West Branch’s Beau Nezbeth takes on Bishop Watterson’s James Lindsay in the Div. II 150-pound final on Sunday at the state wrestling tournament at the Schottenstein Center. (Photo by Preston Byers)

COLUMBUS — Beaver Local sophomore Jake Hughes ended a 24-year school and Columbiana County state title drought with a 2-1 tiebreaker win over Bishop Watterson sophomore Tommy Rowlands in the Div. II 157-pound weight class on Sunday at the boys state wrestling tournament at the Schottenstein Center.

In a tightly contested match Hughes (45-4) scored the first point of the match on an escape with 1:55 left in the second period. Rowlands (44-2) followed with an escape with 1:48 left in the third period before it went to the tiebreaker. Hughes’ winning score on an escape came with 21 seconds left in the first tiebreaker.

“I have enough heart that, in the matches that I lose by a little bit, they stick with me for moments like that,” Hughes said. “Whenever you get to this point, you can’t look at him (Rowlands) as a sophomore. He’s probably one of the best guys in the country because that’s what he is.”

Rowlands, ranked No. 1 in the weight class by DubStat, had a lot of pedigree going for him. His father, also named Tommy, was a two-time Ohio high school state champion and a two-time NCAA champion (four-time All-American) at Ohio State. He also had an aunt play softball at Ohio State and an older sister currently plays soccer at the University of Pittsburgh.

Hughes’ title was the first in Columbiana County and at Beaver Local since Adam Hoppel won at 215 pounds in 2002. Hughes is also the fifth Beaver Local wrestler to win a state title joining Hoppel (2002), Dustin Harris (1993), Van Possage (1991) and Carl Hoppel (1959, 1961, 1962). It was the 16th in Columbiana County history and the second in 32 years.

Hughes was ranked No. 2 in the weight class by DubStat even though he was ranked 16th in the nation by FloWrestling. Hughes took out fourth-ranked Ronald Johnson II with a 19-2 technical fall in the quarterfinal and then edged ninth-ranked Columbus DeSales’ Jonah Jenkins 4-2 in the semifinal.

West Branch senior Beau Nezbeth also had a shot at a state title against a member of Bishop Watterson’s team, but his quest ended with a 9-3 defeat to senior James Lindsay in the Div. II 150-pound final.

Lindsey (34-6) came into the final as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the weight class according to DubStat. He leaves as a four-time state placer (including two runner-ups). His losses mostly came to Div. I talent.

“It’s very difficult to go against experience. Anybody around at any level of athletics, you’ll see experience win,” West Branch coach Chris Dorris said. “Especially at the Ohio state wrestling tournament, this is the pinnacle. If you look around the country, Ohio is one of the top states for wrestling. We knew Lindsay had the experience, and we knew it was going to be a dogfight. We thought we could compete, and we did.”

The champion had a takedown with 1:38 left in the first to score first. Nezbeth countered with an escape with 1:02 to go in the first to trail 3-1 heading into the second. Two takedowns by Lindsay and two escapes by Nezbeth in the second period, pushed the winner’s lead to 9-3. There was no scoring in the final period.

“It definitely wasn’t my best work. That was not what I planned out, really,” Nezbeth said. “I tried to throw some fakes in there, tried to get around him and try to create some angles. He was a very strong wrestler, a two-time finalist, now he’s a champ. He also had a good game plan. I was trying to get him out of his stance trying to make some angles, but it didn’t come out that way at all.”

Nezbeth arrived at the final by besting Gallia Academy district champion Marshall Laishley with a 4-1 sudden victory in a quarterfinal and No. 2 ranked Ben Jacobs of Bellevue in an 11-1 major decision in the semifinal.

Nezbeth’s second-place finish is the school’s seventh all-time. He is the 38th West Branch state-placer.

Beaver Local freshman Jordan Bates, who came into the tournament ranked No. 1 in Div. II at 106, took fourth in his first state touranment appearance. Bates fell in a 10-8 decision against Columbus DeSales’ Mark Mobley in the third-place final. On Saturday, Bates dropped a 10-9 semifinal decision to eventual state champion Grady Moos of Elyria Catholic.

Beaver Local senior Bobby Buchheit, who has been slowed all season due to recovering from a knee injury, managed to become a four-time state placer as he was seventh at 150 after 15-2 major decision over Ontario’s Gavin Miller in the seventh-place match. Buchheit had beaten Miller 3-2 in the first round of the tournament. For his career, Buchheit was seventh at 120 as a freshman, fifth at 132 as a sophomore and sixth at 138 as a junior.

Beaver Local junior Evan Ours, who was third at 165 last year, had to settle for seventh place this time around in the same weight class. Ours scored a 4-0 decision over Franklin’s Jack Berry in the seventh-place match.

