Staff photo / Preston Byers Hubbard’s Markel Hackwelder has his hand raised after defeating Ontario’s Tyler Turnbaugh in the Division II 132-pound bracket on Friday at the OHSAA state wrestling tournament in Columbus.

COLUMBUS — Of the 20 area athletes competing, nine advanced to the quarterfinals of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) state wrestling tournament with a win Friday, earning a top-eight placing and remaining in contention for a state title.

Returning state runners-up Tyson Seesholtz of South Range and Gabe Miller of Canfield won in decisive fashion, as did the undefeated Austintown Fitch sophomore Reghan Koch, who improved to 52-0 with a first-period pinfall victory against Delaware Hayes senior Evelyn Krauss.

“I feel like I could have been a little bit more energetic off the bat. I wasn’t fully warm, but once I got into the flow of my wrestling, I felt good,” Koch said.

After suffering two of her freshman season’s four losses at the state tournament a year ago, Koch, who finished seventh in 2025, said she felt much more comfortable wrestling in the Schottenstein Center this time around.

“I think last year, when you walk out of the bullpen area, it gets so bright and so fast and it’s loud and I think it kind of hits you at once. But this year, it just feels like another tournament,” Koch said.

In the quarterfinals Saturday, Koch will face Fostoria’s Ariana Espinosa-Snowden, who eked out a 2-1 win against Fairfield’s Lillian Grogan. Loveland’s Elizabeth Madison, the other undefeated wrestler in the 170-pound bracket, pinned her opponent, Eastwood’s Eliana Rush, in 1:17, the exact same amount of time it took for Koch to get her pin on Krauss.

Seesholtz and Miller, who both lost in close fashion in the state finals a year ago, had little trouble getting through the first round Friday.

The South Range senior beat Genoa Area’s Luke Clement 18-4 to start his Division III 165-pound title quest, while Miller pinned Boden Ballinger of Perkins at 190 pounds in Division II.

“It went well,” Seesholtz said of his match. “Each year at states, even if you’ve been here all four years, there’s so much energy that goes into [the first match], whether good, bad or indifferent. … I thought I wrestled well.”

In addition Miller, who will face Miami Trace’s Tyler Stevens on Saturday, Hubbard’s Markel Hackwelder and West Branch’s Beau Nezbeth advanced to the quarterfinals in Division II. Hackwelder did so by holding off Ontario’s Tyler Turnbaugh in the 132-pound bracket, while Nezbeth, who suffered his first loss of the season during last weekend’s district tournament, blanked Reed Bodie of DeSales 7-0 at 150 pounds.

To start the third period, Hackwelder, against the wishes of his corner, chose bottom and nearly paid the price for it after he momentarily got stuck on his shoulders while attempting a Granby roll.

“Sometimes wrestlers know themselves better than we know them. Not often, but I think he was trying to prove a point to himself… [and] prove to the kid that you can’t break me. And it paid off. I didn’t doubt that he could get up,” Hubbard coach Don Lehman said of Hackwelder, who faces Chillicothe’s Cannan Smith in the quarterfinals.

Five girls earned top-eight finishes on Friday: Koch, Poland’s Ella Thomas (100 pounds), Brookfield’s Isabella Williams (140), Salem’s Paige Menough (140) and Springfield’s Abigale Miller (145).

ON THE REBOUND

While losing the opening match of the state tournament rules out a championship, a bounceback was still possible, and that was proven Friday by five wrestlers: South Range’s Ralph Stellato (Division III, 106 pounds), West Branch’s Grace Bates (girls, 155) and Austintown Fitch’s Chayce Kemble (Division I, 106), Noah Bolen (Division I, 285) and Mya Quarles (girls, 140).

At least for Kemble, who lost his first match 5-0 to Watkins Memorial’s Ryan Noble, the jitters made him a much more defensive wrestler to start Friday.

“My first time here at states – the crowd, the nerves got to me my first match, so I wasn’t in the right mindspace,” Kemble said.

Kemble recovered from the opening loss to dominate Troy’s David Pham 13-0 in his consolation match. The win puts Kemble in the second round, where he will face the loser of Perryburg’s Collin Bagdonas and Hoover’s Constantinos Paxos for a chance to place in the top eight.

As for Bolen, his heavyweight teammate, one mistake cost him his first match.

“I got outpositioned,” Bolen said. “The kid was moving on bottom, and I didn’t follow the hips, and he fat-man-rolled me through.

But with a pinfall victory over Watkin Memorial’s WoJo Moore in the consolation bracket, Bolen can achieve a dream of his tomorrow.

“That’s the biggest goal I’ve worked for for 10 years of wrestling. I’ve always wanted and been working toward getting on the podium,” Bolen said.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY SCHEDULE

Both Saturday and Sunday will consist of two sessions each.

On Saturday, a session featuring the championship quarterfinals and second round of consolation matches will begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude after the girls consolation second round, which is slated to start at 2:10 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., matches will resume with the championship semifinals of all three boys divisions and the girls. Consolation quarterfinals will follow the championship semifinals.

Consolation semifinals will kick off the first session of Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Matches to determine the third through eighth-place finishers will then begin at 10:45 a.m. The fifth and final session of the weekend will feature the state championship matches, which will start at 5:15 p.m. after the Hall of Fame festivities and Parade of Champions.