BUCKEYE LOCAL’S Brian Palmer Jr. was one of 13 wrestlers from The Times Leader coverage area that saw his bid for a third all-Ohioan honor pinned Thursday when the Ohio High School Athletic Association finally decided to cancel four winter state tournaments, including wrestling.

Nearly 700 student-athletes saw their bids for all-state honors pinned Thursday when the Ohio High School Athletic Association canceled what would have been the 83rd annual state wrestling tournament due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Thirteen of those wrestlers were from The Times Leader coverage area, including Buckeye Local’s Brian Palmer Jr. who was seeking a third time on the podium. The junior standout placed sixth as a freshman at 120 and improved to third at 132 as a sophomore. He was 43-3 this season at 138 and ranked No. 3 in the Buckeye State by Borofan.

“I was really disappointed,” he said. “All the hard work I have put in for the last two-and-a-half years was put on hold for two weeks, and then today (Thursday) it (the tournament) was finally postponed.”

Palmer said he thought there was a chance he would get to step on the mats at Value City Arena inside The Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University.

“I was praying every night that I would get the chance to wrestle,” he admitted. “I wanted to get that state championship, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

Already the record-holder in many categories for a storied Panthers program, Palmer said he was more than ready to prove he’s a better wrestler than the Division III district tournament finals at Heath High School showed. He was pinned by Newcomerstown’s Logan Hursey, the second-ranked wrestler in their weight class according to Borofan, in less than a minute.

Palmer Jr. was in the bottom half of the bracket while Hursey was in the top. The Panthers standout was paired with Liberty Center senior Maguire Vollmar in his first match. Should he had won that, he probably would have Legacy Christian Academy sophomore Gavin Brown who was 40-3 and ranked No. 1 in the state. Brown was the D-III champion at 126 in 2019.

“I thought I had a really good draw,” Palmer Jr. said of the state bracket. “I was going to win the state championship … bring it back to Buckeye Local.”

Palmer Jr. said this only fuels his fire even more for his senior season.

In addition to Palmer Jr., also having their seasons officially ended were Barnesville’s Griffen Stephen and Owen Oliver; Bridgeport’s Zach Kuneff; Harrison Central’s Justin Sampson; Martins Ferry’s Chase Goff, Kameron Hughes, Richard McFarland and Donte Lewis; along with St. Clairsville’s Koen Kish, Caden Stout, Reese Skaggs and Derek Witsberger.

“We are just devastated that the tournaments cannot be completed,” OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass said in a press release. “But our priority is the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, communities and officials. Gov. Mike DeWine is asking all Ohioans to do everything they can to stop the spread of this virus. That request, along with our schools not being able to reopen for weeks, means that school sports cannot happen at this time. Even if our schools re-open this spring, it will be difficult to find facilities willing to host the tournaments. Most campuses are shut down until mid- to late-summer.

“We are already planning for ways that these student-athletes will be honored at next year’s state tournament,” he added.

The 672 student-athletes who qualified for the state wrestling tournament will all receive a program, certificate and their weigh-in card.

The four winter state tournaments affected — boys’ and girls’ basketball along with hockey and wrestling– and a few events during World War II (1941-45) are the only sports cancellations in the history of the OHSAA, which was founded in 1907. However, boys basketball and wrestling were not canceled during those years. The girls basketball state tournament was first held in 1976 and the ice hockey state tournament was first held in 1978.

No state champions will be listed for these four sports in 2020. The OHSAA does not use state polls from the media or coaches associations to determine state champions.