Bellefontaine’s Trent Kelly and Josh Steiner saw their season come to an end Friday at the Division II district tournament at Wilmington High School.
The junior duo were making their first trip to the postseason meet. Kelly went 1-2 at 170 pounds, while Steiner finished 0-2 at 220 pounds.
Graham is leading the Division II district tournament after the first day with 116.5 points. The Falcons have 11 in the semifinals and all 12 qualifiers still alive in the tournament.
Ross is currently second with 57 points, Wyoming is in third with 55 points, London is fourth with 51.5 points and Jonathan Alder rounds out the top five with 43 points. Bellefontaine sits in 40th with four points.
Kelly had a strong start to his district tournament by recording a pin in the first round over Wilmington’s Gage Davis in 2:47. He was winning his championship quarterfinals match in the second period when he was reversed in the second period and pinned by Blanchester’s Colt Conover in 3:00.
Kelly dropped down to the second-round of the consolation bracket. He was winning that match 2-0 in the second period, but was reversed and pinned to be eliminated.
“I think it will end up being a good experience for him,” said BHS head coach Brady Hiatt. “He said he lost two matches he should have won. Anytime you do that it doesn’t feel like a good experience.
“His goal was to make the district tournament, which was a legit goal for him since he didn’t wrestle as a sophomore. If he takes the pain of losing matches he could have won and directs that in the right way, then this will end up being a very good tournament for him.”
Steiner lost by pin in the first round to Clinton Massie’s Joe Baughman, a sectional champion, in a time of 1:31. Steiner then lost in the first round of the consolation bracket by pin to New Richmond’s Billy Foster in 2:28 and was eliminated.
“Both of their goals were to make the district meet,” said Hiatt. “Those were obtainable goals, but one s they would have to work hard for. Josh felt like he could wrestle with the guys here. For guys who have never been here, they look at the next level like only the great wrestlers get to. When they do get here and realize they can wrestle here, it’s a huge mental hurdle to get over.”
The Division II district tournament at Wilmington concludes today at 10 a.m.