OREGON – Call them the Little Giants 6-pack.
Half a dozen Fremont Ross wrestlers extended their season this weekend at the Division I sectional tournament at Oregon Clay.
Charles Chapman
Deshea Pettiford
There, four Little Giants brought home weight division championships, along with a second- and third-place finish as well, punching their tickets to next weekend’s district tournament.
“They’ve been working really hard, all four of them,” Ross coach Chad Hetrick said of his sectional champion wrestlers. “The kids are going to have to be ready to go. We’ll prepare them the best can coming in and see what happens (next week).”
Charles Chapman (126 pounds), Deshea Pettiford (132), Garrett Barth (170) and Caleb Wood (195) all went 4-0 to capture their sectional titles.
Chapman clinched first place with a 17-2 technical fall win over Mike Daly or Clay.
“Charles has been working hard and he has his goals set, he wants to try to make it out of districts,” Hetrick said. “He kept a good head on his shoulders this weekend and went and did what he was supposed to do.”
Pettiford’s final win of the weekend came against Anthony Wayne’s Nick Schneider with a 4-0 decision.
Garrett Barth
Caleb Wood
Barth won a 10-5 decision over St. John’s A.J. Savona. Hetrick said of all the Little Giants advancing to districts, Barth has the easiest path to the state meet.
“He’s wrestling tough. There really wasn’t anybody there who can hang with him,” Hetrick said. “Just looking forward, he’s projected to win districts so we’ll see how it turns out. He has to work hard this week.”
Wood, in addition to his championship-match pin of Findlay’s Zach Bryant, picked up three pins this weekend, upping his season total to 27. He is three pins shy of matching Ross’ single-season record of 30.
“We’re shooting for 31,” Hetrick said. “Thirty ties it.”
The weekend was not without its bumps in the road, however.
Jackson Weisseinger finished third at 160 pounds with a 4-1 record, having lost in the championship semifinals to Findlay’s Dru Hernandez.
Jackson Weissinger
Lamonte Chapman
“Jackson is going to have to work his butt off (next week),” Hetrick said. “There’s a lot of good kids at 60.”
Also, Lamonte Champan suffered lost an 8-7 decision in the championship at 138 pounds, losing to Perrysburg’s Alex Garee.
“He basically got caught,” Hetrick said. “He tried to throw the kid, the kid ended up putting him in a reversal and scored a takedown by putting him on his back and that tied the matchup. Then (Garee) gets the takedown at the end to win the match. (Chapman) just got caught trying to throw somebody. He really didn’t need to force it.”
Heavyweight Mike Thomas finished fifth in his weight class, making him an alternate for the district in case another competitor fails to make weight, is injured or otherwise cannot compete.
The Division I Northwest district tournament begins at 4 p.m. Friday, March 2 at Perrysburg High School and continues the following day beginning at 10 a.m. The top four placers qualify to the state meet with fifth place being an alternate.
Division I wrestling sectional
Fremont Ross individuals by weight class
106 – David Boda, 1-2
113 – Brock Firstenberger, 0-2
120 – Carter Smith, 1-2
126 – Charles Chapman, 4-0, first place,
132 – Deshea Pettiford, 4-0, first place
138 – Lamonte Chapman, 3-1, second place
145 – None
152 – Brandon Garcia, 2-2
160 – Jackson Weissinger, 4-1, third place
170 – Garrett Barth, 4-0, first place
182 – None
195 – Caleb Wood, 4-0, first place
220 – None
Heavyweight – Mike Thomas, 3-2, fifth place – district alternate