D-I District Wrestling: Avon senior Eian Englehart earns first trip to Columbus with championship

WADSWORTH — Senior Eian Englehart may be Avon's lone representative at the Division I state tournament next weekend in Columbus, but he knows he didn't get there alone. Englehart won the 215-pound district title Saturday by defeating Ashland's Drayston Miller 5-0 to send him to Value City Arena for the first time. Englehart was quick to praise his coaches and teammates for their role in the accomplishment. "It's really nice for all the hard work that me and my drill partners put in has shown," Englehart said. "To get the opportunity to wrestle for my school, my coaches and my teammates means the world to me." Avon's Anthony Mrosko (144) finished one win shy of the state tournament, losing an 8-2 decision to Louisville's Aric Criss, a returning state placer. Mrosko then lost the fifth-place match to determine alternate status. Elyria will send a pair to the state tournament in junior Bennett Wachter, who finished runner-up at 106, and Blake Cancel, who finished fourth at 144. Senior Gatlin Hassler (150) came up one match short of reaching the state tournament when he was pinned by Walsh Jesuit's Tyler Tirabassi. Hassler was then pinned by Aurora's Grant Eaton in the fifth-place match. Amherst freshman Jax Percival (106) made it the furthest for the Comets but fell two wins shy of earning state qualification when Austintown Fitch's Chayce Kemble pinned him in the consolation bracket in his second match of the day. Englehart earned his state berth when he pinned Louisville's Jakeb Beard in 54 seconds in the semifinals, his first match of the day. He then followed it with the win against Miller to earn one of four top seeds at the state tournament. "It's hard to beat someone twice and he's a really good wrestler," Englehart said of Miller. "I just had to stick to my game plan and don't get frazzled out there. There's always room for improvement." Wachter is also looking for improvement after a 1-0 loss to North Canton Hoover's Constantinos Paxos in the final in which Wachter took good shots but was unable to finish his offense. Wachter had clinched his state berth with a 15-0 technical fall over Uniontown Lake's Andrew Cassetty. Paxos entered the tournament projected to finish fourth at the state tournament by Matscouts' Josh Lowe, while Wachter was projected to take fifth. "I expected to make it to state, no matter what," Wachter said. "(In the final) I didn't wrestle to my full potential. I didn't finish my shots. It's all right. Hopefully I can get that win back (at the state tournament)." Cancel began the day by being pinned by eventual district champion and projected state champion Mason Rohr of Massillon Perry in the semifinals. He battled back with a 4-3 decision over North Royalton's Shane Heil, who beat Mrosko in the placement match, to reach the third-place match. Cancel began the match but was forced to withdraw due to injury. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Standings: 1. Massillon Perry 241, 2. Louisville 175, 3. Ashland 153, 4. Medina 101, 5. Wadsworth 99.5, 6. Austintown Fitch 95, 7. Walsh Jesuit 93.5, 8. North Royalton 66, 9. North Canton Hoover 55,5, 9. Aurora 55.5, 11. Uniontown Lake 54.5, 12. Mayfield 53.5, 13. Brunswick 52.5, 14. Elyria 47.5, 14. Barberton 47.5, 16. Strongsville 44, 17. Avon 43, 18. Valley Forge 38, 19. Fremont Ross 37.5, 20. Canton McKinley 31, 21. Hudson 24.5, 22. Painesville Riverside 20, 23. Brush 19.5, 24. Canton GlenOak 19, 24. Massillon 19, 26. New Philadelphia 17.5, 27. St. Ignatius 15, 28. Painesville Harvey 13, 29. Berea-Midpark 11.5, 30. Wooster 10, 31. Eastlake North 8, 32. Lakewood 7, 33. Amherst 4.5, 34. Cleveland Rhodes 4, 35. Cleveland Heights 3.5, 36. Nordonia 3, 36. Bedford 3, 38. Euclid 2.5, 39. Stow 1, 40. Garfield Heights 40. 106 — Constantinos Paxos (Hoov) d. Bennett Wachter (Ely), 1-0. 113 — Dominic DiFilippo (Med) p. Gaspar Raymundo-Marcos (Barb), 3:52. 120 — Taegan Gilmore (Med) d. Asilbek Anvaroz, 13-7. 126 — Lincoln Rohr (Per) t.f. Michael Rusinko (Str), 18-0. 132 — Liston Seibert (Per) d. Blake Frantz (Wad), 7-2. 138 — Mason Bauer (Ash) inj. def. Seth Cavazos (Per). 144 — Mason Rohr (Per) p. Kolten Mellon (Wad), 4:50; THIRD — Aric Criss (Lou) med. def. Blake Cancel (Ely); FIFTH — Shane Heil (NR) t.f. Anthony Mrosko (Avon), 16-0. 150 — Guardian Miller (Ash) d. Brayden Miles (Bru), 7-2; FIFTH — Grant Eaton (Aur) p. Gatlin Hassler (Ely), 3:16. 157 — Kyle Jardine (Wad) d. Lukas Jordan (Lake), 8-5 (SV). 165 — Tyler Rowles (NR) d. Adonis Kelley (McK), 8-4. 175 — Brennan Warwick (Per) p. Drake Brasiel (Aur), 3:26. 190 — Caige Horak (Per) t.f. Frankie Salvino (Mass), 17-2. 215 — Eian Englehart (Avon) d. Drayston Martin (Ash), 5-0. 285 — Cliff Nicholson (Med) p. Jacob Earnest (Wad), 4:11.