“In my mind, I felt out of it,” Branham said after claiming his first title with a 8-6 overtime decision against the returning state placer. “I saw the scoreboard and it just clicked in my mind.”
Branham ran off five of the next six points to force overtime before recording the winning takedown halfway through the one-minute sudden victory period.
“It took me four years to do it,” Branham said. “It feels good to win it my senior year; I just picked it up and started attacking more. I just never gave up.”
While Branham was enjoying his first title, Wayne senior Jarrod Hardrick was smiling at a little vindication.
Hardrick, who finished second last season, battled through the 195-pound division as the eighth seed to claim the title 5-2 over Cameron Shaw of Washington Court House.
“I was a little disappointed seeing my seed,” Hardrick said. “Last year, I came so close. To get the whole thing means a lot.”
Graham claimed four titles in cruising to the title with 295 points. Campbell County (Ky.) was second with 202 while Miamisburg was the next local team, finishing seventh with 119.5 points.
“I thought we had some guys step up and really wrestle well,” Graham coach Jeff Jordan said after placing 10. “Our goal was to have 10 placers and we wanted seven in the finals. This is a great tournament to come to; we need this shot of intensity heading into (the duals with) Blair and St. Ed’s.”
Bellbrook’s Cameron Kelly took a new approach in claiming his first Holiday title.
The Eagle 113-pounder decided to relax and have fun after being frustrated on the first day.
“I joked with my coaches and teammates and didn’t think about (the match) until I was on the mat,” Kelly said after claiming a 5-0 win over Graham’s Eli Seipel in the finals. “I think I was over-thinking things so I decided to just not think about it.”
Middletown got a second-place finish from Jacob Globke at 160 and fourth-place finish from unseeded Anthony Jagle at 106 in finishing 31st. Globke dropped a 22-7 decision to Graham’s Bo Jordan in the finals.
“Jagle has been wrestling really well lately,” Middletown coach Nick Reiter said. “Jacob handled everyone to the finals, but when you are wrestling the top kid in the country, you have to wrestle like you have nothing to lose. I think if we keep wrestling the same way we did this weekend we will see a lot of great things this year.”
Lakota West finished ninth with 99.5 points behind fourth-place finishes by Kevin Leonhardt (138), Andy Cress (145) and Eli McBurrows (220).
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