Boys district wrestling: 11 from Buckeye still vying for state bid

BAINBRIDGE TWP. — Buckeye has three wrestlers headed to the semifinals and eight advancing to action today after the opening rounds of the Kenston Division II District. Brendan McKee (126 pounds), Blake Bartos (138) and Brody Zoul (165) won their first two matches and are one win from representing the Bucks at the state tournament. Bartos, a senior, was on the mat for a total of 69 seconds, pinning Chardon freshman Charles Shamakian 23 seconds into his opening match before needing only 46 to dispose of Benedictine's JayZhan Jones in the quarterfinals. Zoul didn't have it quite as easy, but he ended both matches early with a 17-0 technical fall over Orrville's Cameron Gillis that lasted 1:42 and followed with a second-period pin of Firelands' Kase Rogers in his quarterfinal. McKee started with a second-period pin of Warren Howland's Patrick Neff. In his quarterfinal match against St. Vincent-St. Mary freshman Quinn Hurley, McKee overcame a second-period deficit with two third-period takedowns to win a 10-2 major decision. "I kinda figured him out on the misdirections. I figured that was his weakness right there," McKee said. "He came at me sloppy, so I cleaned it up." McKee will face Geneva's Tanner Williams in the semifinals. Williams won his two matches Friday by decision, 6-0 and 5-0. "I knew today would be tough. It's never easy. I knew I had to trust my training to get me through," McKee said. "I gotta come back (today) get a good warmup in and go out and have some fun." The Bucks started the day with 10 wrestlers, but freshman Vincent Joy (106) and sophomore Kaden Locker (157) were eliminated with two losses. Carter Hershkowitz (150), Logan Letner (144). Preston Ware (175) , Zack Simmons (113) and Collin Bartos will begin today in the consolation rounds at 10 a.m. after going 1-1. Collin Bartos suffered a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss against West Geauga Caden Kaleal. He was leading 6-4 after two periods, but Kaleal secured a third-period takedown to force overtime. Kaleal then recorded a takedown with five seconds remaining in OT for a 10-7 win. Buckeye, which is currently fourth in the team standings, Canfield and Perry are the only teams that will bring back at least eight wrestlers today. "It's so much fun when we can bring so many guys to districts," McKee said. "I love it." Cloverleaf's lone district qualifier, Caleb Burke, is still alive after winning his opening match, pinning Archbishop Hoban freshman Aiden Rye in 3:07. In the quarterfinals, Burke dropped a 5-0 decision to Chardon's Luke Vucetic. Contact Todd Shapiro at sports@medina-gazette.com.