Photo by Kim North Martins Ferry’s Zak Dobson, left, has a grip on Milan Edison’s Jacob Thompson during their 215-pound bout Friday at the 85th annual Ohio State wrestling tournament.

COLUMBUS — Five of eight Division III wrestlers remain in the championship bracket after one round of the 85th annual Ohio State tournament.

Barnesville has three of those winners and sits in eighth place with 11.5 points as the three-day event continues Saturday inside Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University.

Also still alive for a state title are Harrison Central’s Lucas Thomas and Martins Ferry’s Zak Dobson, both in the 215-pound class.

BARNESVILLE

Dakota King (120), Skyler King (138) and Ayden King (144) all recorded bonus points.

Dakota King, a returning state placer at 113 (sixth), ran his sophomore record to 43-3 with a 21-6 technical fall over Reading’s Ramakrishna Gandhi. The Shamrocks standout, who is ranked fourth in the state, came out aggressive and never let up.

“Dakota is on a mission,” Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said. “He knows what his goal is and he is working hard to get there.”

“I came here with one thing on my mind … standing on top of the podium,” Dakota King said. It was the second time that King had defeated Gandhi, doing so in the blood round at last year’s state tournament.

Classmate Skyler King made quick work of Patrick Henry’s Jeff Camp with a 1:19 pin. He is now 45-5.

“Skyler is wrestling really well right now,” Stephen said of his returning state qualifier. “He knows what he has to do to get on the podium.”

Younger brother Ayden King, now 45-10, also registered a fall in 3:32 over Oak Harbor’s Cade Peterson. The freshman trailed 2-1 after one period and 4-2 midway through the second, but scored six straight points before the pin.

“Ayden getting a pin there was really huge for the team and for him,” Stephen noted. “Like his brother, he knows what it is going to take to get on the podium.”

The Shamrocks other two entrants – senior four-time qualifier Griffen Stephen (132) and junior two-time qualifier Logan Tague (150) were eliminated with two losses.

Stephen, who suffered a right shoulder injury in the district finals, had to default in his first match when the injury arose.

“We didn’t tell anyone about it,” Coach Stephen explained. “He worked all week to get ready, but it’s just one of those things.”

The all-time winningest wrestler in Barnesville history ends his career with 159 victories.

Martins Ferry

Dobson, a returning state qualifier, won his 50th match of the season with a dominating 7-2 decision over Milan Edison’s Jacob Thompson.

“I just need to wrestle as hard as I can. When you get to this level, everyone is good,” Dobson said. “I need to wrestle freely and not tighten up.”

Purple Riders head coach Chad Ware was impressed with Dobson’s effort.

“He wrestled great. He knows if he can get his tie ups and get on the offense and get to his opponent’s legs, he can wrestle with anyone here.”

Junior Dylan Ward (113) kept his podium hopes alive with a pin in the first round of the consolations. Also a returning state qualifier, he is now 38-5.

Harrison Central

Thomas, now 42-5 as a sophomore, trailed entering the third period but chose the top position and went to work. The sophomore scored on a trio of two-point tilts for an 8-5 lead, but gave up a reversal to Zane Finley of Lucas before holding on for an 8-7 nod.

“It feels pretty good,” Thomas, also an OVAC champion, said. “I didn’t wrestle well for the first two periods, but I took the top position and got three tilts.”

Action resumes today at 10 a.m. with championship quarterfinals. Semifinals are scheduled for 6:30 p.m.