Versailles looks to cap emotional season on state wrestling podium

The Versailles Tigers are state tournament veterans with 18 team state championships in six different sports. The high school wrestling team knows Columbus well with two individual state champions and 37 placers overall.

There’s much to celebrate for the Tigers’ four state qualifiers this year. But this year’s tournament has a different feel.

The Tigers have dealt with an emotional season and the loss of two people close to the program. Shelby Bey, 27, the daughter of assistant coach Jerry Bey and the niece of head coach AJ Bey, passed away in November. In January, sophomore wrestler Trevor Huber, 16, was killed in an ATV accident.

»RELATED: Brother, sister duo make state wrestling history

“Trevor was a district qualifier last season as a freshman, and was having a great season prior to his passing,” AJ Bey said of Huber, who wrestled at 132 pounds for the Tigers. “Versailles wrestling has always been like family, but both of these tragedies have strengthened that bond even more. The wrestlers, coaches, families and community have all come together to show support and be there for one another. In a time when the team could have shut down and just given up, they have risen up and wrestled their hearts out the past several weeks in honor of Trevor.”

The Tigers head into state #HuberStrong with four wrestlers looking to place in honor of Bey and Huber. Seniors Jacob Poling and Tyler Gigandet and juniors Isaac Grilliot and Cael Bey – Shelby's brother – qualified for the Division III state meet that starts Thursday and runs through Saturday.

»RELATED: Strong showing for GWOC at district tourney

Butler: Senior Josh Suddeth missed much of the season with an injury, but bounced back to become a two-time state qualifier in D-I. Sudddeth, who is 17-8 at 113 pounds, finished fourth at the district tournament and enters state with 101 career wins. The Aviators team recorded 383 pins in their annual PIN Leukemia for the Blake LaForce Foundation. Pledges are made for each pin and the Aviators raised more than $1,300 this season.

Centerville: The Elks send three to the D-I state tournament, led by senior Drew Wiechers (42-2 at 160) who placed sixth last season. A pair of Elks made program history as Luke Acuna (39-7 at 113) and Damion Ryan (39-6 at 120) became the first frosh tandem to qualify in the same season.

Beavercreek: Junior Gavin Bell (16-2 at 152) is the first Beaver to qualify for state all three seasons.

Wayne: Junior 285-pounder Jacob Padilla is one of 10 wrestlers in D-I and 20 overall who enter state undefeated. Padilla is 38-0 and the favorite to win the heavyweight division.

Chaminade Julienne: The Eagles send four to the state tournament with junior Isaiah Worthen (126), junior Nicholas Machuca (152), sophomore David Frederick (170) and senior Hunter Johns (182). Worthen (36-4) is two wins shy of 100 for his career. Johns scored his 100th career pin in the district semifinals and has 101 overall for the CJ career record. As for Machuca, he'll be well supported. His father Al is an assistant coach, his sisters Kate and Hanna are part of the stats and video crew and his mother Amy is "the glue in the stands leading the charge," CJ coach Joel Sanchez said.

Graham: The D-II Falcons go for their 19th straight team championship behind 11 wrestlers who qualified for state. In February the team won its seventh straight team dual state championship, six coming in D-II and last year's title in D-I.

Miami East: Sophomore Olivia Shore (23-8) and freshman Max Shore (43-3) made state history as the first brother-sister combination to qualify for the state tournament. Shore wrestles at 106 and Max at 113. Older brother Graham won a state title last season at 120 pounds as a senior. Olivia is also the second female to qualify for state joining Mantua Crestwood's Paige Nemec who did it in 2010. Nemec won her first-round match at state.

Thurgood Marshall: Senior Ayyoub Muhammed (32-3) has a chance to become the program's first state placer in school history. The two-time state qualifier lost both of his matches last season, but those losses came to wrestlers who finished fourth and fifth. A podium finish (top eight) would make Muhammad the first Dayton Public Schools wrestler to place since the late 1990s.

West Carrollton: Junior Tyrone Keeton won four consolation matches at the D-II district meet in Wilmington to become the Pirates' first state qualifier since 2009. Keeton (39-14) beat Oakwood junior A.J. Lewandowski to finish third. Lewandowski (34-8) also qualified for state.

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