L-B's Parmelee, Elmwood's Bechstein, three other area girls reach state

GIRLS WRESTLING FINDLAY – Liberty-Benton's Evie Parmelee and Elmwood's Trinity Bechstein each dominated their respective weight classes at the girls district wrestling tournament in Findlay Sunday, each winning titles and qualifying for this week's state tournament.Parmelee, a state-placer a year ago,recorded three straight pinfalls in the 190-pound class before scoring a 4-0 decision in the championship match over Port Clinton's Michaela Stark.Parmelee will head to the Schottenstein Center on Friday with a 40-1 record.In the 110-pound class, Bechstein scored a technical fall in her first-round match, then scored three straight falls, finishing by flattening North Royalton's Anna Tsirambidis in 5:46 for the crown.At 170 pounds, Fostoria's Ariana Espinosa-Snowden earned her third state berth in four years with a runner-up finish.The area's other state placers were at 135 pounds, where Elmwood's Libbie Tyson was runner-up and Findlay's Audrey Whitener finished fourth. Area wrestlers just missing out on a state appearance next week by finishing fifth included Liberty-Benton's Cecilia Claypool (110 pounds), and Findlay's McKenna Hines (235). BOYS WRESTLING DIVISION III ROSSFORD – Two area wrestlers finished second and seven qualified for state from the Division III wrestling tournament held at Rossford on Saturday.Van Buren's Brooks Hill and Elmwood's Zachary Schafer placed second in their weight classes.Hill used a 13-8 win over Plymouth's Ben Trimmer in the quarterfinals and a 1-0 victory over Tinora's Nolan Rittenhouse in the semis to reach the 144-pound championship match. In the final, he dropped an 18-3 decision to Mohawk's Owen Patrizi.Schafer reached the final at 132, where he lost in 2:22 to Monroeville's Owen Patchen. Schafer posted a 3-1 record in the district meet.Hill and Schafer will be two of four No. 2-seeded wrestlers in their weight class at the 2026 state wrestling meet Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Schottenstein Center on the Ohio State University campus.Four other area wrestlers qualified for state with top four finishes at district.Liberty-Benton's Ben Beard, with a 1-0 victory in the consolation finals, placed third at 165. Carey's Fisher Montgomery (120) and Riverdale's Grady Phelps (138) also placed third, and Carey's Jordan Hertel (157) was fourth.In an all-area final for third and fourth place, Patrick Henry's Trent Johnson defeated Riverdale's Kydin Reed by an 8-0 decision.Bluffton's Mason Shank (215) and Branden Cross (126) finished fifth in the Division III district. McComb's Brody Gallagher, Bluffton's Ronald Kaufman and Elmwood's Zechariah Patterson (106) placed sixth. DIVISION I PERRYSBURG – Findlay High's Kaliber Brubaker posted a 2-2 record and placed sixth in his weight class at the Division I district wrestling meet at Perrysburg.Both of Brubaker's win were by pin in the 120-pound competition.Caleb Kanney went 1-2 in his matches at 175. Findlay's Martin Gonzalez (113) and Lincoln Kirian (157) both went 0-2 in their matches. DIVISION II NORWALK – Upper Sandusky's Than Lewis qualified for the state wrestling meet by placing fourth on Saturday in the 157-pound division in the Division II district meet at Norwalk.Fostoria's Anthony Kleinmark (150) placed fifth.Fostoria's Huelett North upended No. 1-seeded Kieden McMahon of Napoleon in his match at 126, but dropped his next two bouts.Silas Raney (165) was sixth and, along with Barrett Hernandez (144) posted a 1-2 record in the district,. Upper Sandusky's Braylon Shepherd (120) went 2-2 in his four matches.