Saturday, they will be at a different kind of state tournament. The duo will join their teammates in the Division III state team tournament beginning at 10 a.m. at St. John Arena in Columbus.
“For a couple of years, we were the Jacob and Christian show,” Dayton Christian coach Ted Bray said. “This shows how far we have come as a program.”
Danishek and Clary were just two of six individual state qualifiers last season, but the team title means a little more to them.
Dayton Christian opens the tournament as the second seed against seventh seeded Bishop Hartley at 1:15 p.m.
Danishek missed time with an injury as did state qualifier Alex Becker. Transfer Michael May had to sit out the first part of the season due to OHSAA guidelines and a bad case of the flu bug hit the room just prior to the start of the state team tournament.
“Having everyone back is big for us,” Bray said.
And healthy comes down to more than just the Super Seven – Danishek, Clary, Hunter Bray, May, Nick Vestal, Becker and Nathan Jackson.
Dayton Christian could face top seeded Delta in the finals.
The two teams have taken turns being ranked first and second in the state all season.
“Our kids are tired of hearing things about Delta,” Bray said. “They are tired of hearing how much better they are than we are.”
With Clary and Danishek coming in as freshmen, the Warriors were looking for a coach and Bray was looking for a chance to be a head coach after not having much luck in past interviews.
“This is the program (former athletic director) Brad Pompos build,” Bray said. “He took a risk on me as the head coach when no one else wanted to give me a chance.”
While the Warriors were expected to be there, Wilmington will enter the Division II tournament as a surprise team.
The Hurricanes are the lone third seed to advance to the state tournament. Their reward is a first round match with top seeded Graham at 10 a.m.
“We are going to keep it in perspective,” Wilmington coach Kelly Tolliver said of facing the defending champs. “We are a pretty level headed bunch. We are excited, but we have been put through some pretty adverse situations to get there.”
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