The Miami Trace Panthers won the program’s sixth consecutive Sectional title to add to their long list of accomplishments at Gallia Academy High School Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
Chris Hoppes | Record-Herald photos
Miami Trace’s Lyric Dickerson moments after pinning Blaine Holzschuh of Logan Elm in the Sectional championship match at 120 pounds at Gallia Academy High School Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
Asher LeBeau of Miami Trace wrestles Hunter Schoenborn of Logan Elm in the semifinals at 150 pounds in the Division II Sectional at Gallia Academy High School Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. LeBeau won this match by a 20-8 major decision.
Brice Perkins of Miami Trace controls Luke Skinner of Sheridan in the championship match at 138 pounds at the Sectional tournament Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 at Gallia Academy High School. Perkins won this match by a 9-2 score.
Landon St. Clair of Miami Trace, at right, faces off against Logan Householder of Sheridan in the championship match at 144 pounds at the Division II Sectional tournament Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 at Gallia Academy High School. St. Clair won the title with a pin of Householder in the third period.
Conor Harrison of Miami Trace, left, competes against Roy Kirkendall of Vinton County at 190 pounds in the semifinals at the Sectional tournament at Gallia Academy High School Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Harrison won this match with an 8-0 major decision.
Miami Trace’s Will Enochs wrestles Reme Fairbanks of Warren in a 126-pound match in the consolation semifinals at the Division II Sectional tournament Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 at Gallia Academy High School.
GALLIPOLIS — The Miami Trace Panthers wrestling team continued a string of successful Sectional tournament appearances by winning the Division II Sectional tournament at Gallia Academy High School Saturday, Feb. 24.
Miami Trace was in Gallia Academy Sectional No. 1, which consisted of nine teams, including FAC opponent Hillsboro.
Miami Trace won the tournament, capturing the program’s sixth consecutive Sectional title, with 187.5 team points.
Logan Elm was second with 181 points and Circleville was third with 155 points.
Hillsboro was seventh with 81 points.
Miami Trace had four Sectional champions — Lyric Dickerson, 120; Brice Perkins, 138; Landon St. Clair, 144 and Tyler Stevens, 165.
The Panthers had a total of nine wrestlers qualify for the District tournament, which is Friday and Saturday back at Gallia Academy High School.
Asher LeBeau was second at 150 and Conor Harrison was second at 190.
Will Enochs (126) and Garrett Carson (157) each placed third and Spencer Smith (132) was fourth.
John Queen is a District alternate after placing fifth at 215 pounds.
“We’ve had some goals this year that we fell a little bit short of,” Miami Trace assistant coach Jacob Garringer said. “But, we won a league title and now we’ve won a Sectional title, so, we’ve kind of got the ball rolling. We’ve got good momentum going into (the District tournament).
“We got nine guys out (to Districts) out of the 12 we brought,” Garringer said. “And we have one alternate. We had a pretty good day. We put six in the finals and we had four champs.
“We had a couple of guys step up today,” Garringer said. “Landon St. Clair at 144 beat a kid (in the finals) he had previously lost to, so, that was big for him.
“It was a close team race with us and Logan Elm,” Garringer said.
Dickerson pinned Blaine Holzschuh of Logan Elm late in the first period in the finals.
Perkins won a 9-2 decision over Luke Skinner of Sheridan in the finals; Stevens won a 17-2 tech fall over Bryce Perkins of Logan Elm and St. Clair pinned Logan Householder of Sheridan in the third period.
“Our guys finishing third and fourth helped a lot, too,” Garringer said. “Will Enochs had a real tough weight class. There were two guys ranked in the top eight in the state (at 126 pounds) and he came back and got third.
“Garrett Carson had lost three times to Burns of Hillsboro,” Garringer said. “He came back and beat him to place third.
“Senior Asher LeBeau made the finals,” Garringer said. “He had a real tough kid, No. 3 in the state.
“Senior Conor Harrison made the finals,” Garringer said. “Those guys are real good leaders for us. It was great to see them get to the finals.
“Lyric Dickerson at 120 did what he always does,” Garringer said. “He goes right at the guy, takes him down. As soon as he takes him down, he turns him. He’s just solid. He’s ranked in the top eight in the state.
“Tyler Stevens had a tech fall in the finals, he won 17-2,” Garringer said. “Last year, Brice Perkins was runner-up here at the Sectionals. This year he came back and won the title. That was big for him. He was real excited about that and so were we.
“We had a solid day,” Garringer said.
