A great first impression: Crestview’s Kuhn opens state wrestling meet with huge win

COLUMBUS – So much for dipping a toe in to test the waters.

In the shark-infested 132-pound class at the state wrestling tournament, none of the Division III competitors at that weight has that luxury.

It’s eat or be eaten.

Right off the bat, Crestview junior Hayden Kuhn drew Kirtland’s Will Davidson on Friday inside the Schottenstein Center. In a pairing of 2021 third-place medalists, Kuhn won in impressive fashion, pinning Davidson at 4:00.

Kuhn was third last year at 126 and Davidson was third at 120.

This was a first round showdown you might normally see in the semifinals or finals. But that just shows the overall strength of the 132 class, with seven returning placers among the 16 qualifiers.

“That was a good win against a very tough opponent,” Crestview coach Steve Haverdill said. “In a weight class this tough, it’s the luck of the draw on the bracket. If you want to be on top of the podium, there’s a little bit of luck involved, too.”

Despite their high spot on the state podium last year, neither Kuhn nor Davidson were district champions a week ago. Davidson didn’t even reach the title match, which again speaks to why DIII 132 was considered the deepest class coming into this tournament.

“We went out and wrestled a smart match,” Haverdill said. “We weren’t on the attack as much as I would have liked, but credit (Davidson). He did a nice job of punching underhooks into us when we were looking for a carry and he was trying to take us out of our game. But in the process, he took himself out of his game, trying to do something different than he normally did and it ended up working for us.

“Our defense was on. We were very good in positions. We just weren’t on the attack as much as I would have liked.”

There’s no time for Kuhn to rest on his laurels. His opponent in the quarterfinals is Pleasant’s Daxton Chase, another returning placer. They met earlier in the season with Kuhn winning a close decision.

“(Friday’s win) can get your confidence up and get you on a little bit of a roll, but you really have to be focused on the match at hand,” Haverdill said. “You’ve got to be in good position and wrestling at your best.”

Eat or be eaten pretty much describes the way the first round went for area wrestlers. In those 22 matches, featuring 24 local competitors, 10 were decided by pin and two more by technical fall. Two others resulted in injury defaults.

Mansfield Senior’s Mekhi Bradley was locked in a Division II battle that proved to be an exception to the lopsided outcomes.The Tyger junior beat London’s Antonio Burns 3-2 in the ultimate overtime to advance at 215.

It was the second straight overtime bout for Bradley, who forced OT in the district finals before falling to Bellevue’s Evan Straub 3-1.

It might take going beyond regulation for Bradley to win in Saturday’s quarters, too. He’ll face his toughest foe yet in defending state champ Kyle Snider of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.

Madison junior Hunter Hutcheson, Bradley’s drill partner in recent weeks, fed off his 190 district title at Norwalk to pin Tri-Valley’s Ethan Paladino in 5:27. In that same weight class, Galion sophomore Landon Campbell decisioned Steubenville’s Brandon Kinney 9-3.

Campbell’s only two losses in 45 matches this season are to Hutcheson. They are in opposite half brackets this weekend.

Ontario sophomore Jacob Ohl remained perfect, running his record to 34-0 with a 13-1 major decision over Christian Osborne of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in the DII 106 class. Ohl moved another step closer to a championship collision with defending state champ Beric Jordan (42-0) of perennial team champion St. Paris Graham.

Northmor freshman Cowin Becker continued his post-season tear in DIII, pinning Plymouth’s Nick Roberts in an all-area matchup at 113.

Becker has been doing a great impression of his older brothers Conor (state champ) and Conan (state runner-up) over the last three weeks. In nine matches since the start of sectionals, he has six pins, two technical falls and a 15-6 major decision in the district finals. He was one second off Friday from recording his fifth pin in a minute or less since the post-season began.

Northmor senior Niko Christo, like Becker a sectional and district champion, moved on with a win by injury default at 157.

Other first round winners included Bucyrus’ Bryant Pfeifer (215) and Willard’s Shadrick Slone (165) in DIII and Ashland’s Brady Welch (175) in DII.

Pfeifer, coming off a district title, pinned River Valley’s Aiden Greene in 4:33, while Slone, a projected champ and 2021 state runner-up, pinned Coldwater’s Grant Heuing in 0:43.

Welch, one of four qualifiers for Ashland, lived up to his No. 2 ranking, with an 18-2 technical fall of Chardon’s Bryce Wheatley and appears headed to a fourth showdown this season with returning champ Brody Conley of Tiffin Columbian.

Welch’s three teammates didn’t fare as well. Roman Parobek (120) lost by pin (1:50) to Bishop Hartley’s Aiden King, Jon Metzger (157) fell by fall (4:48) to Sparta Highland’s Cody Matthews and Cayden Spotts (215) lost by 19-4 technical falls to Carter Neves of St. Paris Graham.

Mapleton went 3-0 in the DIII first round. Brock Durbin decisioned Edgerton’s Hayden Herman 11-9 at 120, Andrew Sas pinned Miami East’s Layton Hughes in 4:54 at 138 and Joe Shoup won by injury default over Tinora’s Javen Gaines at 285.

Dropping to the consolations in DIII were Lucas’ Zane Finley (215), Plymouth’s Colton Sparks (175), Loudonville’s Drew Spreng (113) and Willard’s Conner Robbins (126).

Finley, the first state qualifier from Lucas, lost an 8-7 battle with district champ Lucas Thomas of Harrison Central. Sparks fell 18-4 to West Jefferson’s Bryce Keckley, Spreng was pinned at 1:02 by Convington’s Jerricho Quinter and Robbins got pinned at 0:58 by Covington’s Chase Vanderhorst.

Dropping to the consolations in DII were Ontario’s Riley Kleshinski (120) and Galion’s repeat qualifier Alex Griffith (285). Kleshinski fell 10-2 to Taylor’s Jimmy Lalezas and Griffith dropped a hard-fought 2-1 bout against Mason Mustain of Washington Court House.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Crestview’s Kuhn opens state wrestling meet with huge win