VW’s Bollenbacher qualifies for state

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

NORWALK — Van Wert’s Breese Bollenbacher has qualified for the Division II OHSAA Wrestling State Tournament, while teammate Owen Bates will serve as an alternate.

Bollenbacher, a junior, finished fourth in the 285 pound weight class at Division II district competition held Friday and Saturday at Norwalk High School. He won his first two matches via pin – the first over Fostoria’s Trenton Kirby in 1:22, then in 3:19 over Jeremiah Gaston of Linden McKinley in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Bollenbacher lost to Jaxin Stancombe of Mansfield Madison 8-3, but followed up with a pin of Norwalk’s Cooper Gee (1:48) in the consolation semifinals. In his final match, already guaranteed a spot at state, Bollenbacher dropped an 11-2 major decision to Alex Hinojosa of Defiance.

“Breese obviously had a really good weekend and wrestled well,” Van Wert head coach Ben Collins said. “After losing in the semis, he did a great job of refocusing and getting mentally prepared to reach his goal.”

Sophomore Owen Bates finished fifth at the Norwalk district and will serve as an alternate in the 106 pound weight class. Bates won his first round match, a 20-2 technical fall over Braylon Shepard of Upper Sandusky, then enjoyed a second straight technical fall victory victory (17-2) over Tristen Draper of Defiance in the quarterfinals. However, Granville’s Anthony Bergeron topped Bates via technical fall, 24-6, in the semifinals, then in the consolation semifinals, Bates lost via technical fall (18-2) to Cohen Shinault of Hebron Lakewood. In his final match of the day, the fifth place match, Bates rebounded with a 9-3 victory over Brian Camacho.

“Owen wrestled well through the tournament while being banged up and just came up short, but wrestled with a lot of heart in the fifth place match after missing out on his trip to state,” Collins said.

A third Cougar, junior Briggs Wallace, wrestled in the 144 pound weight class and saw his season come to an end. He went 1-2, with the win coming via pin (3:49) over Clayton McCann of Buckeye Valley in the first consolation round.

“Briggs wrestled well in a loaded weight class,” Collins stated. “It was a good weekend for our underclassman. Our coaches, Terrin Contreras, Nick Pauff and Brad Allmandinger do a great job with our guys to be ready to wrestle at their best when it matters the most and that’s what happened this weekend.”

Wauseon was crowned as the team champion (172 points), easily outdistancing Wapakoneta (122 points). Van Wert finished 18^th out of 44 teams (33 points). Full results can be found here.

The OHSAA Wrestling State Tournament will take place Friday-Sunday at the Schottenstein Center at Ohio State University.