The Logan County area will be well represented at the boys state wrestling tournament this week in Columbus.
Six local grapplers placed in the top four in their respective weight classes during district competition over the weekend to qualify for the state meet, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.
Benjamin Logan’s boys team had a sensational performance in the Division II district meet at Wilmington, qualifying three wrestlers to the state meet and having two additional placers.
Led by district champion Owen Pummel, Indian Lake had two state qualifiers and Triad also is sending a wrestler to the state meet as Awsom Mitchell won a district title in the Division III district meet at Troy.
The Raiders placed fourth out of 48 teams in the Division II district meet. Senior Kameron Larson led the Raiders with a second-place finish at 175 pounds.
Freshman Cooper Buck (106) and senior Evan Carpenter (138) both finished fourth to join Larson in qualifying for state.
Buck made BL wrestling history by becoming the first freshman to qualify for the state tourney.
Freshmen Owen Weaks (132) and Hayden Hites (165) both placed fifth to become state alternates.
“We are super excited for the three wrestlers that qualified,” said Ben Logan head coach Kyle Seeley. “It was awesome to see our two seniors punch their ticket with their last opportunity.
“It was truly amazing to see history made this weekend with having three freshmen placing and then Cooper Buck becoming the first freshman to qualify for the state championships. All are excited for the challenge that lies ahead of them and look forward to competing at the highest level.”
In the Division III meet at Troy’s Hobart Arena, Indian Lake finished eighth and qualified Pummel (190) and Dylan Valerio (285) to the state meet.
Pummel, a junior, is headed to state for the third time in his career after blazing through the 190-pound weight class en route to his district championship.
Pummel won his first-round match in a pin (1:32), won his quarterfinal match by a 9-0 major decision and then beat Maddox Jurek of Spencerville in the semifinals by a 7-0 decision.
In the finals, Pummel dominated Wayne Trace’s Nathan Osborn for an 11-0 major decision.
Valerio finished third for his state berth. He won his opening-round match by pin before losing in the quarterfinals.
Valerio, a senior, won out from there. He strung together four consolation victories to grab the third-place spot on the podium.
Read the entire story and see photos in Tuesday’s copy of the Examiner