Thursday marks the official start of the Ohio high school wrestling season, a three-month journey that will culminate in Columbus with the Ohio High School Athletic Association state tournament.

Nearly two dozen area schools will field wrestling teams this season. Additionally, numerous state qualifiers and placers return in hopes of securing another shot at states in March.

Before that can happen, though, the wrestlers will take part in multiple dual and tri meets, as well as weekend tournaments.

Some coaches say they will be looking for different things from their wrestlers as the season gets underway.

“I’m looking to find mistakes that they’re making so that I can correct them as soon as possible,” Boardman head coach Hadi Hadi said. “We’re looking for errors, and once we see an error, we correct that error with the whole team. We present it to the whole team because generally, if you got one person doing it, you’ll find others.”

Canfield coach Craig Shaw said wins or losses are of little importance to him early in the season and that he will be focusing on what his team is doing in those matches.

“I’m just looking for them to implement some of the newer stuff or stuff we emphasize during practice in the matches,” Shaw said. “…Whether that goes into results at the beginning of the year, I don’t know, and I really don’t care. I just know it will be beneficial later down the road.”

WRESTLERS TO WATCH

Last season, more than 20 wrestlers from the Mahoning Valley punched their proverbial ticket to Columbus. With numerous veteran-laden teams around the area, the Valley will likely be well represented again at the state tournament come March 2025.

Of those expected to make an appearance in Columbus is Canfield senior Tyler Scharrer, who has qualified for the state tournament three times and placed sixth in 2023. Scharrer entered states this past March with an undefeated record before eventually losing in the quarterfinals to eventual 138-pound Division II state champion Hayden Hughes of Graham.

Similarly, Poland’s Ella Thomas boasted a flawless pre-states record and finished her freshman season with more than 40 wins and only two losses. She placed fourth in the girls 100-pound weight class in Columbus.

Other returning state placers include Howland’s Madison Burns, who placed fifth in the girls 135-pound class, and Hubbard’s Emily Flynn, a two-time state placer who finished sixth this year at 130 pounds and fourth at 125 pounds in 2022.

Howland, one of two area schools with a state finalist in March, will rely on both veterans, like Burns and senior Chris Mijavec, as well as some relative newcomers this season.

Juggling the various goals and expectations of the wrestlers with different experience levels should not be too much of an issue, according to Tigers coach Matt Zakrajsek.

“We’re very goal-oriented. You set like an achievable season goal and then a higher-up goal, and then it’s kind of like a ladder,” Zakrajsek said. “Once you accomplish that goal, you set a new one. So there’s kind of little baby steps, stepping stones as you go.”

For a freshman, Zakrajsek says, winning a varsity match is the achievable, short-term goal. But for someone like Mijavec, a returning state qualifier, the goals are understandably loftier.

“Over time, [Mijavec’s goals] changed from winning that first varsity match or breaking the lineup to being a district qualifier, to being a state qualifier, winning a match [at states]. Now he’s, I’m assuming, planning on being on the podium or working to get on the podium down there.”

Other state qualifiers from the area include Canfield’s Gabe Miller, West Branch’s Jocelyn Brink and Hubbard’s Alex Hackwelder.

To qualify for the state tournament, boys wrestlers must wade through sectional and district tournaments, while girls comprise a single statewide division – unlike the boys’ three – and qualify for states via pre-regionals and regionals.

THE WRESTLER’S ‘CURSE’

As usual, the start of wrestling season follows so closely behind Thanksgiving.

“That’s always a wrestler’s curse,” Shaw said.

While it may be a challenge for the wrestlers to shed the holiday pounds, they must do so in order to slot into one of the 14 weight classes. For the boys, the weight limits are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215 and 285 pounds. For the girls, the limits are 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 155, 170, 190 and 235 pounds.

Each weight class will be afforded a 2-pound allowance after Christmas Day, meaning the wrestlers can be slightly heavier for the rest of the season from that point on.

Still, making weight is a notoriously difficult task for many wrestlers.

“It’s always an issue trying to get guys in the right weight class,” Zakrajsek said. “The way we look at it, there’s two parts of the season – everything before January is still practice. So we kind of approach everything with that mentality. Every match, you’re still sharpening your tools and working on your game. Some guys will be progressing through their weight plan down to other weight classes.”

For many, they have been working on their weight, in one way or another, for several months.

Hadi, in particular, said his coaching staff met with seniors in the fall to discuss their desired weight classes so they could get a jump on the weight loss.

“We promote better eating habits. We don’t promote bad weight loss habits,” Hadi said. “So we’ve had kids that started back in September.”

IMPORTANT DATES

Although many local teams will meet each other at various meets or tournaments, there are a few events that numerous area programs participate in each year:

Dec. 14 – Everett Hoppel Memorial tournament (at Beaver Local)

Jan. 10 and 11 – Eastern Ohio Wrestling League tournament (at Austintown Fitch)

Jan. 17 and 18 – Top Gun tournament (at Alliance)

Feb. 1 – Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Associaton state duals

Feb. 8 – Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference tournament (at Crestview)

Feb. 22 – OHSAA boys sectional tournaments

Feb. 23 – OHSAA girls pre-regional tournaments

Feb. 28 and March 1 – OHSAA boys district tournaments

March 2 – OHSAA girls regional tournaments

March 7 to 9 – OHSAA state tournament (at Schottenstein Center in Columbus)