Five North wrestlers punched their ticket to compete at next weekend’s district wrestling tournaments.
The Rangers had four wrestlers finish among the top four at the Division I Pinkney East boys’ sectional tournament on Saturday and one girl who finished among the top four at the Euclid sectional on Sunday.
Three of those wrestlers—Drake Martinez, Rion Dancy-Toma, and Timmy Jesenovec—finished as the runner-up in their respective weight classes.
“I was hoping for first, but I was still satisfied with it because I knew I was going to districts no matter what happened,” said Martinez, who finished second at 138. “I knew I had to give everything throughout my matches and luckily I survived all the way through.”
Martinez reached the 100-win milestone with his 30-second pin over Elyria’s Nate Sears in the first round of the tournament.
“It meant a lot to me,” Martinez said of clinching win No. 100. “I had to win a lot of matches due to me having to quit last year due to medical reasons, but I still got that done and gave everything I had.”
Martinez then went on to record a second pin to advance to the championship match, where he fell to GlenOak’s Grant Cundiff, 18-13.
“Almost everything went perfect,” he said. “I got the No. 1 seed, which put me in a really good spot, and I got put on the side with people I’ve beaten before or have beaten others that were able to win against those.”
Dancy-Toma used a major decision and a pin to advance to the 150-pound finals, where he dropped a 4-2 decision to Elyria’s Zavier Stevens.
Jesenovec placed second at 175 pounds after receiving a first-round bye and then pinning his way into the finals.
Michael Belanich also is headed to the district tournament after he placed third at 285 pounds.
Kolt Karovich (120) and Cash Pemberton (215) both placed fifth and will serve as district alternates.
On Sunday, Temperance Martinez placed fourth at 110 pounds to punch her ticket to the girls’ district tournament.
She opened the tournament with a bye and then pinned her way into the semifinals, where she fell to eventual champion Abby Cornwell of Perry. She bounced back with a 13-6 decision in the consolation semifinals before falling in the third-place match.