STEUBENVILLE — It was a day of championships for the Big Red wrestling team.

Big Red finished first at the Ohio Division II Eastern District Sectional Tournament with 229 points, finishing 19 points ahead of second place West Holmes Saturday inside the Crimson Center, while three wrestlers claimed individual titles in their respective weight classes.

“Overall, I thought we wrestled well” Big Red head coach Lucas Huffman said. “Our sectional is tough with Indian Valley, Beaver Local and West Holmes. We wrestled a solid tournament, and we hope to carry that over into the districts.”

Big Red was the sectional runner-up last year.

“Winning the sectional title is something the kids have strived for,” Huffman said. “We talked about it all week at practice. We knew we could win the tournament. It is special. We were the runner-up last year. It is good to be able to take the sectional title back this year.”

Individually, Cooper Smith (144 pounds), Brody Saccoccia (157) and Beau Hudson (285) all won sectional titles.

“It’s good,” Huffman said. “Anytime you can win a championship at a tournament, it is a good thing. It is good to have multiple champions. I thought those three could do it. They wrestled well.”

Saccoccia has won four straight sectional titles.

“Brody is a special kid,” Huffman said. “He does the right things. He practices hard. He works hard. He’s a great student. He deserves it. He does the right things. He is on a mission this year. He is going to move on from here and get ready for the districts. Winning a sectional title is a stepping stone for the second season.”

The top four in each weight class qualified for the district tournament which is set to begin Friday night back at Big Red.

“It means a lot,” Huffman said about Big Red hosting the district tournament. “It is good for our school system, it is good for community, it is good for our team and it is good for our program. Not everyone gets an opportunity to host a district tournament. It is great that we are able to do so. We have done it two times, and we look forward to hosting it.”

Big Red did leave some points and championships out on the mat as the Red-and-Black had five wrestlers finish as runners-up in their weight classes.

“When you wrestle in a tournament and lose in the finals, it is a tough loss,” Huffman said. “You don’t like to lose. It is something we will take and learn from. We will get better, and we will improve this week going into the district tournament.”

Beaver Local ended the day in third place with 196 points.

Locally, Indian Creek finished in sixth place with 99.5 points.

Luke McMillion (190) brought home a sectional title for the Redskins.

Big Red got points up and down its lineup as the Red-and-Black advanced 12 wrestlers to the district tournament along with one alternate.

“It is always nice to wrestle at home,” Huffman said. “When you wrestle at home, your fans, your family and friends can come see you compete. I think there might be something to having a home match advantage.”

The Red-and-Gold advanced five to the district tournament, while having two more wrestlers as alternates.

Smith, who placed third last year, pinned his way through the tournament. Smith – the top seed – started the tournament with a bye in the first round of the tournament before pinning Morgan’s Landyn Everley in 29 seconds in the quarterfinals. Smith then pinned No. 5 seed Brett O’Connor of Indian Valley in 37 seconds in the semifinals before pinning No. 2 seed Mason Hill of Cambridge in 1:01.

“Cooper is a tough kid,” Huffman said. “Like Brody, he does the right things. He does a good job of managing his weight. He practices hard. He has a good work ethic. He is on a mission this year. He has had a great season, and we are looking for him to win more matches.”

Saccoccia remained undefeated on the season as the No. 1 seed cruised through the tournament. Saccoccia opened the tournament with a bye in the first round before pinning Indian Creek’s Quinn Ujcich in 33 seconds in the quarterfinals. Saccoccia then dispatched No. 4 seed Clayton Myers of Cambridge via tech fall, 20-3, in the semifinals before pinning No. 2 seed Bradley Spencer of Morgan in 3:32 in the finals to win another sectional title.

“Brody wrestled the way we thought he would,” Huffman said. “The Morgan kid he wrestled in the finals is a tough and scrappy kid. He did not back down from Brody. He did not back down from Brody, and that is a good thing. He made Brody work. That is the type of matches you want to have going into the districts and then the state tournament.”

Hudson — the No. 2 seed — opened the tournament with a bye before pinning Indian Valley’s Corbin Robinson in 5:39 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Hudson edged No. 3 seed Dylan Sours of West Holes by decision, 2-0, to advance to the final. Hudson pulled out his third thriller of the day in the finals as he defeated No. 4 seed Isaac Prescott of Beaver Local by decision, 4-3, to win the gold.

“Beau wrestled an excellent tournament,” Huffman said. “He did not have an easy road. He gritted out some tough matches. He wrestled the Prescott kid from Beaver Local in the final, and he was able to get the job done. He wrestled a great tournament.”

Like Smith, Hudson placed third last year.

McMillion, who was a sectional rubber-up last year, wrestled two matches on his way to winning a title for Indian Creek. McMillion – the No. 1 seed – opened the tournament with back-to-back byes. Then in the semifinals, McMillion defeated No. 4 seed Nolan Blackburn of Big Red by decision, 3-1. In the final, McMillion took down No. 3 seed Kane Curran of Beaver Local by major decision, 14-6, to bring the championship to Wintersville.

Big Red ended the day going 3-5 in the finals. Kasyn Berkey (120), Dorian Hadadd (126), Ethan Llewellyn (165), Landon Crosier (175) and Landyn Babel (215) all ended up in second place.

Also, Cole Harvey (113) and Charlie Abbott (150) ended the day in third place, while Landon Drazic (138) and Blackburn (190) both finished fourth.

Monte Guntrum (106) finished in fifth place for the hosts, and he will be an alternate for the upcoming district tournament.

“Coming into this year, we knew we had a very solid team,” Huffman said. “From the start of the season until now, we have progressed like we could have or should have. We have 12 district qualifiers. We thought we might be able to get one or two more, honestly. We talked about it at practice. I told them we could qualify 14 to the district tournament. We knew it was possible. We have a good team.”

For Indian Creek, Jackson Scharfenberg (113) ended up in second place. Also, Gavin Pownall (165) placed third, while Ethan Starr (132) and Ian Starkey (150) each finished fourth.

Pownall — who won a sectional title last year — won his 100th career match during the tournament.

Indian Creek’s Noah Crane (120) and Franco Barcalow (144) finished fifth and will serve as alternates for the district tournament.

Justice Fisher (106), Robert Buchheit (138) and Evan Ours (165) all won sectional titles for Beaver Local.

Baylon Rose (126) and Noah Keen (132) both won sectional titles for Cambridge to give the OVAC nine individual champions on the day. As a team, the Bobcats finished fifth with 143 points.

“The Valley is on the rise,” Huffman said. “There is a lot of really good talent in the valley. That’s awesome to see.”

Edison finished in ninth place in the Division II sectional tournament Saturday out at Claymont. Individually for the Wildcats, Nolan Haught (138) ended up in third place to qualify for the district tournament at Big Red.

Also for Edison, Marcus Greene (106) finished fifth and will be an alternate for the district tournament.

Carrollton won the team title at Claymont with 206 points. The Warriors were followed in the standings by Claymont with 183.5 points and Minerva with 158.5.

East Liverpool ended up in seventh place with 117 points, and Tristan Eckles (120) brought a sectional title back home to Columbiana County.

Big Red is looking forward to competing at the district tournament.

“We are going to keep doing what we have been doing,” Huffman said. “We want to have a good week of practice. We are going to be focused. We are going to keep doing what we have been doing. We are going to work hard. Only time will tell when we get to the district tournament.”