This means that 33 trackwrestling professionals will be competing for the titles in each of the three states. They won’t all win the championships, however.
Missouri’s Class 4 tournament will feature a possible rematch between No. 5 Ethen Miller and #. 14 Kyle Dutton. Three times this season, the returning state champions battled Miller, winning 3-2 and then 2-2 in the final tiebreaker. Dutton won the other due to an injury default.
Trackwrestling will stream the Ohio state tournament live, while archived matches from all three tournaments can be accessed on demand.
Here are some Stories and Stars Trackwrestling
Ohio is the last state to host its state tournament in March every year. One year ago, Missouri and Colorado concluded their state tournaments on February 22.
Ohio, however, was not able to get past the first whistle. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Ohio High School Athletic Association to postpone its state meet on the eve before the 2020 tournament. The OHSAA cancelled it two weeks later.
It won’t be your typical Ohio state tournament. The event will not be held at the Value City Arena in Columbus. The trackwrestling tournament will not be held under one roof for the first time in 43-years. Instead, the mats are being rolled at three high schools: Hilliard Darby (D1) Highland (D2), and Marion Harding(D3).
For the better part the past 20 years, the Saints have marched through the Ohio state tournament. St. Edward and St. Paris Graham, perennial powers, accumulated title trophies as well as championship streaks. St. Paris Graham had won 19 consecutive D2 titles before last year’s cancellation. St. Edward had five straight D1 titles and 21 of 23 D1 titles.
Both teams are again favored this year
Gallagher’s high school wrestling resume is one of the best. Two years ago, Cliff Keen’s national preseason wrestler-of-the year displayed a dominating performance in Fargo. He outscored his opponents 78-15 to win the Junior freestyle title. The Ohio State recruit has a win over top-ranked 170-pounder Alex Facundo. He also won his first Ohio state title by defeating the national No. In the finals, Connor Brady was No. 1.
Gallagher is again the favourite, but there are also other highly-credentialed competitors in this bracket. Fields won the Cadet World Team Trials finals in Akron two years ago. Munguia also reached the state finals as a sophomore two years ago. They’ll be wrestling in college, just like Gallagher. Fields trackwrestling is headed to North Carolina State and Munguia going to Kent State.
This week, Fields and Munguia sit on the bottom of the bracket with Gallagher at the top. Gallagher beat Munguia and Fields in the semifinals to win the district tournament. He also defeated Munguia 12-7.
Victor Voinovich was a rising star in high school wrestling three years ago, when he reached the Beast of the East finals at 145 pounds as a freshman. Three months later, he won the Ohio state title. Since then, the Brecksville senior has been a steady performer.
After losing to Munguia 4-3 in the semifinals, he placed third at the state meet. He won the Junior Duals in a blazer fashion, scoring six wins and a technical superiority win.
Voinovich rose to the top of national rankings last year, and he is currently ranked second at number 152. The Oklahoma State recruit has a 27-0 record to the state meet. His bracket also includes Austin Mullins from Huber Heights Wayne and Perrysburg’s Alex Garee, both undefeated wrestlers.
Ohio’s D1 bracket will host three of the country’s top 182-pounders: No. 17 Salvatore Perrine, Norway (No. 18 Jake Evans (Elyria), and No. 20 Hudson HIGHHTOW (St. Edward). Two years ago, Evans was fourth at the state meet and gave Hightower its only loss of the season with a 3-1 victory in the district finals. Perrine is undefeated with a 3-2 victory over Evans this season. Also included in the bracket is Owen Amburgy (28-0) and Camden McDaniel (38-1).
Although it’s been a brief senior season, Vince Cornella is poised to make Colorado high school trackwrestling history. Three-time state champion from Monarch High School will try to become the 29th four-timer in Colorado this week in Pueblo.
Cornella, the nation’s fourth-ranked 132 pounder, is currently competing at 138 in postseason. He didn’t wrestle until the regional tournament.
The Colorado High School Activities Association obtained approval from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to allow winter sports to compete. However, the Boulder County Public Health department continued to prohibit wrestling at schools in Boulder County School District.
Cornella treated Monarch’s injuries after he returned to the Mat
Cornella is now a state champion with a record of 3-0. His season lasted just 2 minutes and 50 seconds. He took that long to pin his way through regional tournament.
Missouri’s tournament will take place over five days. Each division will wrestle from start to finish in one day. On Saturday, the big schools will take to the mat. This includes all nine Missourians listed in the Trackwrestling national high school rankings. Nixa’s No. Zan Fugitt (10 113 lbs), a state finalist returning to the track, is Zan Fugitt. He could face Kolby Warren, a Christian Brothers College All-American and double Fargo All American Kolby Fugitt on his way to the finals. They met last fall at Super 32 at 106 in the round-of-16. Fugitt won with a 7-0 victory.
