“The last two weeks, we have had nothing to worry about,” Centerville senior 160-pounder Alexander Bair said after defending his sectional title Saturday. “We could just go in and keep working hard in the room.”
That work paid off as the Elks went 6-1 in championship matches in advancing 11 to the district tournament. They claimed the team title with 251 points. Springboro, which also advanced 11, finished second with 207.5.
“We’ve got some studs and some young guys who just keep getting better,” Centerville coach Alan Bair said. “We have a good system in place and the kids believe in it. We are wrestling well this time of year.”
Alexander Bair, the coach’s son, had to work for his 6-1 win over Joe Kylin of Springboro in the finals, finally breaking the match open in the third period with a takedown.
“I was just trying to open him up some,” Bair said. “It was nice to just go out there for fun. (When you have the team title wrapped up) you’ve got less pressure.”
Having been to a sectional final in the past also helped Northmont’s Nick Broyles have some fun in the finals.
The defending sectional champ defended his sectional title with a 10-0 major decision over Lakota West’s Andrew Acuna in the finals at 132 in the Centerville 1 sectional.
“There was not as much pressure because it was not a new experience,” Broyles said. “Before every match I tell myself I am going to win and it has me wrestling to win, not to lose. That has given me a lot of confidence.”
Lakota West won the Centerville 1 sectional with 222 points. Miamisburg, which advanced eight, was second with 176.
While Bair and Broyles were having fun, Sidney 285 Levi Fitzpatrick was just hoping to live up to his seed.
Fitzpatrick, a senior, had not wrestled since eighth grade and did not place in the GWOC, yet entered as the fourth seed.
“I was seeded fourth and I was just hoping I could make it to my seed,” Fitzpatrick said after knocking off top-seeded Jamie West of Northmont in the semis and second-seeded Tim Tanner-Blair of Lakoat West to claim the title.
“The GWOC was an eye-opener for me,” Fitzpatrick said. “It told me I had to do something. My goal coming in was just to do my best. I haven’t wrestled since eighth grade and I just wanted to go out there and have no regrets. I just want to see how far I can go.”
The top four in each weight class advanced to Friday and Saturday’s Division I district tournament at Trent Arena at Fairmont High School.
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