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One win guarantees at least a two-day appearance.
Two wins earns a spot on the podium.
Four straight wins brings home a state championship.
The formula is simple when it comes to wrestling: win to keep moving.
For four local wrestlers, that will be the process starting Friday when the 88th Ohio High School Athletic Association annual boys state wrestling tournament and third annual girls state tournament takes to the mats at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University starting at 1 p.m. Over three days, nearly 1,700 bouts will take place, culminating in a Parade of Champions bringing out the competitors to face off for a state title.
For St. Marys' Tate Hisey and Bo Hertenstein, it was an experience they lived last season. Hisey realized his goal, bringing home the Roughriders - and Grand Lake area's - first-ever state championship when he won the Division II 126-pound title. Hertenstein's goal fell short in finishing runner-up at 150 pounds.
Hisey and Hertenstein's teammate Cole Donovan will make his debut at the state tournament, with Celina's Ashton Lehman doing likewise in the girls tournament.
St. Marys' Tate Hisey (left) will look to earn All-Ohio honors for a fourth time and repeat as a state champion when the state wrestling tournament gets underway on Friday in Columbus.
After winning last year at 126, Hisey said he had programmed the date of the state tournament into the calendar of his cell phone to remind him of his goal.
Hisey, who will wrestle for NCAA Division I George Mason next season, has done likewise this season as he looks to conclude his fourth trip to state with a fourth straight All-Ohio finish and a second straight title.
Hisey, who enters Friday with a 36-3 record, moved up one weight division to 132 this season, His opponent in last year's final, Leroy Steagall, graduated, but quarterfinal opponent Gavin Hoover of Logan Elm is back and could be an opponent in the championship semifinal on Saturday night. Defending 132 champion Aiden King of Columbus Hartley moved up to 138.
Up first for Hisey, who won his fourth Western Buckeye League title this season, is freshman Ayden Johns of Bloom-Carroll (39-8). Johns finished fourth at the Wilmington district.
Wapakoneta's Gavin Ridenour, whom Hisey defeated for the WBL title at 132, is set up in the upper part of the bracket, meaning the two would either meet in the championship match if both win their first three bouts.
After finishing second at 150 pounds last season, St. Marys' Bo Hertenstein will try to win a 157-pound state title this season,.
Hertenstein was disappointed in his performance after losing in the 150-pound final last season to Steubenville's Brody Saccoccia 13-9.
Both wrestlers moved up one weight class to 157 pounds, and the bracket is set up where if both win out, they will face off again Sunday night in the final bout. Saccoccia (39-1) enters as the runner-up from the Steubenville district, losing to undefeated Coltyn Reed of Sheridan in the final.
Hertenstein, making his third trip to state, has been focused on coming home with a title. The Wheeling University-bound senior is 41-3 after winning the Norwalk district title.
The first opponent for Hertenstein will be John Glenn's Dominic Bates (47-6), who finished fourth at Steubenville. Bates reached state at 138 last season, losing two straight bouts.
St. Marys' Cole Donovan will look to do well in the 190-pound division at state.
After finishing third at 175 pounds at the WBL tournament, Donovan went big for the postseason, moving up to 190 pounds.
The work paid off for the senior as he finished second at district to punch his ticket to state.
Donovan is 36-8 on the season as he is set to face Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy freshman Paul Tepley (34-12), who finished third at the Kenston district.
A win over Tepley sets up a big quarterfinal match against 190-pound 2024 runner-up Lincon Shulaw of Columbus DeSales. Shulaw is 25-3 after winning the Wilmington district crown.
Celina's Ashton Lehman is the second girls wrestler to qualify for state.
Wrestling is a sport of survival, and Asthon Lehman is well aware of that.
Lehman was trailing 11-2 in the final period to Brunswick's Sarah King in the consolation semifinals, with both wrestlers needing a win to finish in the top four and earn a state spot. The Bulldog sophomore got a reversal, then held on for dear life to get the pin with 12 seconds remaining to punch her ticket to state.
The win allowed Lehman, who went on to finish fourth after losing in the third-place bout, to become the second girls wrestler from Celina to reach the OHSAA tournament, joining Kenzie Miracle, who earned All-Ohio honors for seventh place two years ago.
Lehman (23-18) has a big challenge in her opening bout at 130 pounds, as she will take on Olentangy Orange's Bella Ndinga Mbappe' (38-6). Mbappe' finsihed fourth last season at 115 pounds.
