PERRYSBURG — The Perrysburg boys wrestling team finished second as a team at the district meet while qualifying 10 individuals on Saturday for the Division I state wrestling meet this upcoming weekend at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center.
The 10 state qualifiers for Perrysburg, which hosted the district tournament, ties a program record.
Marcus Blaze (46-1), a junior who already has two state championships, defeated Whitmer’s Jaiden Sarabia by technical fall to win the 132-pound title. He is currently the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country.
Sophomore Ayden Dodd (35-5) claimed the 106-pound championship as a sophomore with a 5-0 sudden-death victory over Lakewood St. Edward’s top-ranked Timothy Mazur.
In addition to Blaze and Dodd, six others placed second and two finished third to qualify.
Perrysburg freshman Grey Burnett (40-3, 113), sophomore Alex Denkins (36-7, 120), junior Cole Evans (29-5, 126), sophomore Brody Bauman (33-10, 138), senior Jake Wood (37-10, 157), and junior Josh Takats (33-11, 190) all placed second.
Perrysburg senior Diego Chavez (35-11, 144) and sophomore Shane Saito (34-11, 165) finished third.
The top four individuals in each weight class qualified for the state tournament. Junior Ben Sawaya (27-15, 215) finished fifth and will be a state alternate.
Perrysburg, which hosted the district event, finished second in the team event with 242 points behind first-place Lakewood St. Edward with 339. The champions had nine individual championships.
Finishing out the top 10 were Medina Highland (116), Medina (86), Uniontown Lake (73½), Toledo Whitmer (65½), Toledo St. John’s (61), Ashland (55), Elyria (52) and Midview (49).
The state tournament begins Friday and lasts through Sunday.
Jackets win sectional
OREGON — Behind 10 champions, Perrysburg won the Division I boys sectional wrestling championship on February 24 at Clay High School, scoring 345 points to almost double second place Findlay’s 173½ points.
The Yellow Jackets had three wrestlers finish as runner-up and one placed fourth.
Whitmer (170½) was third, followed by Clay (143½), Anthony Wayne (106), Sylvania Southview (89), Springfield (71), Sylvania Northview (68), Toledo Start (67½), Toledo Waite (45), Toledo Bowsher (43), Toledo St. Francis (36), and Lima Senior (7).
At 106, Dodd won an 18-3 technical fall over Clay junior Joshua Medina (31-10) in 5:53 during the championship.
Burnett won the 113 championship in similar fashion, taking a 23-6 technical fall victory over Findlay sophomore Kaliber Brubaker (26-14) in 3:01.
At 132, Blaze repeated the format, winning a 19-4 technical fall against Whitmer junior Jaiden Sarabia (30-7) in 4:46. Bauman won a 138-pound title with a 15-3 major decision against Whitmer freshman Gage Older (27-9).
At 144, Chavez won an 11-5 championship decision against Clay freshman Gabe McNally (19-10). Saito pinned Findlay senior Austin Sertell (25-14) to win the 165-pound title.
At 175, Perrysburg senior Caiden Nichols (19-8) won by forfeit over Findlay junior Keegan Klotz (33-10) in the championship.
Perrysburg junior Josh Takats won a 21-5 technical fall against Northview sophomore Conor Adams (15-7) in 4:17 to win the 190-pound final.
At 215, Perrysburg junior Ben Sawaya (24-13) won an 8-2 championship decision against Southview senior Brady Czerniakowski (27-11).
Perrysburg junior Eric Bush (33-10) won the 285-pound title by pinning Springfield senior Krew Akenberger (25-15) in 1:52.
Finishing as sectional runners-up were Denkins at 120, Evans at 126, and Wood at 157. Perrysburg junior Alex Poll (19-15) was fourth at 150.