Oliver dominates on her way to district crown

Findlay's Laney Oliver might have sent a message before next week's state wrestling tournament in Columbus.Saturday at Findlay High School, the three-time state runner-up at 190 pounds flattened all four of her opponents on her way to a district championship.Oliver pinned Oregon Clay's Reyna Blackmon (:59), Clyde's Caroline Purdham (:32), Port Clinton's Michaela Stork (1:21) to reach the championship match.There, Oliver stuck Lakewood's Zayna Muntaser in 3:03 for the championship, preserving her unbeaten mark this season.Oliver will be joined at state by 170-pound teammate Kate Simmons, who was runner-up at districts.Simmons was remarkably close to a title.She flattened her first three opponents before running into Tinora's Paige Gamby in the final.Gamby edged past Simmons, 4-3.The top four finishers in each weight class advanced to next weekend's state tournament at the Schottenstein Center.The area had one more runner-up, in Elmwood 105-pounder Triniti Brechstein. The freshman scored two pins and a major decision to reach finals. Brechstein was pinned in the title match, in 1:43, by Sandusky's Nickera Johnson.Two state qualifiers came out of the 110 bracket, where Elmwood's Lylah Gheen and Arcadia's Charlize Distel finished third and fourth, respectively.Each reached the semifinal before sustaining their first losses. Gheen scored a 21-13 major decision over Distel in the third place match.The area's final state qualifiers came from the 235-pound class: Liberty-Benton's Evie Parmalee, who finished third, and Patrick Henry's Brooke Tieje, who took fourth.Parmalee won her first two matches and lost in the semifinal.Tieje lost her first match of the tournament, then won four straight in consolations to qualify for state. Parmalee edged Tieje in the third-place match, 1-0. Carey's Elyse Fredritz placed sixth at 145 pounds. BOYS DISTRICT WRESTLING PERRYSBURG – Findlay's Keegan Klotz said his goal was to make it state this season.At Perrysburg on Saturday, he made it happen.Klotz finished fourth in his weight class at the Division I district wrestling meet at Perrysburg, landing one of the four qualifying spots for the state tournament to be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus."Three times I was runner-up in sectional. Twice I was one step from going to state at district. I really want to make it this year," Klotz said earlier this year as he was preparing for the Northern Lakes League tournament."It's my senior year, so I have to do everything I can to make it."Wrestling in the 175-pound class, Klotz opened with an 18-1 technical fall win over Bedford's Jasper Curry, then pinned Aurora's Gio Kaplan in 5:35. Following a tech fall loss Uniontown Lake's Giovanni Cursio, Klotz pinned Perrysburg's Joe Foels in 4:48 to secure his place in the consolation final and the trip to state that went with it.Klotz (25-4) was Findlay's lone state qualifier from the Division I district. Will Jolliff (120) and Landon Echelberry (215) both went 2-2 in their district matches, Luke Smith (150) was 1-2, and Kellan Bruni ws 0-2.Elmwood's Peyton Schafer placed second in the Division III district at Rossford and will be joined at state by teammate Connor Sterling. Schafer is 38-5 in the 144-pound division and Sterling, who was fourth at 165, is 32-15.In an all-area consolation final at Rossford, Riverdale's Grady Phelps (43-2) scored a 6-2 decision over Liberty-Benton's Will Pask (41-11) in the match for third and fourth place.Bluffton's Mason Shank (40-9) at 285 and Patrick Henry's Trent Johnson (43-9) at 190 also qualified for state with fourth-place finishes.Carey's Jordan Hertel (150), Liberty-Benton's Colin Bates (175) and Bluffton's Evan Grothause were sixth.Upper Sandusky's Ethan Lewis qualified for the Division II state meet by placing fourth in the district held at Norwalk. STATE GYMNASTICSHILLIARD – Findlay's Josie Weihrauch took part in two events at the state gymnastics meet at Hilliard Bradley High School.Weiharauch registered an 8:35 on the beam, good enough for 27th. She also competed in the all-around, scoring a 33, which placed her 35th.