The Ultimate Fan Guide to the 2010 Division 3 High School Wrestling Forecast by Brian Brakeman
Dan Cosimi - The Ohio Wrestling Network

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NUW

2010 HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING FORECAST (39th ANNUAL EDITION)
Brian F. Brakeman
January 26, 2010

Division 3

145 pounds

All-Ohio
State Champion: KF-1 Kyle Burns - Senior - Troy Christian High School - Troy, Ohio [2009:D3-152-2nd, 2008:D3-152-A]
2nd place: MH-1 Zach Noernberg - Senior - Cuyahoga Heights High School - Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio [2009:D3-140-2nd, 2008:D3-135-Q]
3rd place: KF-2 Andrew DeHart - Junior - Covington High School - Covington, Ohio [2009:D3-145-4th, 2008:D3-130-6th]
4th place: MH-2 Brandon Sommers - Senior - Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy - Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio [2009:D3-130-6th, 2008:D3-119-5th]
5th place: KF-3 Tyler Rayl - Senior - Blufton High School - Bluffton, Ohio [2009:D3-152-5th, 2008:D3-135-Q]
6th place: MH-3 Joe Kiefer - Junior - St. Peter Chanel High School - Bedford, Ohio [2009:D3-130-Q]
7th place: OC-1 Josh Goebel - Senior - Edgerton High School - Edgerton, Ohio [2009:D3-140-6th, 2008:D3-140-Q]
8th place: HE-1 Dominic Prezzia - Junior - St. Clairsville High School - St. Clairsville, Ohio [2009:D3-135-4th, 2008:D3-130-Q]

Qualifiers
9. OC-2 Anthony Ferber - Senior - South Central High School - Greenwich, Ohio [2009:D3-145-Q]
10. OC-3 Luke Boehm - Senior - Montpelier High School - Montpelier, Ohio [2009:D3-145-A]
11. KF-4 Kyle Reese - Senior - Mechanicsburg High School - Mechanicsburg, Ohio [2009:D3-140-Q]
12. MH-4 J.C. Giffin - Junior - Harding High School - Fairport Harbor, Ohio
13. HE-2 Nathan Blackwell - Senior - West Jefferson High School - West Jefferson, Ohio
15. HE-3 Jesse Dobson - Senior - Bellaire High School - Bellaire, Ohio
16. HE-4 Mike Rose - Junior - Martins Ferry High School - Martins Ferry, Ohio
20. OC-4 Tyler Baer - Senior - Elmwood High School - Bloomdale, Ohio

Challengers
14. MH-5 Tyler Topp - Junior - Northwestern High School - West Salem, Ohio
17. HE-5 Vince Pickett - Sophomore - Westfall High School - Williamsport, Ohio
18. HE-6 Tyler Gierhart - Senior - Amanda-Clearcreek High School - Amanda, Ohio
19. MH-6 Jake Brown - Senior - Pymatuning Valley High School - Andover, Ohio
21. HE-7 James Alexander - Junior - Centerburg High School - Centerburg, Ohio
22. KF-5 Cody DeLacerda - Senior - McComb High School - McComb, Ohio
23. MH-7 Colin Styer - Senior - Oberlin High School - Oberlin, Ohio
24. OC-5 Taylor Hoepf - Senior - Seneca East High School - Attica, Ohio
25. MH-8 Mike Kline - Senior - Brooklyn High School - Brooklyn, Ohio
26. OC-6 Jared Deatrick - Senior - Paulding High School - Paulding, Ohio

I suspect that this weight class will be one of the most interesting in the Division 3 competition. Despite the fact that there are two returning state runners-up here, there is enough returning power to make their state ambitions by no means a surety. With Tessari apparently firmly entrenched at 140 pounds, I suspect that some who anticipated eventually competing at that class may instead opt to stay here. Should they win their districts, Burns and Noernberg will be seeded apart but there is plenty of firepower at both of their districts to change that picture.

Easily, the two strongest districts are at Maple Heights and Fairmont. Both have three or more superior wrestlers but with little depth behind that top group. One of the most amazing stories of last year's meet was the performance of Kyle Burns. Wrestling up at least one weight class, he earned a district runner-up spot at Fairmont. The next weekend he duplicated that finish winning three bouts and carrying Troy Christian to the state title. This year he will move down a weight class to try and capture a state title. To be honest I was amazed last year that he kept pace with boys that seemed bigger, stronger and more athletic but the bigger should disappear now that he is at 145 pounds. He has missed the first six weeks of the schedule but should be healthy at tournament time. He is very good on the top but Howe, for example, was able to get an early advantage that negated his normal game plan.

