HAND RAISED — Toronto’s Heath Thomas has his arm raised after winning the heavyweight distict championship on Saturday. - Kim North

COSHOCTON – Barnesville continued its dominance in the Ohio Division III Eastern District wrestling tournament Saturday afternoon inside ‘The Wigwam’ at Coshocton High School. The Shamrocks piled up 188.5 points in holding off second-place Garaway (176) with a little help from their neighbors.

A total of 19 OVAC wrestlers punched their tickets to the state meet by placing in the top 4 of their respective weight classes.

Barnesville won just three of five championship bouts and lost both of its consolation finals matches, but thanks to a pair of Union Local victories over Pirates, the Shamrocks were able to prevail for the fifth time in the last six years. They won titles from 2021-2024 before placing third in 2025.

“The kids have goals and the team has goals,” veteran Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said, who has seven qualifiers. “A lot of things can go right and a lot of things can go wrong. Our goal was to get eight-ish but we fell a little short of that with seven. We looked a little flat in the finals, so the kids have to know they can’t get complacent or be satisfied.”

Winning titles were freshman Jaxon Aberegg (120), junior Colt Carpenter (144) and senior Hines Ford (175). Carpenter and Ford, who are first cousins, are now both two-time Eastern District champions, while Ford is a four-time state individual qualifier and a three-time team champion. Carpenter a three-time state qualifier. Both placed last winter, but are looking to improve on their fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively.

“This one means a lot because I’m the captain of the team,” he said. “It feels pretty good.”

Aberegg, now an impressive 45-5, got things rolling with a 18-5 major decision over Buckeye Local sophomore Nathan Dentz. He led 10-2 after two periods but after Dentz made it 10-5, Aberegg reeled off the final eight markers.

Carpenter was in total control of his match with Bidwell River Valley’s Phillip Hash in winning, 9-2. He improved to 40-9.

Ford needed less than a period to pin Bidwell River Valley’s Tanner Young in 1-minute, 57-seconds.The win, which improved Ford’s mark to 45-7, gave the Shamrock a 2-1 edge in their season series.

“This one means a lot. We work out with each other at practice, so it’s special,” Carpenter said.

Junior Easton Stephen (106) and freshman Ryder King (138) finished second, while freshmen Hoyt Hartshorn (113) and Bentley Stephen (126) both placed fourth.

Union Local finished third in the team race with 135.5 points and is sending a quartet of individuals to Columbus. Three-fourths of them are going as district champions. They are the Brothers Gossett – sophomore Gamble (126) and junior Gunnar (157) – and junior Kolten Snyder (215).

Gamble, now a sparkling 45-3, was awarded a forfeit in the finals while Gunnar, who improved to a superb 53-1, dispatched Adena’s Grady Hayden by technical fall, 15-0. Although Gamble is a two-time OVAC Ron Mauck champion, this will be his first trip to Columbus. Gunnar is now a three-time state qualifier and a two-time placer after a runnerup spot last winter.

Snyder, who qualified with Meadowbrook last season, took out Garaway’s Thomas Grimm in 3:35 to hike his record to 46-4.

“It was a good day for us. The kids wrestled well,” Union Local head coach Nate Starkey said. “I really liked the way Snyder was able to bounce back from last weekend to show that he is still who he is.”

The Jets’ Brody Perzanowski (190) finished third. He is headed to Columbus for the third consecutive year, having placed sixth both times.

“I kind of expected four, maybe a fifth or sixth with someone sneaking through,” Starkey said. “I was really happy with the way Cole Rogers and Preston Apostolec wrestled. We are still young and have a lot to improve upon.”

Martins Ferry has two district champs among its three qualifiers. The Brothers Nixon – freshman Jayce (113) and sophomore Colton (138) – both breezed in their finals matches.

Jayce ran his mark to a phenomenal 50-1 with a 19-2 technical fall over Utica’s Conner Wygle, while Colton handed King, 9-2, to improve his mark to 51-6. Colton took seventh last season at 126.

The third Purple Rider qualifier is senior Tayson Palmer (215). He finished fourth after forfeiting to allow an injured knee to heal.

Toronto’s Heath Thomas (285) won his first district title after finishing as an alternate last season. He earned a 4-0 nod over Newcomerstown’s Martin Hernandez. Thomas is now 42-3 and is the Red Knights first district champion in nearly four decades, according to sources.

Buckeye Local also qualified senior Chase Milton (132) who dropped a 9-5 decision to Elgin’s Cooper Schlaegal in the finals.

Rounding out the local qualifiers are the Bridgeport junior duo of Robert Weekley (126) who placed third and Ax’Zavio Santana (138) who took fourth.

The state tournament gets underway Friday afternoon inside Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University. It runs through Sunday night’s championship finals.