A year after taking third in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III district tournament’s 190-pound bracket, it was full steam ahead for Berkshire Badgers’ senior 190-pounder Danny Tiller, who went 4-0 to claim the district championship the 190-pound bracket last weekend at Independence High School.
“It was great to see,” noted Coach Dave Malkus. “In the finals, we had a little bit of a scare but knowing who he wrestled, Moore from Smithville was a big move guy and Danny does not give up many big moves so once Danny got his takedown, he was able to take him to his back and we knew at the end of the second period that Danny was going to win it.”
In addition, the Badgers finished in 10th place as a team with 71.5 points at last weekend’s Division III district tournament.
Tiller will return to the OHSAA Division III state meet for the second straight season and at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center in Columbus on Friday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.
Tiller’s quest to finish his senior season as an All-Ohioan and become the school’s first state placer since the 2022 state meet will start when he duels Fort Recovery junior Jake Myers in the first round.
“It looks like a good draw for him,” said the third-year coach. “It is a very winnable match, he just has to come out like he did this weekend attacking, trusting his offense, getting a win.”
Tiller becomes the first Badger wrestler to become a multi-year state qualifier in the upper weights since standout Lucas Stoddard, who was a three-time state qualifier. The Badgers’ last state placer came in the 190-pound bracket in the 2021-22 season, when Stoddard went on to become a state champion.
On Friday, Tiller went 2-0 to reach the semifinal round for the second straight year after pinning freshman Aiden Long from Rootstown with 10 seconds remaining in the first period of his first-round bout, then triumphed against Columbiana junior Jensen Nordquist, winning by a 20-4 technical fall in his quarterfinal match.
“He came out aggressive, he scored points and got a first period pin I believe against Rootstown and then he had a second period technical fall in the quarterfinals, so he was able to get offense going and was able to keep pressure on guys and have that dominant effect,” added Malkus.
On Saturday, Tiller advanced out of the semifinal round by securing victory against Chagrin Valley Conference rival senior Michael Berquist from Crestwood, winning by 4-2 decision to officially net a state bid and reach the district title match.
According to Malkus, it was a low-scoring match because the two CVC wrestlers had plenty of familiarity with each other after several duels this season.
Although the CVC foes attempted to defend against the other’s strongest moves, Tiller made the most of his opportunities to secure victory.
“You have that confidence of okay that I have the go-to shot and I know what I have to do to stop it but then Michael knew exactly how to stop Danny’s go-to move,” Malkus said. It was just a matter of who could stop it enough or capitalize when someone didn’t stop quick enough.”
Tiller earned his first career district title when he defeated senior Karsen Moore from Smithville 8-4 in the championship match.
Malkus said that Moore tried taking Tiller by surprise with an aggressive move in the first 30 seconds of the first period, scoring a three-point takedown.
Although Moore struck first, he could not overpower Tiller and force him onto his back and Tiller controlled the rest of the match to claim victory.
“Moore tried to take Danny right to his back,” said Malkus, “He didn’t get the turn, and you could see a little bit of dejection from Moore and a little bit of a wake-up from Danny as in okay that is what he is going to go for.”
In addition to Tiller earning his second consecutive OHSAA Division III bid, the Badgers also had three other wrestlers place as freshman 150-pound Trent Holland went 5-2 to take fifth place and finish as a state alternate, junior Caden Klingman tallied a 5-2 record to also take fifth place in the 132-pound weight class and also earn a state alternate bid and sophomore 157-poiunder Estovan Huesca took sixth place by going 4-3 to place sixth.