Kettering Fairmont District
Two-time state qualifier DeHart will be a stern challenger at the same sectional. He was fourth last year, losing a low scoring bout (not his style) in the state semifinals. He was second at the GMVWA to Stephens but has been superior at every other contest. His style is substantially different than Burns and it will be interesting to see which has to make the bigger adjustment. Rayl, already a three-time state qualifier, broke the ice and placed for the first time, nailing down a 5th. He is very active and was a semifinalist but lost to Burns' riding ability. He beat Walters in the quarterfinals last year and was second to McGinnis at Allen County this year. All of this was at 152 pounds but he supposedly is headed here. He, like so many others, will soon have to make a decision. State qualifier Reese is at that same sectional and that has the potential to mess up the district bracketing. Reese had a district third after an early loss to Hancock was followed by four consolation wins. He went 1-2 in Columbus including a loss to Sonnenberg. This year he won at Xenia. Beyond this quartet it's a bit of a bleak landscape, with DeLaCerda and Conyers other possibilities.

Maple Heights District
Noernberg will have his hands full at Maple Heights with several top notch 140's. He had an interesting last two weeks of 2009's wrestling season. He was pinned in the district quarterfinals but came back to win four consolation bouts to place 3rd. That last win was critical - it was by a narrow 3-2 score - because the loser (Trusnik) had to face defending state champ Zac Hancock in the first round. Noernberg, in a much better spot, won three decisions and was face-to-face with Hancock but in the final round not the first round - a much better outcome. This year he was second at the Dies and 1st most other places. Kiefer had the opposite situation at 130 pounds. He lost a one-point decision to Sommers for third place and had to face Tessari in the first round and ended 1-2 at the state meet. He was third at Brecksville (defeating Beauch) and second at Solon and the CIT (losing to Beauch). He is a fearless competitor who keeps getting better (and bigger). Sommers, who was third at that 130 pounds district over Kiefer, was a state semifinalist but lost in that round and had to default to 6th. He is amazingly good on top. He came very close to beating Salupo at the Ironman, losing 5-4 and again ended up 6th. You do not want to let him get an early lead because it will be very difficult to catch up. There are two solid contenders for that fourth state berth. Topp has been a strong performer for the past two years. He was seventh at Medina, for example and knows how to win. Giffin, also a junior, may be the only wrestler on the Fairport Harbor team but he is a good one. He won two district bouts last year and then lost in overtime to Trusnik in the consolations and I watched him qualify one round later. A long shot here might be Brown.

Owens Community College District
The Owens District is not overly strong but does have two returning state qualifiers. Goebel was the district champ last year, with three easy wins and a close battle with Reindel. Two more wins put him in the state semifinals where he lost by three to Noernberg and dropped to 6th. Goebel does not wrestle a big time schedule but it has not seemingly hurt him in the past. The next two boys are very close in talent. Last year Ferber defeated Boehm 9-7 in overtime in their go-to-state bout. Ferber went on to the Columbus where he went 1-2 and Boehm had to be satisfied with being noted as a state alternate. Both should qualify this year. Ferber has had a busy schedule wrestling as high at 160 pounds. He was 1st at Black River, for example but has drifted down to this class. Boehm was second at Arcadia, losing to Sonnenberg 6-5. There is little depth after this trio with Baer and Deatrick possibilities.

Heath District
One and only one, name stands out at Heath. Prezzia was a state semifinalist last year after defeating, in overtime, the prohibitive favorite at his weight class. It was a major upset. Unfortunately, eventual state champ Tyler Powers defeated him 3-2 in the semis and Prezzia wound up 4th. This year he was 1st at Barnesville and St. Clairsville and has finalist potential. I think Blackwell is probably next best. He lost a close 7-5 bout to Crooks in his go-to-state bout and this year defaulted to fourth at West Jefferson. Dobson and Rose are solid Eastern District wrestlers. Both won two district bouts last year, falling short of qualification. This year Dobson won at Shadyside while Rose was second at Barnesville, losing to Prezzia, 7-6. Other possibilities might be Gierhart and Alexander, with Pickett, who beat Reese at West Jefferson, moving up.