Staff photo / Preston Byers. Hubbard’s Markel Hackwelder reacts after defeating University School’s Doyle Grosz in the Division II 132-pound consolation second round Saturday at the OHSAA state wrestling tournament in Columbus.

COLUMBUS — Hubbard’s Markel Hackwelder had a pretty simple thought process going into the 2026 OHSAA state wrestling tournament.

“I came into this just knowing, if I win, I place; if I lose, I get to eat faster,” Hackwelder said Friday.

Mostly fortunately for him, Hackwelder had to wait to eat, as he won his opening match in the Division II 132-pound bracket, defeating Ontario’s Tyler Turnbaugh 13-8. Things took a poor turn to start Saturday, when he quickly lost via technical fall to Chillicothe’s Cannan Smith in the championship quarterfinals.

“I just haven’t been on a big stage like that before. One win takes me to the semifinals and I place,” Hackwelder said. “Just a lot of things going on in my head, and I didn’t perform the way I needed to perform.”

But he recovered well, earning a decisive, 12-3 win against University School’s Doyle Grosz later on Saturday, which ensured he would place in his second trip to the state tournament.

“As you can see, a lot of these kids walk out of here, even the ones they expect to win, they walk out with their heads down because you have to be able to re-focus in a short amount of time, not let it affect your confidence, go out there and be able to execute on a short turnaround. I’m proud of him for the job he did in that,” Hubbard head coach Don Lehman said. “He was able to go back, realize it for what it was, put it behind him and get ready for this one.”

Although his older brother, Alex, made it to Columbus in 2024, last year as a sophomore, Hackwelder got his first real dose of the state tournament.

In his first match, he was defeated 17-0 via technical fall by Maddox Laymon, the eventual Division II 120-pound state champion. While Hackwelder won his first consolation bracket, his tournament ended in an overtime loss in the second round.

“A year makes a difference,” Lehman said. “He’s more mature, both as a person and as a wrestler. He’s prepared for this. He saw the shiny lights last year. This year, he can be more focused on wrestling and not the experience.”

After beating Grosz on Saturday, Hackwelder followed it up with a 13-4 victory against Benedictine’s Devion Coffin, who had beat Hackwelder last week at the district, before losing his two matches Sunday; he fell 7-1 to Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s Rocco Czarnecki in the consolation semifinals and 13-3 to Galion’s Gradey Harding in the fifth-place match.

“He wrestled really well. His hard work in the offseason, during the season paid off for him to be here, and he made the most of that opportunity,” Lehman said of Hackwelder’s showing this year.

“I think it stands as a testament to his character. He doesn’t give up, he keeps working hard and looking for the next win.”