 113.

Lebanon finished third at the Lebanon sectional, advancing eight to the district tournament.

Lakota East finished third in the Centerville 1 sectional with 178.5 points, 10.5 points behind champion Beavercreek.

Jon Spaulding recorded the lone championship for East, claiming the title at 285.

Lakota West had a pair of champs in Jensen Quinn at 138 and Joey Bradberry at 160.

Division III: Returning state placer Reece Human of Carlisle had no problems winning the Blanchester Division III title.

Human pinned his way through the 220 bracket to claim the crown.

On deck: The district tournaments will run Friday and Saturday at Fairmont, Wilmington and Troy. The top four in each weight class advance to the state tournament March 9-11 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

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