St. Mary’s Memorial’s Tate Hisey (Top) covers his opponent, Elida’s Skyler Kirk (bottom) on Saturday in the finals of Lima Senior’s Spartan Invitational.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
LIMA – St. Marys junior Tate Hisey has one goal in mind.
That’s wrestling for a state title.
The two-time Division II state placer is focused on the prize.
At Saturday’s Spartan Wrestling Invitational at Lima Senior, Hisey notched his third Spartan Wrestling Invitational title as he capped off his perfect day with a 10-2 major-decision victory over Elida senior Skyler Kirk in the championship match of the 132-pound weight class.
Last season, Kirk qualified for the Division II state tournament, but was unable to compete due to a skin issue.
Indian Lake won Saturday’s team title with 266.5 points, while St. Marys ended the day in second place with 208 points.
Mechanicsburg (202), Shawnee (193.5) and Allen East (187) rounded out the top five squads in a field of 20 teams at Lima Senior.
“I know he is definitely one of the toughest in the WBL (Western Buckeye League),” Hisey said about Kirk. “He’s a great wrestler – definitely state level. It was a tough match. I knew what I needed to do – just trust my technique and constantly push the pace. You got to push the pace.”
Hisey (16-1) always wants to be aggressive.
“The best defense is offense,” Hisey said. “So, you just keep the pressure on them, so they can’t breathe. They can’t think about what they want to do. They can’t use their setups. You determine the match when you push the pace.
“So, that’s what I believe in. I work hard at every practice, and make sure that goes into my matches.”
Last season, Hisey placed fourth in the 113-pound weight class at the Division II state tournament. His freshman year, Hisey placed fifth at the state tournament at 106.
Hisey doesn’t hesitate to share his goals.
“(To) win it (a state championship),” Hisey said with a grin. “I’m ranked third (in the state) right now, but rankings don’t matter. I believe that I’m good enough to beat anyone in the state, any week. I believe in that; and I’m going to put that to the test come state.”
Tate Hisey comes from a family of wrestlers. He has two older twin brothers, Tyler and Trevor, who also were state placers for St. Marys.
“I owe all my technique and effort to them,” Hisey said. “They paved the way for me in this sport. I absolutely believe in that.”
Along with Hisey, teammate Bo Hertenstein won a title on Saturday. Hertenstein recorded a hard-fought 6-5 decision over Indian Lake’s Czar Dickson in the title match at 150 pounds.
Last season, as a sophomore, Hertenstein was a Division II state qualifier.
Hertenstein placed second at last year’s Spartan Wrestling Invitational. On Saturday, Hertenstein recorded four pins in five matches, en route to the title.
However, Hertenstein had his work cut out in his finals match against Dickson.
“He made me work for it,” Hertenstein said about Dickson.
Hertenstein wants to take it to the next level this season.
“This year, I’m coming with a vengeance,” Hertensein said. “I put in the work. I went to every (off-season) tournament that I could. I just trained, trained, trained.”
Allen East notches three titles
Allen East had five open weight classes on Saturday. There are 14 weight classes.
However, the Mustangs still managed to bring home three titles from Jordan Neal (144), Brogan Paxson (215) and Kyden Culbertson (285) on Saturday.
Neal, a freshman, capped off his perfect day with a swift pin in his title bout. Neal pinned Mechanicsburg’s Wade Naff just over one minute into the match.
“I wanted to get it over with. … I wasn’t trying to be here all day,” Neal said with a smile.
Neal is now 20-1 on the season.
Shawnee freshman Ditto wins a title
Shawnee freshman Tate Ditto (113) capped off his perfect day on Saturday with a pin against Tinora’s Josh Bishop in the championship match. It took Ditto just 37 seconds to record the pin.
“I’m surprised (to win the title),” Ditto said after his title match. “I’m glad that my teammates and coaches pushed me to do it.”
Ditto pinned all five of his opponents on Saturday.
Ditto’s father, Greg, is an assistant coach for Shawnee.
Grubb’s hard work is paying off
Crestview senior Gavin Grubb started wrestling seven years ago, when Crestview began its wrestling program.
Grubb’s hard work has officially paid off as he won the title in the 126-pound weight class on Saturday with a quick pin (1:24) against Shawnee’s Kael Dodson.
