This weekend, sectional wrestling tournaments begin paving the way to the state meet in early March. It's the time for pay-offs for cutting weight, for wrestling difficult schedules, for work done the previous summer.

Jesse King, Brandon Allen and Matt Gill (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        For the Loveland Tigers, it's also a time for testing themselves against more demanding Division I opponents.

        “We found Division I wrestling was more intense from beginning to end,” said Loveland coach Mike Rich. “Each match in Division I was tough.”

        Loveland wrestled at Division I for the 1998-1999 season. The Tigers dropped to Division II last season, before returning to Division I this season. Three Loveland juniors, then, have first-hand experience at meeting the differing expectations.

        “In 1999, we weren't prepared for the Division I competition,” said 145-pounder Jesse King, who didn't make it out of his sectional that freshman year. “It was a bit of a shock, wrestling Division I.”

        One of the evolutions in high school wrestling over the past decade has been placing greater emphasis on preparation for the state meet.

        In an attempt to break the Northeast Ohio stranglehold on success, area coaches have stepped up the competition their teams face during the regular season, especially in quality tournaments.

        A quick jump in enrollment — such as the one Loveland experienced — means a quick jump in division participation. That puts some wrestlers at a disadvantage.

        This season, though, King and two teammates who were baptized in Division I competition their freshmen year — Matt Gill (119) and Brandon Allen (275) — feel prepared heading into this weekend's sectional, even though they wrestled at Division II last season.

        “We wrestled at the Medina tournament this year, as well as at Vandalia, which had 40 teams, and the Dayton Carroll meet,” Rich said.

        Faring well at Division I has become a mark of pride for the Loveland wrestlers.

        Rich said the Tigers will get more opportunity to prove themselves. Loveland is 50 wrestlers above the cut-off mark dividing divisions I and II.

        Rich hopes that means more turnout for the team down the road, and it places an even greater value on the youth wrestling program as a feeder source.

        Injured last season, the 275-pound Allen has only the Division I tournament experience.

        As a freshman, Allen placed third in the Division I sectional.

        Loveland placed itself in the St. Xavier sectional this season. With some good tournament experience behind them King, Gill and Allen feel ready to take on whatever comes their way.

        “We feel better prepared this time,” Gill said.

Sectional wrestling tournaments begin today

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