Submitted | Andy Lewis
Xenia junior Ronnie Butler holds up a banner celebrating his 100th career win. The victory clinched his spot to compete at the 2024 OHSAA state wrestling tournament which will begin Friday.
Steven Wright | Greene County News
Members of Legacy Christian’s team watch from off the mat as their colleagues wrestle during the D-III district tournament. The Knights are district champions and will attempt to win their fourth straight state championship at this week’s tournament.
XENIA — Greene County is sending seven boys wrestlers to the OHSAA state wrestling championships.
Legacy Christian will have five representatives heading to Columbus as the team attempts to defend its Division III team title. The three-time champions had two individuals win district titles as well during the two-day event at Hobart Arena in Troy.
Nathan Attisano had two pins and a technical fall win at 126 pounds before being award the title match because of a forfeit. Dillon Campbell pinned all four of his opponents at 132, including a 53-second win in a rematch from the sectional final, to secure his chance at winning a fourth straight state championship this week.
Getting runner-up finishes for the Knights was Brayden Brown at 150 and Sam Tuck at 215. Eli Campbell won third at 120.
LCA won the D-III team district championship as well by scoring 136.5 points to finish 22 ahead of Miami East, which had won the sectional title ahead of the Knights a week ago.
“The group at the top, I think some are counting us out,” head coach Mike Sizemore said. “I think some other teams think they may win state by 25 points and I don’t think that’s going to happen. It should be a dogfight between us and Milan Edison and Barnesville. We know it’ll all be sorted out on the second day after the semifinals.”
The county’s other two competitors made their way out of the D-I tournament held at Kettering’s Trent Arena.
Jeremy Sibrel of Beavercreek qualified for the second straight year. He made the district final at 106 where he finished as the runner-up.
Xenia’s Ronnie Butler had to take the long route to get to Columbus. He lost in the quarterfinals of the championship rounds, but won three straight matches in the consolation bracket to make it into the third place match and pick up his 100th career victory along the way.
Beavercreek’s C. J. Crawford for D-I, as well as Noah Dickerson, Jarett Daniels and Kyan Hendricks of Greeneview in D-III, all will be alternates for the state tournament hoping to get a last second spot.
The state tournaments will once again be held at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University. Day one of competition begins at 1 p.m. on Friday. Day two sessions on Saturday start at 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. for quarterfinal and semifinal matches. Final consolation bracket matches begin at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, and the state championship title matches are scheduled to get underway at 5 p.m. Tickets are priced at $18 for each session.
DISTRICT RESULTS
DIVISION I
Beavercreek
106 — Jeremy Sibrel (2nd) 3-1 … Lost 3-1 in final
113 — Austin Kawanishi 1-2 … Lost by pin in 2ndR consolation
165 — Elijah Papalios … withdrew
175 — Noah Wazgar … wihtdrew
215 — C. J. Crawford (5th) 4-2 … Won by pin fifth place match
Fairborn
138 — Brady Hayes 0-2 … Lost 13-3 in 1stR consolation
175 — Almari Byrd 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
Xenia
157 — Otis Boyette 2-2 … Lost 11-4 in consolation qtrs
175 — Cecil Piner 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
215 — Ronnie Butler 4-2 (4th) … Lost 16-0 in third place match
DIVISION II
Bellbrook
106 — Tressel Blair 0-2 … Lost 12-1 in 1stR consolation
120 — Ben Slagey 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
132 — Ivan Bao 1-2 … Lost 6-3 in 2ndR consolation
150 — Dominic Hummel 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
157 — Landen Weiss (6th) 2-3 … Lost 4-3 in fifth place match
Carroll
215 — Jackson Overturf 1-2 … Lost 4-3 in 2ndR consolation
DIVISION III
Greeneview
106 — Noah Dickerson (5th) 4-2 … Won by pin in fifth place match
113 — Jarett Daniels (5th) 4-2 … Won by pin in fifth place match
138 — Kyan Hendricks (5th) 4-2 … Won 14-3 in fifth place match
144 — T. J. Pierce 0-2 … Lost 4-2 in 1stR consolation
150 — Jacoby Baldwin 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
165 — Brody Green 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
Legacy Christian
106 — Warren Taylor 2-2 … Lost 6-4 in 2ndR consolation
113 — Taven Norris 2-2 … Lost 10-9 in 2ndR consolation
120 — Eli Campbell (3rd) 4-1 … Won 15-0 in third place match
126 — Nathan Attisano (1st) 4-0 … Won by forfeit in title match
132 — Dillon Campbell (1st) 4-0 … Won by pin in title match
150 — Brayden Brown (2nd) 3-1 … Lost 6-4 in title match
215 — Sam Tuck (2nd) 3-1 … Lost in UTB in title match
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