At last year’s Spartan Invitational, Grubb finished second in the 120-pound weight class.
Grubb has high aspirations for this season.
“(Last year’s) postseason (tournament), I made it to districts. … That was the farthest that I’ve made,” Grubb said. “I’m trying to make it to state this year. That’s my goal. Nobody from our school has made it there.”
After Saturday, Grubb is 17-1 on the season.
As a team, Crestview finished sixth on Saturday.
Other Spartan Invite champions
Other champions on Saturday included Bath’s Carter Deppe (120), Elida’s Ayden Dailey (175), Indian Lake’s Jackson Young, Kenton’s Anthony Hunt (157), Mechanicsburg’s Nolan Fraley (106), Gavin Stacy (138) and Ronnie Thomas (190). Ronnie Thomas was voted by the coaches as the most valuable wrestler of Saturday’s invitational.
Team Scores
1. Indian Lake 266.5
2. St. Marys 208.0
3. Mechanicsburg 202.0
4. Shawnee 193.5
5. Allen East 187.0
6. Crestview 170.0
7. Fostoria 120.5
8. Whitmer 110.0
9. Elida 104.5
10. Paulding 104.0
11. Tinora 95.5
12. Springfield 84.0
13. Spencerville 80.0
14. Kenton 63.0
15. Lima Senior 51.0
16. Bath 47.0
17. Riverdale 42.0
18. Lima Central Catholic 35.0
19. Delphos Jefferson 21.0
20. Rogers 6.0
Placers
106: 2×4 Placers 1st Nolan Fraley 11, Mechanicsburg, Fall 2:47 2nd Nico Moreno 9, Paulding 3rd Aizik Myers 12, Allen East, md11-1 4th Jerimiah Cisco 10, St. Marys Memorial 5th Brody Sherrick 9, Elida, Dec 4-3 6th Hulette North 9, Fostoria 113: 2×5 Placers 1st Tate Ditto 9, Shawnee, Fall 0:37 2nd Josh Bishop 9, Tinora 3rd Camryn Runyon 9, Mechanicsburg, Fall 2:23 4th Barrett Hernandez 9, Fostoria 5th Gabe Miley 10, Elida, Fall 4:20 6th Colton Luedeke 9, St. Marys Memorial 7th Lucien Flores 12, Springfield, Fall 0:12 8th Analeigh Hood 9, Spencerville 120: 4×4 Placers 1st Carter Deppe 11, Bath, Fall 3:09 2nd Ke`Shawn Blackwell 10, Indian Lake 3rd Trevor Sobota 9, Tinora, Fall 2:59 4th Connor Shultz 10, Mechanicsburg 5th Cruz Abalos 9, Whitmer, Dec 7-1 6th Carter Breitigam 9, Fostoria 7th Donovyn Campbell 12, Shawnee, Fall 1:49 8th Johnathan Iman 9, Springfield 126: 4×5 Placers 1st Gavin Grubb 12, Crestview, Fall 1:24 2nd Kael Dodson 12, Shawnee 3rd Nick Griffis 9, St. Marys Memorial, Dec 11-5
4th Gavin Henry 10, Indian Lake 5th Landon Dasher 9, Paulding, Dec 7-1 6th Crew Lafary 9, Mechanicsburg 7th Elijah Blair 9, Whitmer, Fall 0:56 8th Bractyn Jones 9, Lima C.C. 132: 4×5 Placers 1st Tate Hisey 11, St. Marys Memorial, md10-2 2nd Skyler Kirk 12, Elida 3rd Alejandro Reyes 10, Shawnee, Fall 1:25 4th Anthony Kleinmark 9, Fostoria 5th Landon Dasher 9, Paulding, Dec 7-1 6th Crew Lafary 9, Mechanicsburg 7th Nolan Rittenhouse 9, Tinora, Fall 1:19 8th Cory Wannemacher 10, Spencerville 138: 4×4 Placers 1st Gavin Stacy 9, Mechanicsburg, Dec 