Indian Lake’s Owen Pummel is headed back to the state wrestling tournament.
The standout sophomore finished third in the Division III district tourney Saturday in Troy to earn a berth in the state meet, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.
Competing at 190 pounds, the standout sophomore won his first-round matchup by a 4-0 decision against Preston Sellers of Dayton Christian.
Pummel then beat Maddox Jurrek of Spencerville 8-7 to advance to the semifinals.
Drake Bennett of Miami East edged Pummel 8-7 in the semifinal match, dropping Pummel to the consolation bracket.
Needing a win to receive a state berth, Pummel beat Versailles’ Ethan Stover 6-2.
In the third-place match, Pummel squared off with Spencerville’s Jurek again. This time, Pummel won 6-2 to finish third.
Indian Lake freshman Ke’Shawn Blackwell finished fifth at 106 pounds to earn a state alternate spot.
Also placing fifth and getting an alternate spot was Dylan Valerio at heavyweight.
The Lakers’ Czar Dickson placed sixth at 132.
Triad’s Awsom Mitchell took fifth place at 175 spot to finish as a state alternate.
Legacy Christian won the Division III team title with 163 points. Versailles was second with 125.5 and Troy Christian was fourth with 102.
Indian Lake was ninth with 65 points, Triad tied for 32nd with 13 points and West Liberty-Salem was 40th with 7.5 points.
Ben Logan, Bellefontaine compete in D2 tourney
Benjamin Logan and Bellefontaine both had wrestlers compete in the Division II district tournament Friday and Saturday at Wilmington High School.
The Raiders were led by a sixth-place finish by Kendall Plikerd.
Bellefontaine did not have a placer, but the Chiefs’ Jared Young (106) and Parker Knox (175) both went 2-2. Knox had a pair of pins.
Zane Tevis also wrestled for the Chiefs but did not win a match.
“We are proud of Jared, Zane and Parker after this weekend,” said BHS head coach Aaron LaBatt. “This was all their first time at the district meet. Two of them were able get a few wins and that is huge.”
“Jared wrestled hard all weekend and did a great job for being a freshman. He went into overtime during his last match and was one move away from placing. He has a lot to feel good about and build on. Parker has really grown the last two weeks as a wrestler. He got a first round win here and beat some solid kids. His only two losses were to the eventual champion and the fourth-place finisher. Like Jared, there is a lot of potential and momentum to build on for next season.”