Solon Wrestling Trio Advances in State Tournament

1:15 P.M. FRIDAY UPDATE: 

Solon wrestlers Brandon Thompson, Anthony Collica and Nate Hoff have all advanced to tonight’s Division I state semifinals at Value City Arena in Columbus.

Thompson made the 103-pound semifinals with a hard-fought 4-2 decision over P.J. Mueller of Olmsted Falls. Collica advanced in the 130-pound bracket with a convincing 7-1 decision over Matt Denlinger of Kettering Fairmount. Hoff stayed alive at 285 pounds by pinning Oregon Clay’s Garrett Gray at the 3:16 mark of their quarterfinal bout.

Tonight’s semifinal round begins at 6:30 p.m. Winners advance to Saturday night’s championship round at 5:45 p.m.

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It’s a cliché but it rings true every year at the state wrestling tournament: You can’t win a state title on Thursday, but you can lose one.

Opening round bouts at Columbus are full of surprises. Solon head coach Tony DiGiovanni and his three qualifiers avoided first-round heartbreak at Value City Arena Thursday as all three Comets advanced to today’s quarterfinals.

“If you haven’t lived through the state tournament as a wrestler, coach or a parent, you really can’t understand the intensity and how fast things can change,” DiGiovanni said.

Solon’s two projected state champions advanced as predicted. Comet 103-pounder Brandon Thompson got past Chris Mullucey of Dublin Coffman by a 4-1 score while 130-pounder Anthony Collica outscored Angelo Amenta of Oregon Clay by an 8-5 count.

“Brandon’s opponent was hard to wrestle, he had an unusual style,” said DiGiovanni. “Anthony got out to a 5-0 lead and had four more takedowns on the edge of the mat he didn’t get.”

The bout of the day for the Solon faithful came at 285 pounds where junior Nate Hoff battled Pat Elflein of Pickerington North into overtime. Hoff held a 3-1 edge after two periods but Elflein was awarded a point on a stalling call to tie the match at 3-3 heading into overtime.

Hoff was able to escape with just two seconds remaining in the extra session to pull out the win in only his 14th bout of an injury-delayed season.

“We told Nate how to get the escape and he did it,” said DiGiovanni.

The Division I quarterfinals are set to begin at 11:20 a.m. today with the semifinals slated to go at 6:30 p.m. Thompson (44-2) is set to take on  P.J. Mueller (43-9) of Olmsted Falls, Collica (42-3) squares off against Matt Denlonger (36-7) of Kettering Fairmount and Hoff (13-1) faces Garrett Gray (37-8) of Oregon Clay.

Division I consolation quarterfinals wind down the day at 8:50 p.m. Saturday’s fourth session begins with Division I consolation semifinals at 10 a.m., followed by third, fifth and seventh place matches.

The fifth and final session of the tournament begins with the Parade of Champions at 5:30 p.m. and the state title bouts at 5:45 p.m.