D-III District Wrestling: Five from area a win away from qualifying for state tournament

INDEPENDENCE — Five area wrestlers are one win away from a Division III state tournament bid. Clearview's Noah Huston (113) and Kameron Williams (138), Columbia's Bodey Gibbs (113) and Michael Frye (120) and Keystone's Justin Rounds (285) all won their first two matches at the Independence district tournament Friday, giving each of them two chances to qualify for state when competition resumes today at 10 a.m. Gibbs and Frye — who have combined to win the last two 106-pound state championships — both easily took care of business at their weight classes as each opened with a pin in their first match and secured a technical fall in the quarterfinals. Gibbs will face Lake Catholic's Chance Wuhr while Frye will face a familiar foe in Trinity's Derion Williams. The two met in the sectional, district and state final in 2024 with Williams winning the first two, but Frye winning the state title at 106. Clearview also had a business-like day with Huston and Williams winning their opening matches. Huston with a pair of technical falls and Willaims with a decision and a pin. "It's good, but I can do better," Huston said. "I want to keep trying to achieve better. I want to sharpen up my shots and play at my pace. It feels good to get to the semifinals. I was there last year and lost. I want to redeem myself this year." Rounds had to face a familiar foe in his quarterfinal — Columbia's A.J. Lamb. The pair were scoreless through the first two periods until Rounds got an escape. He clinched the win with a takedown in the final seconds. The Keystone senior also defeated Lamb in the 285 championship at the Lorain County League individual tournament. "When I got the escape, I knew he was going to try and do something a little bit reckless," Lamb said. "I just knew I had to keep in a good stance, keep control of the match and handle it as best as I could. I've just got to mentally prepare myself for a tough match (today) against a tough opponent." Black River entered with six wrestlers, but only three reached the quarterfinals. However, none of the Pirates quarterfinalists advanced. All three kids who lost in the opening round remain alive after securing consolation wins. As a whole, the area entered with 19 wrestlers, 11 of them will wrestle in the consolation draw and will need to win three matches in order to qualify for the state tournament. Wellington is the only Lorain County school who was eliminated on the first day as both competitors lost their matches. "The kids we have coming back I feel pretty confident that they'll come back (today) and get some wins," Black River coach Blake Owen said. "We had a rough day, we had some tough losses, but hopefully that will fire them up knowing that they're better than some of the kids they lost to." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.