GALLIPOLIS — Beaver Local produced two champions on Saturday at the Div. II district wrestling tournament at Gallia Academy High School.

Freshman Jordan Bates topped New Lexington’s Brody McNabb 9-4 in the 106-pound bout and improved to 44-2 on his way to his first state tournament berth.

Sophomore Jake Hughes, ranked 16th in the country by FloWrestling, scored a 3-1 victory over West Holmes’ Louden Dixon in the 157-pound final. Dixon (40-6) had beaten Hughes (41-4) at sectionals.

Beaver Local senior Bobby Buchheit reached the final at 150 pounds byt was defeated 4-3 by Cambridge’s Marshall Laishley. Buchheit (30-2) had beaten Laishley 1-0 in the OVAC final earlier this season. Buchheit’s only other loss coming from West Branch’s Beau Nezbeth.

East Liverpool also bagged three state qualifiers.

Junior Kyle Ingram (38-5) took third at 106 pounds, while senior Wyatt McCune (33-10) was third at 132. Junior Xavier Lara (22-10) took fourth at 190.

Beaver Local junior Evan Ours (35-9) earned third at 165, while John Burkett (31-18) was fourth at 113.

The state tournament is set for Friday through Sunday at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

TEAM STANDINGS: 1. New Lexington 151, 2. Beaver 129.5, 3. Claymont 125, 4. Steubenville 115.5, 5. West Holmes 104.5, 6. Indian Valley 104, 7. Chillicothe 90.5, 8. Carrollton 82.5, 9. Sheridan 81.5, 10. Minerva 69, 11. Miami Trace 68.5, 12. Cambridge 61, 13. Maysville 56, 14. East Liverpool 54.5, 15. Westfall 52.5, 16. Tri-Valley 49, 17. John Glenn 45, 17. WCH Washington 45, 17. Warren 45, 20. Gallia Academy 41, 21. Circleville 28.5, 22. Indian Creek 20, 23. Rich. Edison 19, 24. Jackson 18, 24. Philo 18, 26. Logan Elm 15.5, 27. Zanesville 15, 28. Athens 14, 29. McClain 9, 30. Fairfield Union 7, 30. Marietta 7, 30. St. Clairsville 7, 33. Vinton County 5.5, 34. Unioto 4, 35. Morgan 2.

Championship finals

106: Jordan Bates (Beaver) dec. Brody McNabb (New Lexington), 9-4.

150: Marshall Laishley (Cambridge) dec. Robert Buchheit (Beaver), 4-3.

157: Jake Hughes (Beaver) dec. Louden Dixon (West Holmes), 3-1.

Third-place matches

106: Kyle Ingram (East Liverpool) pin Kevin Downing (Circleville), 1:24.

113: Sawyer Broadwater (Carrollton) dec. John Burkett (Beaver), 3-1.

132: Wyatt McCune (East Liverpool) dec. Daniel McGarr (Claymont), 8-4.

165: Evan Ours (Beaver) dec. Ethan Weaver (Minerva), 7-1.

190: Aedin Seward (Tri-Valley) dec. Xavier Lara (East Liverpool), 3-0.

Kenston Div. II

KENSTON — In the meat-grinder that is the Kenston Div. II district tournament only one area boy finished in the top four in his respective weight class on Saturday.

West Branch senior Beau Nezbeth (48-1) finished third at 150 pounds. He pinned Firelands’ D’Mari Campbell in 1:42 in the consolation final to earn his spot at the state tournament set for Friday through Sunday at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Nezbeth took his first loss of the season with a 2-1 defeat in the semifinals at the hands of eventual district champion Chance Schlauch of Perry.

Independence Div. III

INDEPENDENCE — Southern Local senior Rowan Wiley finished fourth at 157 pounds on Saturday at the Independence district tournament to become the only area wrestler to earn a Div. III state tournament bid.

Wiley (46-9) was pinned by Pymatuning Valley’s Bennett Claypoole in 2:35 in the third-place match.

The state tournament is set for Friday through Sunday at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center.