Staff photo / Preston Byers Austintown Fitch’s Mark Stankorb (right) battles for position in his first-round match against Mount Vernon’s Alex Taylor.

COLUMBUS — Of the 22 area wrestlers who competed in the first day of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) state wrestling tournament in Columbus on Friday, half still have a chance to become 2024 state champions.

Youngstown Liberty’s Jermaine Watson scored the first victory of any local participant, as his upset win over Luke Snyder of Archbishop Alter shook up the Division III 157-pound bracket.

Watson won the match via injury default after Snyder, who bled heavily from his forehead early in the match and grabbed at his leg after Watson secured his first takedown, screamed out in pain and again grabbed toward his leg after another Watson takedown in the second period. At the time of the stoppage, Watson led 8-2.

“The expectation was to do my best, I ain’t even gonna lie,” Watson said. “I don’t really have high expectations. I really just try and wrestle for myself.”

Watson now advances to Saturday’s championship bracket quarterfinals, where he will face Northmor’s Carson Campbell, who pinned his first-round opponent.

“I don’t know what to expect, if I’m honest. I don’t know what to expect. I expect to just go out there and wrestle. That’s all I expect to do,” Watson said.

UNDEFEATED WRESTLERS STAY PERFECT

Canfield junior Tyler Scharrer, who is making the third state tournament appearance of his career, stayed undefeated with an 11-3 major decision victory over Bellevue freshman Konner Dauch. After a sixth-place finish at 126 pounds, Scharrer jumped up two weight classes and is a threat to win the 138-pound state title this weekend.

Canfield head coach Craig Shaw said the experience of having already competed at states twice is invaluable for Scharrer.

“You really need the experience, just because you’re so comfortable. We come here in the morning and he’s showing the other kids, the first timers here, where to go, what to do. It’s just another tournament for him,” Shaw said.

Scharrer will face Graham’s Hayden Hughes in the quarterfinals.

Poland freshman 100-pounder Ella Thomas similarly kept her unbeaten streak alive; she pinned Malaya Hughes of Fremont Ross nearly 80 seconds into the first period.

She’s won so much this year that her coach, Jordan Beadle, wasn’t quite sure what her record is this season.

“I think we’re at 40. What are we now?” Beadle asked Thomas, who said she’s beaten 41 opponents total, including 37 girls.

“We don’t think about that record at all. It’s one match at a time. That’s how it always is. It’s always our mentality. Any tournament, same kind of mentality, one at a time,” Beadle said.

Thomas will put her undefeated record on the line again Saturday against Reynoldsburg senior Summer Batts, who defeated her first-round opponent 17-5.

HOWLAND GIRL ALLEGEDLY BITTEN DURING MATCH

Madison Burns, Howland’s 135-pound junior, appeared as if she was nearing a pinfall victory at the end of the second period during her championship bracket first-round match vs. Jackson freshman Madilynn Riddle. As she attempted to rotate Riddle onto her back, Burns screamed out just before the end of the period.

Between periods, Burns pleaded with the referees, showing them her inner right thigh, where she claimed she was bitten by Riddle. Burns and the Howland coaching staff spoke with the officials as they tried to come to a decision related to the alleged biting, as well as a scoring error that had Burns leading 6-1 instead of the correct 3-1 score.

“There were marks. They were rules as, I guess, inconclusive if it was a bite or something from wrestling action,” Howland head coach Matt Zakrajsek said.

The two issues delayed the start of the third period by several minutes, which Zakrajsek said played in Burns’ favor.

“She was upset at the end [of the second period]. I guess fortunately, they discussed it for a while, so we were able to calm her down and kind of talk a little bit and get some strategy in there,” Zakrajsek said.

Burns maintained her 3-1 advantage throughout the third period to defeat Riddle and advance to Saturday’s 135-pound championship quarterfinals. She faces Janelle Donahue of Clermont Northeastern in the next round.

ELEVEN EYE STATE TITLE

In Division II, Howland’s Adam Heckman (132 pounds), Salem’s Aiden Stecker (175 pounds) and Girard’s Isaac Griffith (215 pounds), as well as Scharrer, remain in contention for the state title. Each of the three Division III area wrestlers who made the trip to Columbus — Watson, South Range’s Tyson Seesholtz (165 pounds) and defending 190-pound state champion Keegan Sell from Garfield — all advanced to the championship quarterfinals Saturday.

On the girls side, Hubbard’s Emily Flynn (130 pounds) and Salem’s Annika Murray (145 pounds), in addition to Thomas and Burns, won their first-round matches and will move on in the championship bracket.

Austintown Fitch 215-pound senior Mark Stankorb, the lone Division I area wrestler to qualify for the state tournament, lost a tight battle to Alex Taylor in the first round. He later fell in the consolation bracket to Medina’s Cliff Nicholson.

Have an interesting story? Contact Preston Byers by email at pbyers@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @PresByers.