This past weekend, two J.A. Garfield wrestlers travelled to Marion Harding High School to compete in the OHSAA Individual State Wrestling Championships and both left as All-Ohio wrestlers after a grueling two day tournament that pitted them against the best in the state at their respective weights.
Hunter Andel, a sophomore, qualified at the 145 pound weight class. He won his first match with a dominant 12-0 win, and lost his second match 4-0 to the eventual champion (which was the closest match the champion ended up having in the whole tournament). Hunter then won his next 3 matches to enable him to wrestle for 3rd or 4th. His 3rd place match was back and forth the entire match and was tied at 3 at the end of regulation before Hunter ended up on the wrong side of the decision in overtime to take 4th place. For the year, Hunter went 35-4 for an excellent sophomore campaign.
Keegan Sell, a freshman, qualified at the 152 pound weight class. He came out strong and won his first 2 matches to get into the semifinals and a guaranteed spot on the podium. In his semifinal match against the eventual champion, Keegan battled like a champ and was tied at 9 with 10 seconds left in the match before his opponent hit a big 5 point move to take the victory and send Keegan into the consolation bracket. Unfortunately, Keegan would lose his next match to send him to the 5th/6th place match. In the 5th/6th place match Keegan battled hard and gave it everything he had. With less than a minute left and the score tied at 5, Keegan and his opponent both took a shot at the same time and smacked heads. Keegan stumbled a bit upon getting up and the refs declared that he could not finish the match, so Keegan defaulted and took 6th place. With his finish, Keegan notched the highest placement in the history of Garfield wrestling for a freshman and finished his season with a record of 31-5.
Congrats, boys, and good luck next year!
