Wrestling: Versailles top seed in wide-open Division III regional

The Versailles Tigers hold the top seed at the Division III, Region 24 dual team wrestling tournament on Saturday. With a talented field that distinction is an honor, but it’s certainly not a guarantee to get the Tigers back to the team state championships.

“I think it’s going to be pretty tight,” Versailles coach AJ Bey said. “ I think any of the top five can win the whole thing. It’ll be really interesting.”

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Behind Versailles is No. 2 Miami East, No. 3 Troy Christian, No. 4 Covington and No. 5 Allen East. No. 6 Coldwater hosts the tournament.

There are eight regionals per division with one champion per region. The eight champions advance to the state finals Feb. 10 at St. John Arena in Columbus. The Tigers reached the D-III state semifinals last season before falling to eventual-champ Genoa.

Versailles, which lost four wrestlers from last year’s state semifinal team, is 13-1 in dual meets. The lone loss was to Genoa at the Napoleon Duals. Versailles opens the tournament with the winner of No. 8 Columbus Grove and No. 9 Bluffton.

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“I think the whole team is wrestling pretty solid,” Bey said. “We at Versailles kind of map our year around this. We have a lot of kids that play two and three sports. We don’t have kids who wrestle all year round. This is a chance for us to bring a state title home. This is something we put into the kids’ heads – we can win a state title if we put 14 kids out there and compete.”

In other regionals:

Springboro holds the area’s top seed in the D-I regionals, entering as the No. 2 seed at host Beavercreek. Among other high seeds in the D-I, Region 8 bracket are No. 4 Butler, No. 5 Beavercreek, No. 6 Fairmont, No. 7 Centerville and No. 10 Lebanon. Mason is No. 1.

“Our regional is very balanced with a lot of really good teams this year,” said Springboro coach Fred Boulton, whose Panthers lost 45-24 to the Comets in last year’s regional final. “We’ve been trying to climb Mount Mason for a number of years. We haven’t been able to beat them. We’ve lost to them in the state dual series maybe three of the last four years. They’ve kind of been our kryptonite.”

In D-II, Region 15, Chaminade Julienne is No. 4, Eaton is No. 5, Carroll is No. 6 and Oakwood No. 7. Hamilton Ross, which hosts the bracket, enters as the top seed. Host Graham is the No. 1 seed in the D-II, Region 16 bracket.

In D-III, Brookville is No. 4 in the Region 23 bracket. Blanchester is No. 1.

“I absolutely love the tournament,” Boulton said. “I think it’s the best thing we’ve done. We’ve got 18 teams in our region and you’re going to battle it out for one champion in one day? It’s going to be something amazing.”

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