Sunday, February 27, 2000

Jesse pins down another state bid

By Ed Fox
Sports Writer

FOSTORIA -- It was the completion of bookends for Doug Jesse at the Division III District Wrestling Tournament at Fostoria High School Saturday.

Jesse, who won a district title at 103 pounds his freshman year, had suffered through a two-year drought at the district tournament until posting a 5-3 overtime win over Todd Kleman of Bluffton in the finals of the 119-pound division.

"He was trying to block off anything I tried to shoot," said Jesse. "The last couple weeks I've been going iron man and I think it paid off tonight. I knew I would be in for a tough final whether I met him or (Todd) Amstutz of Liberty Center. It's nice to finally get another district title. I got my first during my freshman year but had a tough time at the district the last two years."

Jesse, who is 37-0 for the season, reached the finals with a pin in 3:07 over Josh Neilson of Fairview.

"He (Travis) Kleman took us to overtime at the Van Buren tournament," said Hopewell-Loudon coach Keith Taylor. "I think Doug just has a problem with his style and a couple quick stalling calls kept it tight but Doug battled through it.

"This (district title) is something that he's been shooting for and it also sets us up pretty good at state. Doug just has to keep moving and can't let someone control him like he did for the first period and a half with that kid tonight. He's got to keep the other kid off balance.

"I think when a match goes to overtime it plays to Doug's favor. When the match does go to overtime I think Doug feels he's in control because of his conditioning. He felt the kid out for six minutes and I think he was confident he could take him down in the overtime.

Jesse, making his fourth state appearance, will be joined by eight other area wrestlers who will also be competing at the state tournament Thursday through Saturday at the Ohio State University Jerome Schottenstein Center Value City Arena.

Mohawk, which set a new school record for state qualifiers with five (topping the four from last year), had a pair of runner-up finishers in Nate Lofay (145) and Jon May (160).

Joining them will be teammates Mark Buckingham (fourth at 103), Josh Cook (fifth at 130) and Joel Everhart (third at 171).

"The injuries to Aaron Roush and Chad Sowers are still deep on my mind," said Mohawk coach Bret Margraf. "It's really disappointing for Roush because he was a four-time district qualifier and had been to state before. He was having a great year and so was Sowers who is just a freshman. Both are outstanding young men in addition to being very good wrestlers and I think both would've reached state.

"(Kevin) Ogg and (Bo) Meisner were in extremely tough weight classs at 112 and 215. Those were probably the toughest weight classes here and each was just one win away from possibly going to state. It would've been the second straight trip to state for both of them.

"We've had pretty good success the last couple years in that fifth-place match which determines the final state qualifier," he said. "In fact we're 5-for-5 and Cook kept that going today. We want to get our kids in the finals because they wrestle with a lot of confidence that final round.

"What a great weekend for Lofay (second at 145). I think Jon could've wrestled better but he was second. I'm not worried about Joel because he's showing signs of being right where we thought he would be," Margraf added. "Cook had to beat the same kid twice to make it out and that is one of the toughest things to do. I thought all along that Buckingham should've been in the top four.

"I think each of our state qualifiers could do well at state because they are coming out of the toughest district."

Lofay was pinned by Tinora's Jason Walker in 1:15 of the finals at 145 and that came after a 14-10 decision over Mike Shinaver of Genoa in the semis. May lost to Ontario's Josh Ohl by an 8-2 score in the finals at 160 and that came on the heels of a 7-6 win over J.D. Davis of Tinora in the semis.

Everhart scored a pin in 2:02 over Brian Lenhart of Fremont St. Joe in the battle for third and fourth at 171 and Mark Buckingham came up on the short end of an 11-1 major decision scored by Ryan Derr of Cardinal Stritch in the battle for third and fourth at 103.

The biggest win in the finals by the Warriors belonged to Josh Cook who downed Gabe Brink of Liberty Center, 8-5, for the fifth and final state qualifying berth.

"This is the biggest match I've ever won," said Cook. "Reaching state was one of my goals. My brother Marty really pushed me hard and it paid off."

Seneca East qualified a pair to state which is the highest number of qualifiers since the mid-1980s.

Matt Stacklin became a two-time state qualifier after pinning Brian Dotson of Liberty Center in 2:03 of the 135-pound finals and Chris Weidinger took fourth at 275 after suffering a 4-1 loss to Sam Cotterman of Elmwood in the consy finals.

"I went out and really took charge. I figured I could handle the kid and just wanted to avoid making any mistakes and establishing my moves," said Stacklin. "I wanted to get back to state. Last year I was able to win a couple matches and I think the experience will pay off."

"I was able to put a big move on the Schlosser kid to get the win. At the league meet Boes pinned me at the end of the second period after I had the lead," said Weidinger. "I only weigh 218 or 220 and I just have to want to win more than they do."

"Matt has wrestled very well all year long and tonight's match was one of the biggest of the year because it gave him a chance to return to state," said Seneca East coach Steve Heal. "I think he stepped it up a notch this week.

"Chris had a very good tournament. All three of his wins were big ones but the two on Friday against the Delta kid and Chris Boes of Carey were the biggest. He was down to Schlosser by an 8-2 score and beat him and was able to avenge a loss to Boes from the league meet. He's giving up weight and size to almost all the other heavyweights.

Lakota lost all three matches during the finals. Ken Brewer took fourth and qualified for state at 145 despite being pinned in 2:59 by Aaron Link of St. Mary's Central Catholic.

The Raiders lost a pair of potential state qualifiers when both Presley Bloom and Brian Jacobs were upended in the battle for the fifth and final state qualifying spot.

Bloom fell to Rudy Lopez of Genoa, 3-1, while Jacobs suffered a 5-4 loss at the hands of Jacob Clemens of Lima Central Catholic.

"The kids wrestled well off and on," said Lakota coach Joe Wyant. "I thought Brewer wrestled well. He had a big upset over Shinaver who had beaten him twice earlier in the year. I thought Bloom did well throughout the tournament and got what he deserved with a sixth-place finish.

"We're a little disappointed with (Brian) Jacobs. He lost three heartbreaking matches. One was by a 7-6 score in the semis, another was 5-3 in overtime and then the 5-4 loss in the battle for fifth and sixth which kept him from going to state.

"I thought Brewer and Jacobs had the best shots at reaching state and I also thought Bloom had an outside chance. All six of our district qualifiers are underclassmen and it's good to have them coming back again."

Sandusky St. Mary's won the team championship with 190 points while Liberty Center was second with 128.5. Elmwood took third with 117.5, followed by Tinora with 105.5 and Mohawk was fifth with 94.5.