Dalton trio statebound
PHOTOS BY MANDY GEISER | FOR THE DGKN
Front from left, Greyson Siders, Branyan Zaleski, Kaden Russell, Tate Geiser; back, from left, Bram McCourt, Sean Geiser, Lucas Oswald and Austin Ryder.
Dalton’s Tate Geiser places first at districts.
Dalton’s Greyson Siders second place.
Dalton’s Sean Geiser
Dalton’s Bram McCourt
Dalton’s Branyan Zaleski
Dalton’s Lucas Oswald
Dalton wrestling supporters
DGKN staff report
Three Dalton wrestlers are heading to the state tournament. Senior Tate Geiser placed first at districts this past weekend, and fellow senior, Austin Ryder, and Greyson Siders, sophomore, both placed third.
The Bulldogs placed seventh as a team at Garfield Heights. Waynedale finished second as a team. Six Golden Bears are state qualifiers: Caden Schmeltzer, Caiden Heller, Justin Hershberger, Peyton Lemon, Jake Sundberg and Caleb Zimmerman.
“I am very proud of each of our wrestlers who wrestled this weekend,” Dalton Head Coach Kenton Lemon said via email. “We had eight guys make it out of our Sectional last week which is a school record for District Qualifiers.”
Greyson Siders, Branyan Zaleski, Kaden Russell, Tate Geiser; Bram McCourt, Sean Geiser, Lucas Oswald and Austin Ryder qualified at the district level.
“We had three wrestlers place at the district tournament and of the eight that qualified each wrestler won at least one match. It’s tough because I want everyone to get out and make it to the State Tournament. These guys have worked extremely hard all season and the State Tournament is the pay day. With that being said, not everyone that qualifies for districts, qualifies for state. Only the top 4 move on and we had three wrestlers that placed in the top 4. While we didn’t get all eight wrestlers to the state tournament, I thought we wrestled well and found ways to win.”
Siders, Geiser and Ryder were state qualifiers last year so they have an idea of what to expect, Lemon said. Geiser placed second and Ryder placed seventh in 2021 at state.
“Each of them have individual goals and I feel that each of those goals are very much in reach this coming weekend,” Lemon continued.. “With the end of the season here now it is time to refine. I feel like our kids are in great shape and I feel like we are really doing a lot of things right on our feet, but this week our focus has got to be cleaning up the little details.
Read the complete story in the March 9, 2022 edition.
