COSHOCTON — The Northmor Golden Knights continued their impressive season last weekend at the Division III district wrestling meet at Coshocton High School. Seven of 10 wrestlers who qualified for the district meet advanced to the state tournament.
After last week’s team sectional championship, the Knights would also take first overall in districts. Northmor scored 168 points as a team, finishing 49.5 points ahead of second-place Ridgewood (118.5).
The Knights were led by the Becker brothers, Conan and Conon, who both won district championships.
In the 138-pound weight class, Conan Becker breezed his way to a 4-0 finish and the crown. He would take a first-round victory by pinfall in a time of 1:07. In match No. 2, he would be victorious by a 7-1 decision. Another pinfall in match No. 3, this time in 2:59, would get Conan through to the championship match. In the final match of Conan’s day, he would wrestle his way to a 10-1 major decision over his opponent, Billy Luft of Newark Catholic.
Conor Becker took a different route to get to the championship. Conor used three pinfalls to advance through the winner’s bracket en route to his title. His first-round match lasted just 1:04 and his second match just 2:18. Dawson Hoselton of Zane Trace would put up a good battle, but eventually fell to Conor by pinfall in 5:50. Jonas Proffitt from Westfall would await Becker in the final bout. After a grueling three periods, Conor won the title with a 9-7 decision.
Jake Neer, Mason Burger, Aaron Kitts, Matthew Ross and Nathan Price also will be in action at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University when the tournament begins Thursday.
Neer, the Knights’ 120-pound wrestler, finished the day with a 4-1 record and earned a third-place medal. Neer won his first two matches before dropping his third contest to Jacson Muldrew of Shadyside by major decision, 13-2. Neer would use a pair of 7-4 decisions to wrestle his way to Columbus.
At 182-pounds, Burger would also go 4-1 on the day and finish third. Like Neer, Burger won his first two matches before losing a 5-4 decision to Austin Carroll of Zane Trace in his third match. In his fourth and fifth matches, Burger was victorious by a pair of decisions.
Kitts wrestled his way through the winner’s bracket all the way to the championship match. After three straight wins to start the day, Kitts would lose a 17-11 decision to Damir Pereira of West Jefferson to earn a runner-up finish and a state berth in the 132-pound weight class.
Matthew Ross would also finish as runner-up for the Knights in the 152-pound weight class. Ross also started the day at 3-0 before falling in the championship match to district champion Forest Belli of Johnstown Northridge, by pinfall, in a time of 1:10.
The final runner-up finisher for Northmor was Nathan Price, at 195 pounds. Price won his first two matches by pinfall in times of 2:28 and 0:40, respectively. In the third match on the day, Price won a close 6-4 decision to advance to the championship match against Dalton Hoover of Martins Ferry. Hoover would pin Price in 1:09 but Price would still move on to the state meet in Columbus this weekend.
Other Northmor wrestlers in action last weekend: 106-pound weight class, Manny Hielman- lost first match by tech fall, 16-1 and second match by a 10-7 decision; 220-pound weight class, DJ Christo- lost first patch by pinfall (1:11), won second match by pinfall (0:46), won third match by a 3-1 decision, eliminated in fourth match, pinned in 2:39; 126-pound weigh class, Gavin Ramos- went 2-3 on the day, winning first two matches and then three loses, finished in sixth place.
