Barnesville's Reese Stephen has Martins Ferry's Dylan Ward in a bad position during Saturday's 106-pound finals. Stephen won by pin.

COSHOCTON — They say a rolling stone gathers no moss. If so, what do rolling Shamrocks gather? Easy, a 2021 Eastern District Division III team wrestling championship.

Behind five champions in the first five weight classes, Barnesville rolled to its first district championship since the early 1990s as the Green Machine amassed 175 points, which was 26 better than runnerup Sandy Valley, Saturday inside ‘The Pit’ at Coshocton High School.

Talented freshmen Reese Stephens (106) and Dakota King (113) jump-started the early explosion with back-to-back pins in the championship. Junior Griffen Stephen (120) continued the winning spree with a technical fall, while freshman Skyler King (126) and sophomore Logan Tague (132) concluded the sweep with consecutive major-decision whitewashes.

“This is for the kids. This isn’t for the coaches,” Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said. “They are the ones that work their tails off in the (wrestling) room day-in and day-out. They are the ones that have to watch their weights, and they are the ones that have to go out and do their job on the mat.”

That did just that, and did it impressively.

“We met up with very good wrestlers in the finals but the kids came out ready to wrestle,” Coach Stephen added. “They looked really good today, but the job isn’t finished yet.”

He was speaking of next weekend’s state tournament which will be held at Marion Harding High School on Saturday and Sunday.

In addition to the aforementioned five district titlists, senior Cameron Wood (160) punched his first ticket with a third-place finish.

“I’m happy for Cameron,” Coach Stephen said. “He’s been here four years and finished as the alternate the last two, so for him to take that next step, I couldn’t be happier.”

The six state qualifiers set a new school record set in the early 1990s.

Barnesville could have a seventh as senior Jacob Boulet (170) finished fifth, and will serve as the alternate should one of the other top 4 finishers not be able to compete next weekend.

“Jacob is another one of those 4-year seniors,” Coach Stephen noted. “He’s paid his dues and hopefully something will happen so he can go and compete.”

Martins Ferry had a trio of qualifiers while Buckeye Local’s Brian Palmer Jr. (152) moved one step closer to his goal.

The Purple Riders’ Dylan Ward (106), Kameron Hughes (170) and Zak Dobson (220) all punched their tickets.

Ward, a sophomore, finished second, while Hughes, a senior, and Dobson, a junior, both bounced back from tough semifinal setbacks to finish third.

“We had a couple tough breaks in the semifinals but I’m pleased to have three kids going to state,” Martins Ferry head coach Chad Ware said. “As a coach, you always want more, but we’ll take what we’ve got.”

Senior Chase Goff (160), a state qualifier last year when the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, finished fifth and will serve as an alternate.

Palmer Jr., ranked second in his weight class by Borofan, won his third district title and became a state qualifier for a fourth time following a gut-check, 2-1, nod over Pleasant’s Carter Chase.

Scoreless after two periods, Palmer Jr. was in the up position to start the third period. However, he elected to give Chase the escape and start on their feet. The strategy worked out when the Panthers’ standout secured a takedown with 67 ticks remaining.

“He really pushed the pace,” Buckeye Local head coach Guy Nestor said. “Now we have four more to go to get the gold.”

Palmer Jr., who set the school record for career wins on Friday, is now 39-1 this season. He blanked Northmor’s Niko Christo, 12-0, in the semifinals.

The Panthers’ Alexio Morales (195) was fifth and is an alternate.

Reese Stephen didn’t take long in earning his first district championship by pinning Martins Ferry’s Dylan Ward in 1:16. The Shamrock recorded a takedown and three back points before ending it. He improved to 39-3, advancing to the finals with a first-period pin of Alexander’s Tanner Allen.

Ward, who was a third-place finisher in the sectional tournament at Barnesville, advanced to the finals with a narrow, 2-1 decision of Sandy Valley’s Branden Boggs in the semifinals.

After a scoreless two minutes, Dakota King gave Pleasant’s Daxton Chase a point to start the second period, but gained a 2-1 advantage with a late takedown before getting bonus points with a pin in 3:57. It was King’s fourth straight fall in the tournament.

King had pinned Haedyn Parmer of Johnstown Northridge in 5:07 in the semifinals. He is now an impressive 43-2.

Griffen Stephen took control of his title tilt with a takedown and two near-fall points for a 4-0 lead over Coshocton’s Ethan Dixon. He added two more back points and another takedown for an 8-1 advantage after one period. He tacked on four more points in the second period before a penalty point against Dixon resulted in a technical fall.

Stephen, now 33-9, decisioned West Jefferson’s Will George, 8-1, in his semifinal.

Skyler King continued his dominance with 9-0 major decision blanking of Bidwell River Valley’s Andrew Huck. King led 2-0 after one period and 4-0 entering the third where he recorded a takedown and got a trio of near-fall tallies.

Now, 32-8, King took out Ridgewood’s Jesse Maple, 8-1, in the semis.

Tague, who is now 34-9, controlled Sandy Valley’s Brody Marks, 14-0, for his title. A takedown and three back points gave the Meadowbrook transfer a 5-0 advantage after one period. An escape and takedown made it 8-0 after four minutes. Tague added half-a-dozen tallies in the third frame.

Tague edged Trimble’s Todd Fouts 3-2 in the semifinals.