High-powered Lima Central Catholic tourney set for today

High-powered LCC Tourney begins today
The 2013 Thunderbird Tournament will be Friday and Saturday, January 25 and 26, at Lima Central Catholic.  First round action begins at 5:30pm on Friday, with 367 wrestlers entered.  Saturday’s session begins at 9:30am, with quarterfinals and third consolations; semifinals are set to begin at 12:15pm.  Finals will take place 90 min. after the prelims (app 4:00pm), as wrestlers compete for the top 6 places. 
 Competing teams (38) are:  Allen East, Archbold, Ayersville, Blanchester, Bluffton, Carey, Carlisle, Cincinnati Hills Christian Acadmey (CHCA), Coldwater, Columbus Grove, Cory-Rawson, Covington, Delphos St. John’s, Dixie (New Lebanon), Edgerton, Greeneview (Jamestown), Hicksville, Hillsdale (Jeromesville), Lakota (Kansas), Liberty-Benton (Findlay), Lima Central Catholic, Lincolnview, Madeira (Cincinnati), McComb, Mechanicsburg, Miami East, New London, Newark Catholic, Northridge (Dayton), Patrick Henry, Plymouth, Spencerville, St. Joe Central Catholic (Fremont), Swanton, Tri-County North, Van Buren, Wayne Trace, West Liberty-Salem.
 The 2012 Thunderbird Invitational was won by Dixie (148.5), followed by Mechanicsburg (141.5), Coldwater(129.5) and Ayersville (126.5).
Participating schools in 2012 had 50 OHSAA State Meet Qualifiers and return 14 state placers.
Schools with multiple qualifiers include: Newark Catholic – 4, New Lebanon Dixie – 3, Mechanicsburg – 3, Ayersville –3, Carlisle – 3, Lima Central Catholic – 3, Greeneview 3, Wayne Trace -2,  Allen East – 2, Bedford Chanel – 2, Columbus Grove –2, Covington – 2, Dayton Christian – 2, Delphos St. Johns – 2, Hicksville -2, Miami East – 2 and Northridge – 2.  The following schools qualified one wrestler to the state tournament in 2012: Blanchester, Bluffton, Clinton-Massie, Edgerton, Fremont St. Joseph CC., Lakota, Madeira, Miami East, Plymouth, Swanton and Tri-County North.  
The Thunderbird had 22 wrestlers place at state, including 3 state champions and 4 finish as a state runner-up.  12 of the Thunderbird champions and 10 runner-ups placed at state. 
 
Returning Champions include in 2013
Wt. Wrestler – Yr.  School  LCC Ch 2011  
132# Jason Sandlin – 10  Carlisle  1st@126  
132# Jared VanVleet – 12 Edgerton  1st@132 
152# Zach Wilson – 12  Bluffton  1st@145 1st@140
170# Max Erwin – 12  Mechanicsburg 1st@170 1st@152 
State Placers include:
120# Francisco Alvarado – 11 Ayersville  8th@113
126# Andrew Hoskins – 10 Greeneview  5th@120
132# Jason Sandlin – 10  Carlisle  3rd@126
132# Jared VanVleet – 12 Edgerton  5th@132
138# Austin Reese – 11  Mechanicsburg 2nd@120
152# Zach Wilson -12  Bluffton  4th@145
152# Josh  Lytle – 12  Northridge  8th@138
160# Kyler Deeter – 12  Covington  2011:4th@130
160# Max Erwin – 12  Mechanicsburg 2011:5th@152
160# Sawyer Temple – 12 Wayne Trace 7th@152
170# Bobby Sunderhaus – 12 Lima C.C.  7th@170
182# Armani Robinson – 11 Greeneview  2nd@170
195# Brian Oison – 12  Covington  6th@182
220# Travis Boyd – 12  Blanchester  5th@220
 Again, wrestling begins at 5:30pm Friday with 2 championship rounds and 2 consolation rounds.  Saturday’s second session begins at 9:30am with quarterfinals.   Championship and consolation finals will be at about 4:00pm.
 Rosters, entry grid, and seed nominations are posted on baumspage — www.baumspage.com .  Friday’s results and finals results will be also posted on baumspage. 

NCC Tourney moved up
The North Central Conference wrestling tournament that was scheduled for Feb. 9 at Galion had been moved to Friday, Feb. 8 with a 4:30 p.m. start.
Both the high school and junior high league championships will be contested at the same time.