KENSTON, Ohio (Feb. 24, 2024) -- Rocky River competed in DII sectional tournament action Saturday. River grapplers competed against entrants from 13 other schools, and the mat battles were for district tournament qualifying berths. Wrestling at Kenston High School, the Pirates earned two automatic qualifying slots (top-4 finishes) and one alternate berth (fifth place). So a trio of River athletes will move on in the Buckeye State postseason. [Kenston sectional results]

Senior Connor Schiefferle won twice before falling as a forfeit in the championship bout at 165 pounds. Schiefferle registered a pin in his opening match and then a key overtime win over eventual third-place finisher Rocco Ereditario (Bay) in the semifinal. The veteran grappler, who qualifies through as a runner-up and is now a two-time district qualifier, is 25-4 this season.

Junior Dylan Heffron also punched a ticket for the next round. Heffron (29-19) took fourth at 144. He was pinned in his opener but then won three straight in the wrestleback before falling 4-0 to University School's Mac Hurley in the third-place bout.

At 157, junior Lincoln Krish logged two pins and a tech fall while going 3-2. Krish's 15-0 tech fall triumph over Kenston freshman Philip Brodsky marked his 30th win of the season. He took fifth at 144 and moves forward as an alternate. The now-two-time district qualifier will look to add to a 32-13 mark if a district slot opens up.

The Pirate trifecta of Schiefferle, Dylan Heffron, and Krish will travel back to Kenston for the March 1-2 DII Northeast/Kenston District Tournament.

Elsewhere at Saturday's sectional event, freshman Liam Ries clocked a pair of wins at 150.

The DII state tournament will be held March 8-10 at Ohio State University's Schottenstein Center in Columbus.


by Skip Snow

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