»RELATED: Tuesday’s high school roundup
»RELATED: Tuesday’s high school scoreboard
Mechanicsburg hasn’t lost a title since Greeneview, Northeastern and West Liberty-Salem forged a three-way tie in 2005. Coach Cameron Doggett’s team bolstered its spot as the league favorite following its performance at the Division II regional dual team tournament two weeks ago. Mechanicsburg – a No. 7 seed in the 14-team bracket – knocked off No. 2 Miami East, No. 6 Coldwater and gave No. 1 Versailles a scare in the championship match.
“He has a young team but they are tough,” Greenon coach Kevin Ferguson said of the Indians. “They wrestled a heck of a schedule to start the year off. … I was kind of surprised to see them as a seventh seed. I thought they might be a four or five. Seeing them get to the regional finals, I wasn’t surprised. It was the feeling that they’re getting things figured out. I told our kids don’t look at that and be intimidated. Look at it as if we’re going to win the league championship let’s do it wrestling Mechanicsburg at their best.”
Mechanicsburg is strongest at the lower weights with 106-pounder Jesse Stroud (25-9), 113-pounder Trey Allen (23-10), 120-pounder Luke Stroud (22-12) and 132-pounder Jake Hurst (27-4).
Greenon is strongest at the upper weights with 138-pounder Evan Davis, 152-pounder Ashton Simison (20-13), 160-pounder Blake Potter (22-10), 182-pounder Josh Johnson (28-7), 195-pounder Levi Morrison (33-2) and 285-pounder Tyler Jenkins (26-8).
»RELATED: Final girls basketball state polls
Some of the best potential head-to-head matchups between Mechanicsburg and Greenon could come at 106 with Stroud and Greenon’s Daytona Hensley (20-6) and Hurst and Greenon’s Chase Trainer (23-2). Another anticipated bout at 120 between Stroud and Greenon’s Arlie Benson Jr. (27-1) was scratched when Benson injured his neck and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
“Our kids have done a really nice job stepping up and picking up what we’re losing with Arlie being out,” Ferguson said. “To Arlie’s credit, he’s been awesome. He can’t practice but he still comes every day and he’s almost turned into an associate coach the last few weeks. He’s really been helping out the younger kids and working with them in the room.”
Mechanicsburg knows what it takes to win an OHC title with their impressive run. Greenon hopes to finally find out.
“Don’t be nervous. Don’t feel like you have this huge pressure on your shoulders,” Ferguson said of his message to the team. “You should feel excited that 38 other teams before you haven’t had the chance to go out and do this. Be excited and enjoy this week. Go have fun. I think they’ve done that so far.”
• In the CBC meet hosted by Bellefontaine on Saturday, the field is battling for second place behind Graham. The Falcons won their seventh straight D-II state dual team championship Sunday in Columbus.
Tecumseh is expected to challenge D-II state team dual qualifier London and Bellefontaine for the Kenton Trail division title.
The Arrows are led by, among others, Cyle Wells at 138 (32-3), Lucas Rodgers at 132 (29-4), Tommy Rowe at 182 (24-4) and Alec Hall at 160 (23-8). Rowe, a senior and team captain, scored his 100th career win in a dual against Miami East recently.
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