Win and move on. That’s the mantra at this time of year on the high school wrestling calendar.
For three St. Joseph-Ogden wrestlers, that goal was achieved on Saturday at the Class 1A Heyworth Regional.
The Spartans finished 10th out of 11 teams at the meet, but junior Owen Birt, sophomore Emittt Holt and freshman Holden Brazelton will all compete next weekend at the 1A Olympia Sectional in Stanford that starts this upcoming Friday and concludes next Saturday.
Brazelton took second at 120 pounds and Birt had the same finish at 195 pounds, while Holt placed third at 113 pounds.
Brazelton received a bye into the semifinals, where he beat Carter Chambliss of Oakwood/Salt Fork by a 6-2 decision to reach the title match. Braydon Campbell of RIdgeview/Lexington defeated Brazelton by a 3-1 decision in the final.
Brazelton and his 37-3 record this season will wrestle against Garrett Kean (16-14) of Eureka in his first-round match at the sectional meet. A win sets up a quarterfinal match with Ethan Morrison (23-5) of Mercer County.
Birt received a bye into the quarterfinals at the Heyworth Regional before pinning Gray McCue of Ridgeview/Lexington in 2 minutes, 35 seconds in his first regional match. Birt then advanced after Kaedyn Sloat of Clinton was disqualified in the semifinal match, moving Birt on to the championship match, where Brody Cuppernell won by an 8-3 decision.
At Olympia, Birt and his 20-8 record this season opens his sectional tournament with a first-round match against Ronin Ryerson (10-16) of Chillicothe IVC. A win there and Birt advances to face Cooper Wendling (27-3) of Tremont in the quarterfinals.
Holt needed a win in his final match at Heyworth to keep his season intact, and he delivered. After beating Jakob Howell of Gibson City/Melvin-Sibley/Fisher by a narrow 1-0 decision in the quarterfinals, he lost by pin to Danny Tay of Ridgeview/Lexington in the semifinals. This dropped Holt into the wrestle backers, where he defeated Bradey Bierbaum of Olympia by a 7-1 decision before securing his spot at the sectional meet with an 11-0 major decision against Teegan West of Clinton in the third-place match.
Holt and his 30-6 record will open the sectional tournament with a first-round match against Hunter Sierer (5-1) of Peoria Notre Dame. A win would advance Holt to the quarterfinals and a match against Jack Thompson (39-6) of Camp Point Central.
Brazelton, Birt and Holt would need to finish among the top four wrestlers in their weight class to advance to the state meet that runs Feb. 17-19 at State Farm Center in Champaign.
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