By ANDY WOLF
sTAFF WRITER
OREGON — Findlay High wrestling coach Ben Kirian had a pretty good feeling his team matched up favorably with Perrysburg.
The results proved it.
Even without three starters, the Trojans won nine of 12 matches with four pins to down the Yellow Jackets 42-22 at Oregon Clay and advance to their first Division I regional semifinal in school history.
“We’re a very strong team this year,” Kirian said. “We’ve been a little inconsistent the last couple weeks, but the guys did perform.
“Perrysburg is a really good team. Beating them by 20 points is a huge step up for our program.”
Next up for the Trojans is top-seeded Oregon Clay, which rolled over Holland Springfield 69-6 and Anthony Wayne 53-21 on Wednesday.
Findlay easily defeated Toledo St. John’s 49-15 in its first match before earning a rematch with Perrysburg, which routed Bowling Green 60-15.
The Yellow Jackets narrowly bounced the Trojans 32-30 in the same round last season.
“We did talk about that as a team a lot,” Kirian said. “This is the first time that we advanced and made it to the next week. These guys were senior heavy this year and had a lot to prove.”
Findlay got pins from Seth Douglas (145), Dru Hernandez (160), Jeremiah Snider (182) and Joey Bower (220). All but Snider are seniors.
“It was tough dealing with that,” Hernandez said of last season. “A lot of people, it hit their confidence. “¦ They were just not feeling motivated after that.”
Kirian said the Trojans were without Jaden Johnson (132) and Boston Dubocq (152) coming in. Max Jolliff (138) got injured in his match against Toledo St. John’s and eventually forfeited. He didn’t return for the Perrysburg dual as Kirian wanted to “play it safe and make sure he’s good to go for next week.”
Avery Charles stepped in and replaced Jolliff but got pinned by Ayden Steinline in 1:02 to put the Yellow Jackets ahead 19-8.
Findlay quickly turned the tide by winning the next seven matches.
Seth Douglas (145) started them off by securing a pin in 4:22 over Alex Garee.
After Cameron Owens scored a 7-2 decision over Broc Ryan, Hernandez stepped up, ready to gain any bonus point possible.
He nearly didn’t get any.
Hernandez led 9-2 nearing a minute left in the match, one point short of a major decision.
He then tallied his fourth takedown on James Corbo — this time straight to his back — for the pin with 26 seconds left.
“I wanted to just wrestle how I usually wrestle and not get concerned who this guy is,” said Hernandez, a state-qualifier at 160 last season. “I don’t remember much from the match. As soon as you see those bonus-point opportunities, you need to jump them.”
The pin put Findlay ahead for the first time at 23-19.
Josiah Trevino widened the gap for the Trojans with an 8-4 decision over Ethan Garee.
Snider added fuel to the fire with his second first-period pin of the day. He stapled Cassius Collins of Toledo St. John’s in 1:47 in his first match.
Snider got a quick takedown on Perrysburg’s Shandi Anz. Snider took him down again, straight to his back, and flattened him in 57 seconds.
“I’ve been hitting a lot of firemans,” Snider said. “Finishing that was a big thing to help get my pins. Also, the arm bars. Armbars have been a big move for me this season.”
Zach Bryant (195), Findlay’s other returning state qualifier, sealed the match victory with a 4-0 decision over Perrysburg’s Connor Gryczewski.
Joey Bower (220) tacked on a pin of Ethan Morley in 1:42 for good measure.
Findlay’s Liam Morrison (126) and Jonah Smith (132) also earned major decisions.
Kirian is hoping to clean a few things up before his team faces off against Oregon Clay.
The Eagles came away with a decisive 46-21 win against the Trojans on Dec. 20, earning four pins and two tech falls.
“They took it to us in a dual earlier in the season,” Kirian said. “We didn’t wrestle really well that night. They wrestled phenomenally and we made some mistakes.
“If we show up ready to wrestle, it will be a great dual. Hopefully, the better team wins that night.”
Hernandez is especially looking forward to a bout with Clay’s Troy Murphy.
They didn’t meet the in the first dual with Murphy jumping up to 170.
Murphy bested him in last year’s Three Rivers Athletic Conference final before Hernandez turned the tables on him in 8-5 in overtime to reach the district semifinals.
“Last year it was good competition for me at districts, Maumee Bay, TRAC,” Hernandez said. “We wrestled quite a few times. I know he’s a good competitor and I’m really hoping to see how much he’s improved.”
UPPER BRACKET SEMIFINAL
FINDLAY 50, TOLEDO ST. JOHN”S 15
106 — Camp (TSJ) won by forfeit
113 — Cruz (F) dec. Chubb 6-3
120 — Johnston (F) dec. Taylor 10-3
126 — Morrison (F) dec. Turner 6-0
132 — Smith (F) tech. fall Berg 17-0
138 — Valentine (TSJ) by default over Jolliff
145 — Owens (F) pinned King 2:41
152 — Douglas (F) dec. Meinke 7-3
160 — Hernandez (F) pinned King 1:31
170 — Savona (TSJ) dec. Trevino 6-4
182 — Snider (F) pinned Collins 1:47
195 — Bryant (F) won by forfeit
220 — Bower (F) dec. Isaacson 3-2
285 — Guzman (F) pinned Lanier 2:22
LOWER BRACKET FINAL
FINDLAY 41, PERRYSBURG 22
106 — Ruby (P) won by forfeit
113 — Graham (P) dec. Cruz 14-11
120 — Oviedo (P) dec. Johnston 10-0
126 — Morrison (F) maj. dec. McNulty 9-0
132 — Smith (F) maj. dec. Carpenter 10-2
138 — Steinline (P) pinned Charles 1:02
145 — Douglas (F) pinned Garee 4:22
152 — Owens (F) dec. Ryan 7-2
160 — Hernandez ((F) pinned Corbo 5:43
170 — Trevino (F) dec. Garee 8-3
182 — Snider (F) pinned Anz :57
195 — Bryant (F) dec. Gryczewski 4-0
220 — Bower (F) pinned Morley 1:42
285 — Ritzman (P) dec. Guzman 5-3
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