The ‘Road to Columbus’ has encountered some detours during the COVID-19 pandemic as wrestlers from the Buckeye State will still converge to the central Ohio region, however, it won’t be on the campus of Ohio State University.

With the concerns over the coronavirus still running rampant across the nation, OSU officials opted against holding any Ohio High School Athletic Association-affiliated events, thus forcing the organization to seek other venues.

Ohio was the only state across the nation that didn’t have a state tournament in 2020. The three-day event was supposed to begin on a Friday, but was canceled a day earlier as some teams made their way to the Jerome Schottenstein Center’s Value City Arena.

Set for March 13-14, the 83rd annual state tournament will be held at three different sites, with each site hosting a division.

Locally, Division II qualifiers will trek to Marengo Highland High School (formerly Sparta Highland), while Division III schools will head to Marion Harding. Division I schools, which there are none in the Eastern District, will venture to Hilliard Darby High School.

There will no wrestling for area teams this weekend as they prepare for the sectional tournaments on Saturday, Feb. 27.

Eastern District schools found out where they will begin their quests as sectional sites were assigned last week.

Headed to Steubenville High School’s Crimson Center for Division II competition, in addition to the host Big Red, are Beaver Local, East Liverpool, John Glenn, Meadowbrook, Morgan, New Philadelphia, Philo, St. Clairsville and West Holmes.

Venturing to Claymont High School in Uhrichsville to compete with the host Mustangs are Cambridge, Carrollton, Dover, Indian Creek, Indian Valley, Maysville, Minerva, River View, Tri-Valley and Union Local.

In Division III, Barnesville will play host to Beallsville, Buckeye Local, Coshocton, Edison, Fort Frye, Martins Ferry, River, Shadyside, Shenandoah and West Muskingum.

Headed to Sandy Valley High School are Bellaire, Bridgeport, Caldwell, Garaway, Harrison Central, Malvern, Newcomerstown, Ridgewood, Toronto and Tuscarawas Valley.

The sectionals will be run a little differently this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Each venue will have two waves of action, with session 1 including weight classes 106 to 145 competing at 9 a.m. Session 2, for weight classes 152-285, will begin at approximately 2:30 p.m. Each gymnasium will be cleared and sanitized between sessions.

District tournament action will be held at Gallia Academy for D-II schools and Coshocton for D-III on March 5-6.

Just Getting Started

While Ohio teams prepare for the postseason, West Virginia high schools began conditioning this week in preparation for their season which will begin in early March.

Five Ohio Valley Athletic Conference teams find themselves ranked among the top 10 in their respective classification as the West Virginia Coaches Association released its initial poll.

It is no coincidence that Parkersburg South finds itself located at the top of the Class AAA poll with 100 points. Wheeling Park is second with 90 and University seventh with 40. In Class AA, Oak Glen is seventh with 42 points while Cameron is fourth in Class A with 68.

Regional tournaments are set for April 9-10, with the state tournament being broken down into two sessions. Class AAA schools will compete on April 19-20 while the Class A/AA portion will be April 21-22. Both will be held inside Mountain Health Arena in Huntington.

College Update

Tariq Wilson, N.C. State — This redshirt senior from Steubenville is currently 7-0 and ranked eighth nationally at 141 pounds. He is the highest ranked wrestler at his weight in the ACC and should be the top seed when the Wolfpack hosts the ACC Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 28. He has 68 career victories and is a two-time NCAA Tournament qualifier, placing third as a freshman when he advanced to the championship semifinals before falling to the eventual national champion.

Peyton Hall, WVU — This true freshman from Oak Glen hasn’t missed a beat in making the move from high school to college competition. He is currently 9-1 and finished second in the recent Cowboy Challenge at Oklahoma State. He is ranked No. 22 at 165 pounds by The Open Mat and 23rd by FloWrestling. The Mountaineers, who are ranked No. 22, had their Big 12 dual with Iowa State set for tonight inside the Coliseum canceled.

Anthony Carman, WVU — A John Marshall graduate, this 184-pounder is 4-3 as a redshirt freshman.

Caleb Rea, WVU — A 141-pound junior from Weir is 0-2 after sitting out some time.

Casey Recrosio, WVU — This Weirton Madonna product is 0-1 at 174 pounds.

Anthony Rice, Cleveland State — A redshirt freshman from Steubenville, Rice used four takedowns to and some riding time to earn a 10-4 win against Ohio University. he is currently 3-4 at 174 pounds.

West Liberty won 31 of 39 matches contested against opponents from Davis & Elkins and Fairmont State recently. The Hilltoppers are ranked sixth in NCAA Division II as a team and have eight individuals — out of 10 — listed in the national rankings.