County tournament success

The first Washington County Wrestling Tournament was everything the planners thought it would be. There were exciting matches, a major upset, it was well run by the experienced people at Beth-Center, and the small confines did not hinder the matches.

Colin Johnston, the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 112, was beaten by McGuffey's Tyler Sim, 5-4. Sim simply outwrestled him, using effective single-leg shots to score two takedowns. He escaped with 52 second left and then held Johnston off for the win. It wasn't a fluke win for Sim.

Two Class AA wrestlers - Chris Stay of Beth-Center and Matt Kosarik of Fort Cherry - won titles. And a number of Class AA wrestlers, 21 in all, finished second through fourth.

A few wrestlers who caught my eye:
Nate Blackman of Ringgold, third at 103; quick and strong.
Tyler Adams of Canon-McMillan, second at 135, finally back from an injured shoulder sustained in early December. Makes Canon-Mac a much better team.
Matt Kosarik of Fort Cherry, first at heavyweight; big, strong and coordinated. Only drawback is sometimes he's too nice a guy on the mat.
Nick Standish of Trinity, first at 145; up-and-down season now up again. Beat defending state champion Donnie Ament of Mt. Pleasant in Trinity Elite Duals, but then went into funk after that win. He dominated the weight class in this tounament.

Scratching my head over:
Johnston, chalking this up to just a bad bout.
Codie Noga of Avella, second at 215, should have won the title but a penalty point for clubbing C-M's Ron Totterdale over the head in the first period helped send it to OT. He lost in overtime.