COLUMBUS — Alex Taylor had his hands full Friday afternoon.
His drill partner had an easier go of it.
Mount Vernon’s sophomore 215-pounder and a projected state finalist, Taylor picked up a hard-earned 4-2 victory over Austintown-Fitch’s Mark Stankorb in the opening round of the Division I state tournament at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
Taylor’s drill partner, East Knox 190-pounder Blake Elliott, opened with a third-period pin of Salineville Southern’s Johnny Bailey in the Division III tournament.
Elliott and Taylor have wrestled together for most of their lives. Because East Knox doesn’t have enough wrestlers for a full team, the Bulldogs practice with Mount Vernon and Yellow Jackets coach Corey Firebaugh serves as the head coach for both programs.
“He’s my every-day drill partner,” said Taylor, who was sporting a bleach-blonde hairstyle for the state tournament. “It’s amazing to have such a good wrestler to wrestle with every day, along with (Mount Vernon) heavyweight Luke Mullins.
“That’s three state qualifiers from 190 to 285. You can’t beat that.”
Elliott agreed.
“I’ve been wrestling with him all my life,” Elliott said. “He’s a good wrestler and a good partner.”
As for his opener, Taylor knew it wouldn’t be easy. He beat Stankorb 3-1 last year in the match that secured his spot on the podium. Taylor lost his first match at state as a freshman before reeling off five straight victories to take third place.
“He’s a good kid,” Taylor said. “I beat him in the blood round last year, so going in I knew what type of wrestler I was going to face and he knew who I was.”
Taylor was one of seven Yellow Jackets in action Friday and one of three to win an opening-round match.
Older brother Jake opened with a 3-2 victory over Miamisburg’s Lincoln Krull, while freshman 105-pounder Ashlyn Brokaw opened with a third-period pin of West Union’s Scotlyn Adams in the girls tournament.
“I felt pretty good,” Brokaw said. “I could do some things better, but I felt solid about how the match went.
“I’ve progressed a lot from the beginning of the season. I think it’s gone pretty well.”
Three other Yellow Jackets, 113-pounder Brock Blankenhorn, 144-pounder Mavrik Gregory and 115-pounder Emma Rinehart, dropped their opening-round matches before rebounding with victories in the consolation round.
“We’ve been here in years with one or two kids and this year we’ve got Blake at East Knox and the girls and our Mount Vernon kids,” Firebaugh said. “It’s super-busy, but that’s why you do it.”
Centerburg’s Christopher Marshall opened with one of the most exciting matches on day one of the state tournament. The junior 138-pounder held on for a thrilling 7-6 ultimate tie-breaker victory over Delphos St. John’s Edward Kessen.
The match was tied after six minutes of regulation, a one-minute sudden victory period and two 30-second tie-breaker periods. Marshall started in the top position in the 30-second ultimate tie-breaker period and prevented Kessen from escaping to secure the victory.
“At that point it’s just who wants it more. Who can push the tempo a little more,” Marshall said. “I felt confident in my top. I’ve been working on it since my freshman year.
“It’s still a little nerve-wracking, though.”
Mount Vernon’s Mullins and Fredericktown’s Trent Rooke qualified for state, but were 0-2 on opening day.