Knights crown three Sectional champions West Holmes sends nine grapplers to Claymont District
Not bad for a rebuilding year!The West Holmes wrestling team crowned three Sectional champions, added a second, two thirds and a quartet of fourths en route to a second-place finish at the Division II Sectional wrestling tournament Saturday, Feb. 20, at Meadowbrook.
The Knights qualified nine wrestlers and two more alternates of the 13 grapplers who competed at Meadowbrook.
"That was by far... this was very rewarding," West Holmes coach Jeff Woods said. "Our records don't always show how good these guys are, simply because of the competition we face. To be the best you have to compete against the best, and we do that throughout the year on good years and bad years.
"This would've been the year to possibly schedule down a little bit, but we opted not to. It's nice to go through sectionals like that. We finished 8.5 points out of first. Minerva edged us out. But this year, I'll definitely take that," Woods added.
Freshmen Max Rohskopf (119), Drew Jolley (125) and senior Zach Didinger (171) were sectional champions. Sophomore Justin Stitzlein (135) finished second, and Marshall Overholt (sophomore, 130) and Chris Larson (junior, 160) took third. Juniors Tyler Miller (140), Jesse Etzwiler (189) and Ryan Sowers (285) finished fourth. The top four qualifiers in each weight class advance.
Tyler Brown (112) and Suntana Chanthakoun (215) placed fifth and will serve as alternates.
The Knights are a young team that didn't appear to be phased by the stakes at the sectional.
"We're definitely young, and maybe these guys don't know any better," Woods said. "Hopefully, we can stay loose and have fun through districts. Last weekend was a great weekend. If we wrestle well, I think we can get some guys through. The nice thing about sectionals and districts, and the kids proved it, hard work comes to the forefront. We had some guys get out of sectionals who have really worked hard. Their record may not show it,
"The sky is the limit, come districts," Woods continued. "I've always looked at it as anybody who qualifies for the tournament has a chance of getting out.
I've had guys like Colt Sponseller, who walked through the tournament, and we had our first State qualifier Jason Franks, who went with a 15-15 record.
District wrestling action gets under way Friday, Feb. 26, at 4 p.m. at Claymont High School. The championship and State-qualifying rounds begin Saturday, Feb. 27, at 9 a.m.
"We also had four guys qualify for the junior high State tournament. This was a good weekend," Woods said. Ray O'Donnell was third at 176, sixth-grader Cole Woods was third at 74, Grant Raber was fourth at 132 and Conway Baldridge was fifth at 154. Six wrestlers from each weight class qualify for State at the junior high level. Grayson Miller finished seventh at 146 pounds and will serve as an alternate.