A pair of Lakeside Junior High competitors will be heading to the 11th annual Ohio Athletic Committee Junior High State Wrestling Championships. The tournament is being held Saturday and Sunday at the Marion County Memorial Coliseum, in Marion.
Kyle Conel and Riley Dell will be making the journey to compete with the state’s best at 172 and 150 pounds, respectively, after their performances at the district tournament held last month in Steubenville.
Both had stellar seasons for the Dragons, who went 16-4 this season.
Conel is the son of Luetta Miller and Otis Conel.
Dell is the son of Joe and Desire Dular.
The two eighth graders have put together a tremendous body of work this winter, going undefeated through the regular season.
Conel is now 51-2 this year, dropping one match by a point to a competitor from Uniontown Lake in the district finals and another against a heavyweight, a young man who outweighed him by 75 pounds.
Since that point, he has won four consecutive open tournaments.
Dell is 43-8 on the season. Despite being plagued by illness at the district tournament, he had enough left in him to earn a fifth-place finish. The top six in each weight class at each of the eight district tournaments across Ohio earn the right to compete at the state tournament this weekend in Marion.
Normally a 150-pounder, the open weight classes are at 145 and 160 pounds, resulting in Dell competing against opponents who have a weight advantage on him.
