State Wrestling: County girls make quick statement in first time at OSU

COLUMBUS — In the first year girls were sanctioned to compete at the state tournament in Value City Arena, the Lorain County contingent did not disappoint. Four of the seven area girls won their opening matches to advance to today's quarterfinals: Elyria's Riley Banyas at 100 pounds, Keystone's Lydia Gould at 115, Avon Lake's Layla Patterson at 125 and Avon Lake's Rejan Alhashash at 135. "Honestly, you really have to treat it just like any other tournament because if you treat it differently it'll freak you out," Alhashash said. "It was a really awesome experience, it felt really cool. There was definitely a lot of pressure, but my coaches helped talk me through it and I felt really prepared." The girls were joined by six area boys in the quarterfinals. Columbia's Cole Schulke and Keystone's Tristin Greene kicked it off by winning their Division III first-round matches early in the day. Schulke opened with an 8-1 win over Oak Harbor's Bodee Miller at 113, while Greene won a 15-0 technical fall over Milton-Union's Nathan Barker at 157. Greene, who placed fourth last year as a sophomore, is ranked No. 1 in the state and is trying to become the first state champion in Wildcats history. "I'm not planning on wasting any time … I'm planning on just running through the competition," Greene said. "I'm here to win it all and I don't think many of the other people are here for that. I'm not cutting and making weight is inherently tiring. So tomorrow, when I'm fully rested, I should dominate even more." The other four quarterfinalists came out of Division I and were kicked off by Elyria sophomore Kaiyon McKinney, who like Greene is projected to win a championship this weekend. McKinney opened with an 18-3 technical fall over Marysville's Gage Riley at 113. "I want to go out there and hit as many takedowns as I can try to hit and keep scoring points," McKinney said. "I just have to keep the motor going. I definitely felt a lot more comfortable going out there and competing (after placing seventh at state as a freshman). I didn't feel any pressure. It's just another match and I have to take them one match at a time." The next two through were St. Edward wrestlers and Avon residents Adam Butler and Ryan Bennett. Butler won 9-5 at 120 over Cincinnati LaSalle's Aiden Allen — ranked No. 3 in the state — and Bennett follow with a 3-1 win over Massillon Perry's Charles Curtis, who's ranked No. 4 in the state. Avon Lake senior Jack Marconi was the final boy to advance as he rolled to a 12-4 major decision over Grove City's Andrew Palmer at 165. "It's really cool to look up and see everybody in the stands," Marconi said. "All those new mats … it was just an exciting first match. I don't know why, but I wasn't feeling too great, so I'm kind of happy I was able to go out there and get that first win." The girls followed the three boys divisions, and Banyas — a three-time state placer in the state coaches tournaments — started things off with a bang when she pinned Findlay's Rylee Touhalisky in 1:56. Gould followed with a pin in 3:34 over Elgin's Hallie Winslow, and Patterson won 9-6 over Ada's Marley Bulerin, who's ranked No. 8 in the state. Alhashash wrapped up the run of quarterfinalists with a pin in 4:25 over Hilliard Bradley's Hailey Amador. The matches in the Schottenstein Center were a step up from the tournaments the girls competed in the past three years. "It's really cool, definitely better than some random high school," Alhashash said. "Having the opportunity to be here, with the brand new mats Rudis sponsored, it was really awesome." Contact Shaun Bennett at (440) 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on Twitter.