Davis moves on to the quarterfinals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
COLUMBUS — Being 22 seconds away from defeat, McClain senior Brandon Davis was able to get on top, cradle and pin his opponent to move on to the quarterfinals of the 76th Annual OHSAA State Wrestling Championships, Thursday.
The first day of the state tournament at the Jerome Schottenstein Center saw Davis win his 220-pound match over Beau Swank of Bellefontaine Benjamin Logan by pin fall at the 5:38 mark of the match.
Getting to that point of the match for Davis (45-3) was one of brute toughness and valiant effort, as he was down 5-0 after the first round after Swank scored two points on a takedown, and near the end of the first round, Swank took the five-point lead with a three-point move.
In the second, Swank wanted to take the bottom to start the round, which in turn worked out in Davis' favor, as he controlled the second period bys wrestling on top, as Davis all season long won his matches by controlling the top, giving him the nickname of "The Russian Bear."
In the final second of the second period, Davis scored two points on a reversal, coming back from being down 6-0 (Swank scored a point on an escape) for a 6-2 score following 4:00 of action.
Then came the third round, and Davis, again, controlled the top at the start, as he almost flipped Swank over on his shoulders with 59 seconds left on the clock.
Finally, Davis' pressure was too much for his opponent to fend off, as the McClain senior was able to cradle, and after a few seconds, the official slammed his hand on the mat for the pin fall victory.
"I had him in a headlock, and I got him into a cradle and was able to pin him," Davis said following the match. "When I was down 6-0, I was a little worried, but I knew I had to get a pin to win."
McClain head coach Shane Paul spoke about Davis' match, as Davis will wrestle on Friday, with the Division II championship quarterfinals beginning at 10:45 a.m.
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"Brandon fought off his back in the first round, but from there, he wore the kid down," Paul said. "Getting the two points at the end of the second gave Brandon some confidence.
"When he got to stand, that was a better position for Brandon, so we were glad he took the bottom. To fight off his back the way Brandon did takes a lot of heart at this level."
As for Hillsboro senior Brandon Carter, he lost his first match of the event, falling by a 16-5 score against Evan Cheek of Milan Edison, who improved to 52-3 overall at 106 pounds.
Carter (44-4) trailed 2-0 during the first round but cut the deficit in half at 2-1, though Carter ended the round by trailing 4-1 after 2:00. The match had to be stopped 29 seconds into it for blood from the top of Carter's forehead.
In the second round, Cheek controlled the tempo of the match, as he worked to turn Carter, a two-time state qualifier, over with 1:20, eventually taking a 6-1 lead.
In the final round, Carter scored on a reversal on two occasions for his five total points, but he was unable to stop Cheek from adding 10 points in the final two minutes.
"We knew going in this would be a tough match," HHS head coach Nathan Horne said. "Now we have to bounce back and give it all we had to get Brandon onto the podium."
In his consolation round match, Carter won by decision (12-6) over Cory Marshall of Dover. Carter will wrestle again on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.
As for Hillsboro junior Kordell Ford (46-3), he was forced to withdraw from the state tournament at 152 pounds due to an illness. Last year, as a sophomore at 160 pounds, Ford placed fourth in the state.
This year, Ford won a South Central Ohio League championship and a sectional championship at Washington C.H.
"He was just sick and wasn't able to wrestle," Horne said. "It was an issue he had all week, but he just wasn't cleared or able to wrestle, as his health was the most important.
"It's just unfortunate … the only good thing is that he's a junior, and he can work hard and get back here next year."
The first day of the state tournament at the Jerome Schottenstein Center saw Davis win his 220-pound match over Beau Swank of Bellefontaine Benjamin Logan by pin fall at the 5:38 mark of the match.
Getting to that point of the match for Davis (45-3) was one of brute toughness and valiant effort, as he was down 5-0 after the first round after Swank scored two points on a takedown, and near the end of the first round, Swank took the five-point lead with a three-point move.
In the second, Swank wanted to take the bottom to start the round, which in turn worked out in Davis' favor, as he controlled the second period bys wrestling on top, as Davis all season long won his matches by controlling the top, giving him the nickname of "The Russian Bear."
In the final second of the second period, Davis scored two points on a reversal, coming back from being down 6-0 (Swank scored a point on an escape) for a 6-2 score following 4:00 of action.
Then came the third round, and Davis, again, controlled the top at the start, as he almost flipped Swank over on his shoulders with 59 seconds left on the clock.
Finally, Davis' pressure was too much for his opponent to fend off, as the McClain senior was able to cradle, and after a few seconds, the official slammed his hand on the mat for the pin fall victory.
"I had him in a headlock, and I got him into a cradle and was able to pin him," Davis said following the match. "When I was down 6-0, I was a little worried, but I knew I had to get a pin to win."
McClain head coach Shane Paul spoke about Davis' match, as Davis will wrestle on Friday, with the Division II championship quarterfinals beginning at 10:45 a.m.
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"Brandon fought off his back in the first round, but from there, he wore the kid down," Paul said. "Getting the two points at the end of the second gave Brandon some confidence.
"When he got to stand, that was a better position for Brandon, so we were glad he took the bottom. To fight off his back the way Brandon did takes a lot of heart at this level."
As for Hillsboro senior Brandon Carter, he lost his first match of the event, falling by a 16-5 score against Evan Cheek of Milan Edison, who improved to 52-3 overall at 106 pounds.
Carter (44-4) trailed 2-0 during the first round but cut the deficit in half at 2-1, though Carter ended the round by trailing 4-1 after 2:00. The match had to be stopped 29 seconds into it for blood from the top of Carter's forehead.
In the second round, Cheek controlled the tempo of the match, as he worked to turn Carter, a two-time state qualifier, over with 1:20, eventually taking a 6-1 lead.
In the final round, Carter scored on a reversal on two occasions for his five total points, but he was unable to stop Cheek from adding 10 points in the final two minutes.
"We knew going in this would be a tough match," HHS head coach Nathan Horne said. "Now we have to bounce back and give it all we had to get Brandon onto the podium."
In his consolation round match, Carter won by decision (12-6) over Cory Marshall of Dover. Carter will wrestle again on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.
As for Hillsboro junior Kordell Ford (46-3), he was forced to withdraw from the state tournament at 152 pounds due to an illness. Last year, as a sophomore at 160 pounds, Ford placed fourth in the state.
This year, Ford won a South Central Ohio League championship and a sectional championship at Washington C.H.
"He was just sick and wasn't able to wrestle," Horne said. "It was an issue he had all week, but he just wasn't cleared or able to wrestle, as his health was the most important.
"It's just unfortunate … the only good thing is that he's a junior, and he can work hard and get back here next year."