Spahr, Hess win sectional titles (01/30/06)

“In the finals I was kind of shocked because I only beat him 5-2 at (Adams Central) and I pinned him in the second period,” said Spahr. “He wasn’t taking as many shots as he normally does.”

Hess, a two-time sectional champion, and first-time winner Spahr each said they have their sights set on regional crowns as well.

Baer, who also won the ECIC title and was seeded No. 1, cruised through his opening match and scored seven points apiece in his final two to take the 130-pound championship.

He opened with a pin of Jay County’s Sam Lyons in 31 seconds, then topped Max Hackman of Bellmont 7-0 and Adam Boxell of Southern Wells 7-3.

Also advancing for the Starfires were: Chase Sprunger (103), Josh Mann (112) and Spencer Hayworth (125) in second place, Josh Kimberlin (189) and Caleb Moore (215) in third place and Dustin Ehr (152) in fourth place.

“I would like to get four through,” said Eric Myers of his regional expectations. “We’re going to have to step it up another notch, but there are a lot of kids that we’ve already seen that we’ve had close matches with.”

Following Hess and Spahr for Jay County was Robert Ralston (160). The senior built a 5-1 lead early on and rolled to a 12-4 major decision over Chris Becker of Norwell to finish in third place.

Also advancing for the Patriots were freshman Casey Kenney (103) and senior Jason Crouch (HWT) in fourth place.

“Robert Ralston is peaking at the right time,” said James Myers. “He’s only lost one or two matches in the month of January in the tough part of our schedule.”

Jay County’s Nathan Daniels (135) and Nathan Conatser (215) were each seeded fourth, but fell short in their consolation semifinal matches. Caleb Culy (119), Ben Theurer (125), Micah Enyart (145), Matt Daniels (152) and Tom Smith (189) all lost in the consolation semifinals as well.[[In-content Ad]]