TROY – The Miami East wrestling team had a huge weekend at the Division III District Wrestling Tournament at Hobart Arena in Troy as four Viking wrestlers qualified for state with two going as district champions.
This led to a fourth place finish at districts in the team standings as Miami East accumulated 115 points.
Heading to state as district champions are brothers Cooper Shore (113 pounds) and Max Shore (126 pounds).
Cooper, who finished runner-up a year ago at 113 pounds, rolled into the finals with two pins and an 18-3 technical fall victory over Khadyn Jacobs of Brookville in the semifinal. His finals match was not so easy, however, as Shore was taken into overtime by Legacy Christian’s Eli Campbell, the same wrestler he defeated 4-2 in the sectional final a week ago. Shore, who had pushed the action throughout the entire match, was able to finish a takedown attempt in overtime to secure a district title with a 3-1 win.
Max Shore, who won a state championship last season at 120 pounds, was equally as dominant in reaching the finals at 126 pounds. He advanced with two pins and then a 20-5 technical fall win over Ashtan Hendricks of Greenview. In the finals, Shore pulled away from Covington’s Chase Vanderhorst in the final two periods for a 10-3 win.
The victories by the Shore brothers capped a great weekend for the family as they found out their sister Olivia had won a national collegiate title at the same time they were competing for state births at districts.
Joining the Shores at state is returning state placer David Davis and sophomore 138 pounder Layton Hughes.
Davis advanced to the championship final with a 5-3 victory over Dickie Engel of Reading and then went into overtime tied 0-0 with returning state placer Jake Hurst of Mechanicsburg. In what was an extremely physical and technical match, Davis came up short as Hurst capitalized on a scramble for the winning takedown in overtime. The defeat was just the second of the season for Davis, who enters state with a 39-2 record.
One of the most gratifying performances for Miami East was that of sophomore Layton Hughes, who advanced to state with a fourth place finish at 138 pounds. Hughes dropped into the consolation round with a loss to Troy Kennedy of Troy Christian in the semifinals, but rebound in grand fashion with a 6-4 victory over Anthony Hunt of Kenton in the consolation semifinal. The victory ensured Hughes a state birth and a rematch with Kennedy in the consolation final. Unfortunately for Hughes, Kennedy was able to duplicate his effort from the semifinals by defeating the Vikings wrestler.
Coming up short of advancing to state were Daniel Martin (150) and Drake Bennett (190) who both finished sixth.
