Kade Law
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Columbus East wrestlers guaranteed themselves medals and kept their hopes alive for a state championship with first-round wins Friday in the Wrestling State Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Senior Kade Law, ranked No. 2 at 160 pounds, posted a 5-1 decision against seventh-ranked AJ Steenbeke of Penn. Law, who is making his third state appearance, finished third at 160 last season.
“We’re trying not to look at the whole big picture,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “It’s really just one step at a time. He wrestled a really solid kid from Penn. It was a nice, controlled match. It was a good first step.”
Ashton Hartwell
Seventh-ranked 285-pound senior Ashton Hartwell claimed a 3-0 decision against 15th-ranked Trey White of Portage.
“We kind of had a game plan in that match, and Ashton just executed it really well,” Cooper said. “We wanted to stay away from that kid’s strengths and play into Ashton’s, and he did a fantastic job.”
Meanwhile, it was a heartbreaking finish for two other Olympians. Seventeenth-ranked senior Noah Lykins dropped a 6-5 decision to 19th-ranked Neil Mosier of Delta at 120 pounds, and fifth-ranked 220-pound junior Tommy Morrill led 1-0 before giving up a reversal with 5 seconds left in a 2-1 loss to 10th-ranked Paul Clark of Crown Point.
“It was a tough match,” Cooper said of Morrill’s fate. “That’s a tough way to lose a match. We talked with Tommy afterwards about, there’s things that we have to learn from that match and take for next year.”
Law (39-2) will face 10th-ranked Logan Farnell of Maconaquah (45-1) in the quarterfinals at 160. Hartwell (35-3) will wrestle 10th-ranked Marshall Fishback of Rochester (42-1) in the quarterfinals at 285.
Quarterfinal matches begin at 9 a.m. today, followed by semifinal bouts. Third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches start at 4:30 p.m., followed by championship matches beginning at 7:30 p.m.
“I like where we’re at,” Cooper said. “Kade has a kid from Maconaquah that he beat last year. Ashton has a tough kid, but I feel like we have a good opportunity to make it into the semifinals with both of those guys.”
