Barker Captures District Title, Four Leopards Qualify for State – Wrestling

Louisville 102.0 (2nd Out Of 46)

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The Louisville Leopards Wrestling Team competed at the DII Kenston District Tournament Friday and Saturday at Kenston High School. Louisville finished as the District Runner-Up with 102.0 total team points. Only Medina Buckeye, who ran away with the tournament with 204.5 team points, faired better.

Recap | Louisville Results | Team Results

Four Leopards Qualify for State Tournament

Four different Leopards qualified for state during the tournament led by senior Kolten Barker (126 ranked #4) who captured his first district title. Barker has now qualified for state in each of the past three seasons.

Three different Louisville wrestlers also punched their ticket to the state meet for the first time. Kaiden Barker (113 ranked #5) and Colton Rhoads (120 ranked #29) both took third place in their respective weight classes. Both lost in the championship semifinals before taking care of business in consolation.

Freshman Aric Criss (132 ranked #15) took the same path to the consolation final before dropping a 3-1 decision to CVCA junior Dylan Hart (ranked #7) in the third place match. Criss upset Hart earlier in the championship semifinals via a 9-6 decision.

Junior Jakeb Beard (215 ranked #28) also secured fifth place after earning a 3-1 decision against West Branch sophomore Gavin Hang (ranked #31). He will stand by as an alternate for state.

Barker Captures District Title

The top seeded Kolten Barker pinned Firelands freshman D’Mari Campbell (ranked #16) in the second period of the his opening bout. He then proceeded to earn a 12-2 major decision against West Geauga sophomore Zander Joltin (ranked #17) in the championship quarterfinals. 

Barker punched his ticket to state for the third straight year with a 9-5 decision against Madison junior Jack Harrison (ranked #31) in the championship semifinals. It would prove to be his closest match the day.

Barker dominated the championship bout with a 16-4 major decision against Bedford sophomore Tristan Jackson (ranked #24) to capture the district crown in 126.

Note: All state rankings are based off of Boro Fan

UP NEXT: The Leopards state qualifiers will next compete at the DII State Tournament held at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus from March 8-10.

Cover Photo From Louisville Leopard Wrestling Facebook Page (View More Photos There)

Louisville Wrestler District Results

113 – Kaiden Barker – 3rd (State Qualifier) 

• 1st Round: Kaiden Barker (Louisville) pin Patrick Neff (Howland) 3:12
• Quarterfinal: Kaiden Barker (Louisville) dec. Renzo Tello (Canton South), 5-1
• Semifinal: Aiden Bean (Marlington) maj. dec. Kaiden Barker (Louisville), 11-0
• Consolation Semifinal: Kaiden Barker (Louisville) pin Gavin Genovese (Woodridge), 1:48
• 3rd Place: Kaiden Barker (Louisville) dec. Renzo Tello (Canton South), 3-0

120 – Colton Rhoads – 3rd (State Qualifier)

• 1st Round: Colton Rhoads (Louisville) disq. Caden Kaleal (West Geauga)
• Quarterfinal: Colton Rhoads (Louisville) pin Aidan O`Donnell (Howland), 5:46
• Semifinal: Colyn Limbert (Buckeye) tech. fall Colton Rhoads (Louisville), 20-4
• Consolation Semifinal: Colton Rhoads (Louisville) pin Caden Kaleal (West Geauga), 4:05
• 3rd Place: Colton Rhoads (Louisville) dec. Christian Osborne (Akron SVSM), 5-3

126 – Kolten Barker – 1st (3x State Qualifier)

• 1st Round: Kolten Barker (Louisville) pin D`Mari Campbell (Firelands), 3:45
• Quarterfinal: Kolten Barker (Louisville) maj. dec. Zander Joltin (West Geauga), 12-2
• Semifinal: Kolten Barker (Louisville) dec. Jack Harrison (Madison), 9-5
• 1st Place: Kolten Barker (Louisville) maj. dec. Tristan Jackson (Bedford), 16-4

132 – Aric Criss – 4th (State Qualifier)

• 1st Round: Aric Criss (Louisville) pin Jacob Joltin (Streetsboro), 5:43
• Quarterfinal: Aric Criss (Louisville) dec. Dylan Hart (CVCA), 9-6
• Semifinal: Adam Heckman (Howland) tech. fall Aric Criss (Louisville), 17-1
• Consolation Semifinal: Aric Criss (Louisville) maj. dec. Maven Reid (Buckeye), 11-3
• 3rd Place: Dylan Hart (CVCA) dec. Aric Criss (Louisville), 5-1

138 – Beau Nezbeth

• 1st Round: Beau Nezbeth (Louisville) dec. Bryce Geer (Canton South), 5-0
• Quarterfinal: Cyle Burt (Salem) pin Beau Nezbeth (Louisville), 1:29
• 2nd Consolation: Jeffrey Summers (CVCA) dec. Beau Nezbeth (Louisville), 7-6

144 – Luke Seaman

• 1st Round: Luke Seaman (Louisville) dec. Lucas Nair (CF Northwest), 8-4
• Quarterfinal: Carter Hill (Marlington) dec. Luke Seaman (Louisville), 5-4
• 2nd Consolation: Luke Seaman (Louisville) dec. Rocco Luciano (Padua Franciscan), 5-3
• 3rd Consolation: Antonio Hobbs (Benedictine) maj. dec. Luke Seaman (Louisville), 11-1

150 – Abel Bolyard

• 1st Round: Abel Bolyard (Louisville) dec. Shawn German (Salem), 13-6
• Quarterfinal: Aidan Jones (Revere) maj. dec. Abel Bolyard (Louisville) 9-0
• 2nd Consolation: Abel Bolyard (Louisville) pin Alvaro Serrano (Harvey), 2:31
• 3rd Consolation: Cohen Klimak (Streetsboro) dec. Abel Bolyard (Louisville), 7-0

175 – Wyatt Smith

• 1st Round: Wyatt Smith (Louisville) maj. dec. Jacob Heath (Akron SVSM), 9-0
• Quarterfinal: Aiden Stecker (Salem) dec. Wyatt Smith (Louisville), 7-6
• 2nd Consolation: Wyatt Smith (Louisville) dec. Jimmy Zarzeczny (Padua Franciscan), 3-2
• 3rd Consolation: Zeke Lucas (Ash. Edgewood) dec. Wyatt Smith (Louisville), 9-4

215 – Jakeb Beard – 5th (State Alternate)

• 1st Round: Jakeb Beard (Louisville) dec. Trevon Roscoe (Shaw), 5-4
• Quarterfinal: Jakeb Beard (Louisville) dec. Andrew Hall (Marlington), 3-2
• Semifinal: Bryce Wheatley (Chardon NDCL) pin Jakeb Beard (Louisville), 2:20
• Consolation Semifinal: Phillip Malone (Bedford) dec. Jakeb Beard (Louisville), 3-2
• 5th Place: Jakeb Beard (Louisville) dec. Gavin Hang (West Branch)

DII Northeast District Team Scores

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