Three Central Catholic League wrestling teams made their presence felt for the second consecutive year at the state meet, finishing in the top 11 in Division II and crowning three individual champions.
Columbus St. Francis DeSales, led by two-time champion Max Shulaw, claimed third place in the team standings after taking second a year ago, compiling 95 points to trail only St. Paris Graham Local (135.5), which won its 23rd consecutive title, and Medina Buckeye (125).
Columbus Bishop Watterson (83) secured fourth place after matching a school record set in 1979 with seven state qualifiers. The Eagles had one individual champion, freshman Michael Boyle at 165 pounds.
Columbus Bishop Hartley (39) wound up 11th in the final standings and left Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center on Sunday night, March 10 with one state champion after Aiden King captured the 132-pound title.
The final day of the tournament coincided with the 35th anniversary of the late former DeSales standout Mark Zimmer becoming the first Ohio high school wrestler to win four individual titles in 1979. Dillon Campbell of Xenia Legacy Christian Academy etched his name into history as the 33rd wrestler to accomplish Zimmer’s feat on Sunday, dominating the 132-pound class in Division III.
Five of DeSales’ six state qualifiers placed among the top eight in their respective weight classes. The Stallions have finished fifth or better as a team in the last three state tournaments.
“Everything fell into place as expected,” DeSales coach Collin Palmer said. “Everybody finished on a high note. We were hoping for one or two better placements, but at the end of the day, the juniors and seniors really stood up and carried the team.”
Shulaw (49-1), a senior who plans to wrestle for the University of Virginia next year, won his second consecutive title at 215 pounds in dominant fashion, pinning Jace Knous of Wapakoneta in three minutes, eight seconds in the final. The victory secured back-to-back state championships for Shulaw, an all-state football linebacker who placed second at 215 as a sophomore and fourth at 190 as a freshman.
One of the most dominant wrestlers in the state, Shulaw pinned every opponent in the sectional, district and state tournaments the past two years.
“I’m not sure that’s ever been done,” Palmer said.
Shulaw became DeSales’ eighth wrestler to win multiple state titles, joining a list that includes Zimmer and Luke Fickell, a three-time champion who is now the head football coach at Wisconsin.
“It was pretty impressive,” Palmer said of Shulaw, who is projected to compete at 197 pounds in college. “He’s just the hardest worker on our team and he has a winning mindset.”
Shulaw’s brother, Lincoln, pinned his way to the final at 190 before losing a 17-8 major decision to Eddie Neitenbach of Buckeye in the final. It was the junior’s second consecutive runner-up finish after placing second at 175 as a freshman.
“Unfortunately, he ran into a guy in the final who is way bigger and a really tough senior,” Palmer said. “So, hopefully, next year, Lincoln’s path has opened up and he can go get himself a title on the way out.”
DeSales junior Andrew Barford, a district champion, finished third at 175 after battling his way through the consolation bracket following a quarterfinal loss. Stallions seniors Zach Lopez and Aiden Rush capped their high school careers with fifth place at 165 and seventh at 150, respectively.
DeSales freshman Joel Welch, a district champion at 157, won his opening state match by fall in 35 seconds but dropped a 5-0 decision to Hartley’s Cooper Rathburn in the second round and failed to place.
“Other than Joel, we did what we came to do,” Palmer said.
Watterson’s wrestling resurgence continued with the team’s second fourth-place finish in the past two years.
“We had some ups and downs but finished strong,” Watterson coach Felix Catheline said. “It was a tough meet and I felt like our kids competed.”
The Eagles’ season accomplishments included a school-record 13 district qualifiers, the first sectional championship in 40 years and the first CCL title in more than 20 years.
“It was definitely a great year for us,” Catheline said. “Nothing to be disappointed about.”
Boyle’s run to the title as a freshman at 165 was stunning. After losing in the sectional tournament, he regrouped and ran through the fields in the district and state meets.
In the state final, he upended Bryce Kohler of Graham Local 5-1. The two had met in a district final with Boyle also winning that match.
“I could talk to you for an hour about him,” Catheline said. “He’s really an extraordinary individual, one of the hardest working kids I’ve ever had in 23 years of coaching high school and college sports.
“I think he’s going to end up being a multiple-time state champion, and you’ll have to keep an eye on him in the fall (in football). He’s going to be our starting nose tackle.”
Teammate James Lindsay also reached the final at 138 before losing 5-3 to Hayden Hughes of Graham Local. The Watterson sophomore was fourth at 132 last year.
“James Lindsay had a phenomenal season,” Catheline said of the Academic All-Ohio honoree, “but finishing second was rough, losing to a kid in the final he had defeated two times this year. It happens. He’ll be back next year and he’s going to get that state title as a junior, but losing hurts because you saw how hard he worked.”
Watterson junior Neal Krysty, who was third in 2023 at 106, placed third again, this year at 120, and teammate Mitchell Younger, bidding for his third consecutive state title, wound up fourth. Younger had won at 144 in 2022 and 2023.
Sophomore Joe Curry, a state champion at 120 last year, was the Eagles’ final place-winner, taking fifth at 126.
Younger lost in the semifinals and Curry was upset in the first round before rebounding to win four of five matches in the consolation bracket.
“Joe losing his first match being a defending state champion was really a hard blow,” Catheline said. “But watching him wrestle back through the tournament to take fifth showed a really, really large amount of character. That was a great highlight for us.
“Mitchell had a rough tournament, but he’ll bounce back.”
Hartley’s King claimed the 132-pound crown with a 11-7 victory over Adam Heckman of Warren Howland in the final. King had lost in the 126-pound championship match the previous year.
“I think if I had to describe his season in one word I’d probably say consistent,” Hartley coach Kevin Petrella said. “He had a tremendous season and was very dominant in the state tournament. I think that him being so close to accomplishing his goal last year was a little bit of a driver for him this year.”
Rathburn, a three-time state place-winner, added a fourth-place finish for the Hawks. He finished seventh at 113 as a freshman and third at 138 last year when Hartley took sixth as a team.
“I think any time you can have a state champion and have the opportunity to have some guys compete at the state tournament is pretty incredible,” Petrella said.
