Little Giant state wrestlers weigh the pros and cons of facing familiar opponents at state meet

FREMONT – Is it better to know an opponent or go in blind? If one has wrestled his opponent before, is it better to have won, and possess a mental advantage, or to have lost, providing extra motivation for revenge?

As Fremont Ross’ trio of wrestlers, Garrett Barth, Lamonte Chapman and Caleb Wood, make their way this weekend to Columbia for the state tournament, the Little Giants each try to figure out whether familiarity with an opponent is an advantage or not as they try to position themselves for a place on the podium.

“From a coach’s standpoint, it’s better for us to know who the kid is, to scout him out and see what he does so we can build off that in training up the kids in setups and takedowns,” Ross coach Chad Hetrick said. “So, it’s a benefit for us.”

Also making the trip to Columbus is Jackson Weissinger, serving as an alternate at 160 pounds. Weisseinger will get a chance to compete in the event of an injury or a wrestler failing to make weight.

Chapman, who finished second in the state as a sophomore, enters the final meet of his career with a 35-5 record this season. His opening-round opponent in the 138-pound weight class is 39-0 Daniel Segura of Dublin Scioto.

Chapman won’t know anything more about his opponent until they meet on the mat, but it’s not the first time he’s gone to Columbus in the dark.

“I’m just going in there,” Chapman said. “My sophomore year I went into it blind, but I ended up taking second in the state. Then my junior year, I went in too confident so I didn’t do as good. Now I have to do better than last year. It’s my last year, I have to do better.”

At 170 pounds, Barth (42-3, and winner of his second-straight district championship last week), will get a rematch with Harrison’s Simon Shirley (33-9). The two met earlier this season at the Dave Rohr Invite where Shirley quickly got the better on Barth and pinned him in under 30 seconds.

“He caught me in a cradle and beat me in that,” Barth said. “This week I’ve been practicing a lot on how to defend cradles, how to finish my shots and hopefully be able to transition that into my match against him this weekend. I’m excited to face him one last time.

“I’d rather know the guy I’m going to be facing, now I know what he’s going to try to do on me,” he added. “He’s going to go out knowing he has a win against me and thinking he’s going to get another one. I want to take that to my advantage.”

Hetrick said Barth has the mentality one needs when facing an opponent for a second time and trying to even the score.

“Barth, he’s the type to want to get revenge, that’s his mindset,” Hetrick said. “He’s not going to let it bother him, but he likes to still go after the kid, even though he’s been beaten. He’s got the mental toughness it takes to step up to the plate. I think he’ll be fine as far as that goes.”

Like Barth, Wood (40-7) knows his first opponent at the 190-pound class at the state meet but, unlike his teammate, is hoping for a similar result. Wood and Canton McKinley’s Micha Clemson (45-7) crossed paths at the Dave Rohr Invite where Wood pinned his opponent in the second period, giving Wood one of his 30 wins this season by pinfall – tying the program’s single-season record.

Wood said he is cautious about being overconfident as he makes his first trip to the state finals.

“I’m confident in that I beat him but I still have to wrestling him just like I wrestled him the first time, no matter what,” Wood said. “I’ve only wrestled, I think, four kids in my entire bracket. The rest of them, I have no idea who they are. Who is this kid? How does he wrestle? You have no idea.”

In preparation for the biggest matches of the season, the Ross wrestlers traveled Monday and Tuesday to Genoa Area High School to workout with state qualifiers from around the area. If gave them a chance to compete against top-flight competition in preparation for performing on the state’s biggest stage.

“To get that quality in one room and go through a practice it keeps the kids mentally focused,” Hetrick said. “And that way, we’re not just down here wresting with four guys, we have a team we can go with and get a good workout in.”

The competition begins Thursday at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center. The Division I first round is scheduled to begin at 5:35 p.m. with the first round of consolation matches beginning at 8:25.

Saturday, the championship quarterfinals get under way at 11:20 a.m. with consolation round two beginning at 1:40. The championship semifinals get underway at 6:30 with the consolation quarterfinals at 8:40.

The final day of the wrestling season begins Saturday at 10 a.m. with consolations matches leading up to the parade of champions at 5:30 and the championships matches at 5:45.

Hetrick said his wrestlers’ advancing to the state meet is a culmination of years of hard work, both from the athletes and the coaches of the entire Fremont wrestling program.

“These kids have been through a lot of coaches since they’ve been little, it’s all built up to this point,” Hetrick said. “I’m fortunate myself and my staff get to take them to this level but it takes a community to build champions. It’s not just myself or somebody on the coaching staff, it’s taken a lot of coaching to get them where they’re at now.”