10-8 2nd Ryan Siler 9, Springfield 3rd Noah Bruce 10, St. Marys Memorial, Dec 6-4 SV 4th Austin McMichael 10, Spencerville 5th Draden Stevenson 10, Indian Lake, Fall 2:00 6th Jackson Marks 11, Crestview 7th Alex Brown 11, Whitmer, Fall 6:40SV 8th Efosa Oshodin 10, Rogers 144: 4×4 Placers 1st Jordan Neal 9, Allen East, Fall 1:06 2nd Wade Naff 11, Mechanicsburg 3rd Tony Cummins 12, Indian Lake, Dec 5-1 4th Dyllan Fink 9, St. Marys Memorial 5th Matthew Balderama 12, Fostoria, Fall 3:32 6th Hayden Tobias 11, Crestview 7th Cole Brickner 9, Shawnee, Fall 2:08 8th Adan Zacarias 10, Paulding 150: 4×5 Placers 1st Bo Hertenstein 11, St. Marys Memorial, Dec 6-5 2nd Czar Dickson 11, Indian Lake
3rd Levi Grace 12, Crestview, Dec 5-3 4th Kayne Brown 12, Shawnee 5th Dillion Welling 9, Tinora, Dec 10-8 6th Miles McDorman 9, Allen East 7th D.J. Mingione 9, Whitmer, Dec 9-4 8th Ryan Music*SH 10, X1 157: 4×4 Placers 1st Anthony Hunt 12, Kenton, Dec 8-6 SV 2nd Trenton Gatchell 12, Allen East 3rd James Simms 12, Fostoria, Dec 14-7 4th Zayden Martin 11, Crestview 5th Zach Kreider 9, Shawnee, Fall 4:59 6th Isaac Leppert 11, Lima C.C. 7th Braylon McNett 9, Spencerville, Dec 6-1 8th Leyton Parent 10, Del. Jefferson 165: 4×5 Placers 1st Jackson Young 12, Indian Lake, Fall 1:13 2nd Kydin Reed 9, Riverdale 3rd Ayden Martin 11, Crestview, Dec 3-2 4th Caleb Turner 11, St. Marys Memorial 5th Brayden Shuster 12, Whitmer, Dec 9-2 6th Blayke Grothjan*SH 10, X2 7th Colton Walborn 10, Mechanicsburg, Forfeit 8th Nolan Deppe 12, Bath 175: 4×5 Placers 1st Ayden Dailey 12, Elida, Fall 5:25 2nd Drew Neidemire 11, Shawnee 3rd Taylor Clem 11, Indian Lake, Fall 4:07 4th Jameson Wicker 12, Lima Senior 5th Braylen Paxson 9, Allen East, Dec 7-2 6th Noah Allen 10, St. Marys Memorial 7th Aiden Helt 10, Crestview, Dec 2-0 8th Carter Johnson*SPE 9, X2 190: 4×4 Placers 1st Ronnie Thomas 11, Mechanicsburg, Dec 2-1
2nd Owen Pummel 11, Indian Lake 3rd Maddox Jurek 12, Spencerville, Fall 2:47 4th Jared Manns 11, Kenton 5th Tristan Shoffner*IL 11, X2, Fall 4:53 6th Javier Franco*SPE 11, X1 7th Carter Kerby 10, Elida, Dec 7-2 8th Isaac Meeks 9, Shawnee 215: 4×5 Placers 1st Brogan Paxson 12, Allen East, Dec 6-1 2nd Zander Davis*IL 11, X3 3rd Adrian Crumley 11, Indian Lake, Fall 1:38 4th Kobe Foor 12, Paulding 5th Evan Walls 12, Crestview, Fall 0:37 6th Justin Jones 10, Whitmer 7th Taner Mele 12, St. Marys Memorial, Fall 4:42 8th Timothy Crowley 9, Springfield 285: 4×5 Placers 1st Kyden Culbertson 11, Allen East, Dec 12-7 2nd Dylan Valerio 12, Indian Lake 3rd Christopher Timms*IL 10, X3, Dec 7-0 4th Joseph Martin 12, Whitmer 5th Javion Anderson 12, Lima Senior, Fall 2:10 6th Ethan Sanders 9, Riverdale 7th Braedon Buxton 11, Mechanicsburg, Dec 6-1 8th Gerry Morton 9, Fostoria
