Leopards Win District, Record 8 Qualify for State – Wrestling
Louisville – 224.5 (1st Out of 44)
The Louisville Leopards Wrestling Team competed at the DII Alliance District Tournament Friday and Saturday at Alliance High School. Louisville racked up 224.5 points in taking first place as a team against individuals from 44 schools.
Three Leopards won District Championships individually with three others finishing as District Runner-Ups. Garett Lautzenheiser (120), Davin Rhoads (132), and Blake Robbins (220) all went undefeated for the tournament en rout to claiming District Titles. Carter Mickley (138), Dan Kennedy (152), and Brent Paulus (195) all reached the championship finals of their respective brackets before bowing out as District Runner-Ups.
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Leopards Set Team Record with 8 State Qualifiers
Altogether a team record 8 Louisville Wrestlers qualified for the State Meet in Columbus next weekend. Dominic Hoffarth (106) and Jax Leonard (170) both overcame championship quarterfinal defeats and battled their way back up the consolation bracket. Both finished in third place and both qualified for state as a result.
Overall 10 of the 13 Leopard District Wrestlers placed in the top 5. Dan Adams (113) and Brenden Severs (160) both won their final matches to take fifth. Logan Vanicek (145) and Noah Peterson (182) both bowed out in the second round of consolation. Jason Goard (285) earned back-to-back pins in consolation before dropping a 10-9 decision in the consolation quarterfinals to just miss placement.
Louisville finished ahead of 2019 State Runner-Up Aurora who took District Runner-Up as a team with 195.5 points. Lake Catholic also placed 3rd with 172 points and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary took 4th with 103.5 points.
UP NEXT: The 8 Qualifying Leopards will next compete in the Individual Wrestling State Tournament at Ohio State’s Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus next weekend. Championship Preliminaries begin on Friday, March 13 at 3:00 PM and the tournament will conclude on Sunday, March 15 with championship matches beginning at 5:15 PM. See OHSAA.org for the full schedule.
COVER PHOTO TAKEN BY AMY PAULUS