Crestwood opens the postseason on Saturday at the Division III Northwestern Sectional Tournament in West Salem.
The Red Devils are the lone representative in the sectional, which will advance the top four weight classes to the Division III District at Garfield Heights the following week.
Here is a weight-by-weight breakdown of the top wrestlers expected to compete at the sectional.
106
Waynedale junior Caiden Heller is the lone ranked wrestler in this weight class. He enters the tournament ranked No. 7.
113
No ranked wrestlers are projected to compete at 113.
Crestwood junior Charlie Conroy opens the postseason with a 6-0 record and two pins to his credit.
120
Three ranked wrestlers will compete for the 120-pound title.
Rittman senior Joshua Gibson comes in at No. 11, Crestwood freshman J.P. Wrobel is No. 11, and Mapleton freshman Brock Durbin is ranked 15th.
Wrobel is 27-0 with 14 pins and five technical falls this winter.
126
Returning state qualifier Jake Sundburg of Waynedale is the only ranked wrestler at this weight class. Sundburg enters the tournament at No. 13.
Crestwood junior Mason Daniels is expected to compete at 126. He is 14-6 with nine pins this season.
132
Mapleton junior Andrew Sas enters the tournament ranked 12th while Norwayne senior Jarrison Moore, a returning state qualifier, is ranked 16th.
Crestwood freshman Drake Rennacker enters the tournament with a 15-12 record and seven pins.
138
Smithville junior Michael Harris, a returning state qualifier, is ranked No. 9.
145
Crestwood’s Ethan Strahan, a junior with an 18-10 record and seven pins, will have his hands full as the 145-pound weight class includes four of the top wrestlers in the state.
Norwayne senior Austin Shepherd, a returning state qualifier, is ranked No. 2, and Waynedale senior Storm Stanley, a returning state qualifier, is No. 6. No. 16 Garrett Dozier, a senior from Toronto, also is projected at 145.
Dalton freshman Greyson Siders also is projected to compete for one of the state placement spots out of the Garfield Heights district.
152
No. 12 Tate Geiser, a junior from Dalton, is a returning state qualifier. He is projected at 152 pounds with Crestwood’s Evan Daniels, a junior who is 11-10 on the year with five pins.
160
No. 15 Justin Hershberger, a junior from Waynedale, is the lone ranked wrestler at 160.
170
Rittman senior Sevi Garza is the heavy favorite here. Garza placed seventh in the state as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore. He earned a spot in Columbus last year before the tournament was canceled due to COVID. Garza is the top-ranked wrestler in the state.
No. 3 Peyton Lemon, a junior from Waynedale, also is a returning state qualifier.
182
Dalton senior Eric Miller is the lone ranked wrestler at 182. A returning state qualifier, Miller is ranked No. 11.
195
The 195-pound weight class begins a string of uber-talented upper weights at Northwestern.
This weight class includes four ranked wrestlers including No. 8 Cory Stiffler of Orrville, No. 9 Chandler Keener of Smithville, No. 11 Kane Murray of Waynedale and No. 13 Sean Geiser of Dalton. Stiffler is a returning state qualifier.
220
This weight class features two of the top-five wrestlers in the state.
Norwayne senior Kaden Kidd, a returning state qualifier, is ranked No. 2 while Dalton junior Austin Ryder is No. 4
285
Waynedale senior Cam Jordan is ranked No. 8 while Jacob Kamperman, a senior returning state qualifier from Columbiana, is No. 9.
