COLUMBUS – Versailles lost in the quarterfinal of the Ohio High School Athletic Association state wrestling dual team tournament Sunday afternoon, falling 36-28 to Apple Creek Waynedale.
It was a winnable match for the sixth seeded Tigers, Versailles coach AJ Bey said, but they failed to win some close matches vs. the third seeded Golden Bears.
“We wrestled OK,” Coach Bey said. “We wrestled a good team. Obviously you always want to come out on the other end. I think (if) we win a couple matches that were close, we’d come out on top. It’s just the way it goes.”
Versailles got off to a good start in the match at Ohio State’s St. John Arena with freshman Jacob Poling pinning Waynedale freshman Jacob Poling just 22 seconds into the 106 pound match.
Waynedale quickly turned the tables, though, with senior Christian Wellman winning an 8-0 major decision over Versailles sophomore Marcus Marshal in the 113 pound match, senior Graham Hostetler defeating Versailles sophomore Preston Platfoot 3-1 in the 120 pound match, sophomore Evan Hostetler defeating Versailles sophomore Steven Mangen 8-6 in overtime in the 126 pound match and senior Michael Wilson pinning Versailles junior Lane Feltz 26 seconds into the second period of the 132 pound match, making the score 16-6 in favor of Waynedale.
Versailles battled back to tie the score at 16-6 as sophomore Kyle Wuebker pinned Waynedale senior Trevor Richardson 37 seconds into the third period of the 138 pound match and junior Tanner Bey winning a 10-2 major decision over Waynedale senior Tucker Wirth in the 145 pound match.
In the second half of the match Waynedale started to take control.
First sophomore Logan Stanley won by a 15-0 technical fall over Versailles freshman Tyler Gigandet in the 152 pound match. Then senior Reid Stanley pinned Versailles senior Corey Dieringer with 35 seconds remaining in the first period of the 160 pound match, and junior Kyle Ice pinned Versailles junior Jonny Moorman with 49 seconds remaining in the first period of the 170 pound match.
Waynedale secured the victory when senior Tristan Anderson won a 7-1 decision over Versailles junior Bo Bey in the 182 pound match, making the score 36-16 with just three bouts remaining.
Versailles closed the gap with senior Kyle Gigandet winning the 195 pound match by forfeit, junior Jacob Rismiller defeating Waynedale sophomore Ben Farrar 3-2 in the 220 pound match and sophomore Jeffrey Ware defeating Waynedale junior Tyson Miller 2-0 in the 285 pound match.
Even though the Tigers lost their first match of the state tournament 36-28, Coach Bey said it was a big accomplishment to be one of the eight Division III teams to qualify for the state team dual tournament – Versailles’ first trip to the state duals since 2013.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” he said. “We had a really nice crowd here. Young kids, our junior high kids, came and watched so it’s something that I think they’re going to look forward to and work hard to try to keep coming back here.”
The Tigers now will turn their attention to the OHSAA’s individual tournament. They will compete in the Division III sectional tournament at Lehman Catholic on Friday and Saturday.
“We’re just going to have a nice week of practice,” Coach Bey said. “It will be a short week. We start on Friday. So just get the kids in, get them tuned up and get them ready to go.”