Beaver Local now has 67 all-time state placers.

Notes

¯ Bishop Watterson was the Div. II team champion.

¯ Beaver Local was fourth with 52 points.

¯ Perrysburg was the Div. I team champion, while St. Paris Graham won Div. III.

¯ South Range’s Tyson Seesholtz lost his 165-pound Div. III final by a 22-8 major decision against Jake Hoke of St. Paris Graham. No other Mahoning County boys made finals.

Writers Preston Byers and Kim North contributed to this report

Div. II

Jordan Bates

Beaver Local Beavers

106 pounds

Fr., 47-4

FIRST ROUND: Bates pin John Bollinger (Streetsboro), 2:30

QUARTERFINAL: Bates tech. fall Blake Foucht (Alter), 16-0

SEMIFINAL: Grady Moos (Elyria Catholic) dec. Bates, 10-9

CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL: Bates dec. Brody McNabb (New Lexington), 6-0

THIRD-PLACE: Mark Mobley (Columbus DeSales) dec. Bates, 10-8

Kyle Ingram

East Liverpool Potters

106 pounds

Jr., 39-7

FIRST ROUND: Ingram dec. Cole Palma (Akron SVSM), 8-2

QUARTERFINAL: Zane Russell (Wapakoneta) tech. fall Ingram, 19-3

SECOND CONSOLATION: Brody Miller (Licking Valley) tech. fall Ingram, 16-1

John Burkett

Beaver Local Beavers

113 pounds

Soph., 31-20

FIRST ROUND: Caleb Snyder (Clear Fork) pin Burkett, 3:22

FIRST CONSOLATION: Henry Geiger (Granville) dec. Burkett, 4-2

Wyatt McCune

East Liverpool Potters

132 pounds

Sr., 33-12

FIRST ROUND: Dareyan Egner (Franklin) dec. McCune, 2-1, TB

FIRST CONSOLATION: Payten Staugler (Celina) dec. McCune, 8-4

Bobby Buchheit

Beaver Local Beavers

150 pounds

Sr., 33-4

FIRST ROUND: Buchheit dec. Gavin Miller (Ontario), 3-2 TB

QUARTERFINAL: Chance Schlauch (Perry) tech. fall Buchheit, 24-8

SECOND CONSOLATION: Buchheit dec. Xavier Hummel (Brookville), 11-7

THIRD CONSOLATION: Harrison Ratliff (New Lexington) pin Buchheit, 2:33

SEVENTH-PLACE MATCH: Buchheit maj. dec. Gavin Miller (Ontario), 15-2

Beau Nezbeth

West Branch Warriors

150 pounds

Sr., 51-1

FIRST ROUND: Nezbeth dec. Reed Bodie (Columbus DeSales), 7-0

QUARTERFINAL: Nezbeth dec. Marshall Laishley (Cambridge), 4-1 SV

SEMIFINAL: Nezbeth maj. dec. Ben Jacobs (Bellevue), 11-1

FINAL: vs. James Lindsay (Bishop Watterson)

Jake Hughes

Beaver Local Beavers

157 pounds

Soph., 45-4

FIRST ROUND: Hughes pin Ethan Lewis (Upper Sandusky), 1:40

QUARTERFINAL: Hughes tech. fall Ronald Johnson II (Chaminade-Julienne), 19-2

SEMIFINAL:Hughes dec. Jonah Jenkins (Columbus DeSales), 4-2

FINAL: Hughes dec. Tommy Rowlands (Bishop Watterson), 2-1 TB

Evan Ours

Beaver Local Beavers

165 pounds

Jr., 37-11

FIRST ROUND: Ours dec. Luke Sanchez (Granville), 7-1

QUARTERFINAL: Cael Gilmore (Highland) dec. Ours, 8-3

SECOND CONSOLATION: Ours dec. Isaac Coup (Lakeside), 4-0

THIRD CONSOLATION: Brian Denamen (West Geauga) pin Ours, 2:37

SEVENTH-PLACE MATCH: Ours dec. Jack Berry (Franklin), 4-0

Xavier Lara

East Liverpool Potters

190 pounds

Jr., 22-12

FIRST ROUND: Rod Owens (Alter) pin Lara, 1:17

FIRST CONSOLATION: Thomas Zemaitis (Bowling Green) dec. Lara, 7-0

Div. III

Rowan Wiley

Southern Indians

157 pounds

Sr., 47-11

FIRST ROUND: Lane Lopez (Delta) dec. Wiley, 8-1

FIRST CONSOLATION: Wiley major dec. Brady Volz (Finneytown), 12-4

SECOND CONSOLATION: Caleb Ryman (Covington) pin Wiley, 2:53