Eugene Harney's repeat highlights 5 Cincinnati boys state wrestling championships

The Ohio High School Athletic Association's boys wrestling state tournament concluded its 87th edition with five Greater Cincinnati boys securing state championships.

Three Division I wrestlers secured state championships, including Sycamore senior Eugene Harney who won his second state championship in as many seasons. In addition to the Division I trio, two more individuals bring home trophies from the Division III brackets.

Harney caps career with another state championship

Last year, Harney became the first Sycamore wrestler to win a state championship since 1999. Now, the program's all-time wins leader is the first with multiple state titles.

Harney defeated Olentangy Liberty senior Tyler Deericks with a 5-0 decision.

"That was my last match in high school," Harney said. "I left it all out there. I didn't give up a point. Five-oh. Dominate. (Deericks) is a good kid, too. That's what makes it special. That kid, he has heart. All these kids in the bracket have heart.

"It sucks to have only one winner, but that's how it is and I can't be the loser."

The senior capped off each of his four varsity seasons with a win, placing in third as a sophomore in 2022 and fifth as a freshman in 2021 to go with his consecutive titles.

"His practices look different than everyone else's," Sycamore head coach Jeremy Pletz said. "He's just on a different level. There's days you see him in practice and kids think he's not going as hard, but it's because he's specializing so much on little things. He's just built that way."

Carson Thomas helps La Salle to a 6th-place finish

The La Salle Lancers sent five wrestlers to the Division I state tournament and placed all five, but it was Carson Thomas who led the pack.

The 175-pound junior was a runner-up last season at 165 pounds before running through the bracket in 2024. In the finals against Lakewood St. Edward's Tyrel Miller, Thomas nailed down a 10-3 decision.

"It just feels unreal," Thomas said. "Being able to say that I won a state title in the hardest division hands down in Division I. To be able to take a state title back to the city feels amazing."

The win helped La Salle end the weekend with 67 points, good for a sixth-place tie overall. Miller's school ended with the team title, making Thomas' victory a bit sweeter for the Lancers.

"It always feels good to beat St. Edward," La Salle head coach Rico Hill said. "That's the goal as a coach. I have two goals: help kids and beat Ed's. That felt great."

Springboro's Matt Kowalski sees prediction come true

Springboro hosts a team dinner for every season where wrestlers like Matt Kowalski can stand up and give a goal for the year. It was easy for Kowalski to find his. He would be a state champion in 2024.

Goal achieved.

Kowalski was pinned in his final match at state last season, finishing in sixth place, but the jump from that to champion was never in doubt to Kowalski or the coaches in his corner, Springboro head coach Fred Boulton and assistant and Matt's father, Doug Kowalski.

Matt Kowalski let up at the very end of the third period of his final against St. Edward's Jarrel Miller to watch the final seconds tick away, knowing his goal was accomplished.

"Those last seconds are my favorite," Kowalski said. "I knew I broke him and after that, I felt great."

Father Doug was also watching those final seconds tick off the clock: "His opponent's an amazing wrestler. He's got amazing talent, speed. I knew it would be a hard-fought match and as the time wound down I was just amazed that he finally did it and reached his goal."

With Kowalski's win, Springboro finished with 40.5 team points, putting the Panthers in 10th place, one position behind Moeller.

Wrestlers Logan Dean, Wyatt Hinton win Division III gold

After his semifinal victory the day before, Bethel-Tate's Logan Dean said nobody would stop him from getting over the hump that left him as an eighth-place finisher in 2022 and third-place in 2023.

His opponent, Lake Catholic's Parker Pikor, wasn't up to the task.

Dean led for nearly the entire match, scoring a takedown early in the first before taking a 6-3 lead into the third period. There, he wrapped up the 8-4 victory, taking home the 120-pound state championship in his final high school match.

Like Dean, Norwood's Wyatt Hinton was in his final try at securing a title after falling short the year before. In 2023, Hinton dropped a 3-2 decision to finish in sixth place. He returned to state this year with one loss on his record and that one loss remained.

Hinton scored an 8-1 victory over Centerburg's Christopher Marshall in the 138-pound finals, allowing just one escape with 16 seconds remaining on the clock (before getting two points back on a takedown with one tick left).

Cincinnati's 2024 Division I boys wrestling state placers

106 – Colin Broxterman (Elder), sixth; Demarco Kates (Colerain) seventh

120 – Tyton Kostoff (Colerain), seventh

126 – Aiden Allen (La Salle), third

132 – Kane Shawger (St. Xavier), third; Marshall Morency (Anderson), sixth

138 – Holden Huhn (La Salle) fourth; Micah Cottrell (Princeton), fifth

144 – Wyatt Brock (Harrison), fourth; Stone Busler (Moeller), fifth

150 – Londen Murphy (Moeller), second; Josh Allen (Lakota West), seventh

157 – Eugene Harney (Sycamore), first

165 – Kyser Kostoff (Colerain), sixth; Jack Willen (La Salle), seventh

175 – Carson Thomas (La Salle), first; Brycen Alley (Lebanon), eighth

190 – Matt Kowalski (Springboro), first; Colin Wooldridge (La Salle), fifth

215 – Will Adkins (Moeller), second; Wyatt Walker (Edgewood), fourth; Aidan Weimer (Springboro), sixth

285 – Lucas Stuerenberg (Moeller), sixth.

Cincinnati's 2024 Division II boys wrestling state placers

150 – Gage Murphy (Reading), fifth

157 – P.J. Murphy (Reading), third

Cincinnati's 2024 Division III boys wrestling state placers

120 – Logan Dean (Bethel-Tate), first

138 – Wyatt Hinton (Norwood), first

144 – Mark Ellis (Waynesville), fourth

165 – Levi Collins (Waynesville), eighth