Staff photo / Greg Macafee. Garfield’s Keegan Sell (left) is named state champion by the official on Sunday at the state wrestling tournament in Columbus.

COLUMBUS — Hunter Andel called it a dream come true and then his teammate and training partner Keegan Sell relished in the fact that it actually was.

As Sell paused in the middle of an answer, he looked out on the floor at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center and took it all in. He and Andel had just accomplished something they’ve been dreaming about since they were kids.

“Hunter works so hard, I’m so happy for him,” Sell said. “I’m just so proud of him and I’m so happy for him.

“It means so much. We’ve been wrestling forever together, since like our youth. But we do so much stuff outside of wrestling too. It’s just great that he can end his high school career with a win. Only so many kids get to end their high school career with a win and he did it. So I’m just so happy for him. I’m so proud of him.”

Andel won his title before Sell Sunday night, but he was prophetic in how he would feel if they were both able to capture a title in the same year.

“As good as it feels for me to win it, it would feel the same way if Keegan wins it,” Andel said. “That’s been my dream throughout high school, for me and him to share a state title. Last year it was what we came chasing for and we fell short. But this year we were able to focus more and put in more work and I think we will both come out on top this year.”

And it was accomplished just like that. Andel downed Rootstown’s Cody Coontz in the Division III 165-pound final with a 3-0 decision. Then just two matches later, Sell took down Archbold’s Wyat Ripke with a dominant 6-4 decision in the 190-pound final.

While Sell was unfamiliar with his opponent for the most part, Andel had a good understanding of Coontz. They had just faced off in the district title match, with Andel coming out on top in a 4-2 decision, and they had also competed against each other at other times throughout their high school career.

The Garfield senior owned the all-time series against Coontz, but he knew that things would be more difficult this time around, especially with the way Coontz was wrestling.

“I knew that he was going to kind of be sitting back and waiting for my double-leg, so I was able to kind of get a few single-leg shots,” Andel said. “So with this match, I wanted to stay a little lower in my position because the whole time he would really only have a chance at scoring if he got to my legs.”

Andel executed the game plan to perfection, as the match went scoreless through the first two periods before he scored three points in the final period. He tallied an escape five seconds into the final two minutes, and then scored a takedown with 24 seconds left in the match to secure the win.

“I just came out here and I’ve competed in so many big tournaments throughout my life in-season and out-of-season and I was just super focused and I went out there and got it done,” Andel said.

Leading into their state championship match, Ripke had only lost three times all season long, but after watching a few tapes, Sell said Ripke reminded him of Ayerville’s Abe DeLano, who he faced in the semifinals. So, with a game plan in mind, Sell strategically planned out his shots throughout the match and scored a takedown in each of the first two periods and then executed a beautiful reversal in the third to all but put the match away.

“I watched a match of him earlier this morning and he kinda wrestled the same way that the DeLano kid did,” Sell said. “They were both really tall and lanky, so I just realized that was what I had to do and it worked.”

While Sell put in the work throughout this season, he was not only thankful for Andel but was appreciative of the way his senior teammate pushed him throughout the season in order to have success on the biggest stage.

“He pushes me and he’s such a huge reason that I wrestle,” Sell said. “He’s the only reason that I’m here tonight, without him, I wouldn’t be anything. I owe so much to him and I can’t thank him enough.”

The Garfield coaching staff came to Columbus prepared as well. As they walked through the Schottenstein Center late Sunday night, both Andel and Sell donned state championship shirts. Andel’s said first state champion in Garfield history, while Sell’s said second.

After they set the foundation, there’s bound to be more to come.

gmacafee@tribtoday.com