Three Solon varsity wrestlers earned their way onto the mats of the Wells Fargo Arena for the 2022 State Tournament with their performances in the Class 2A District 8 meet, Saturday, Feb. 12, in Williamsburg.
Gage Marty improved to 45-2 this season at 285-pounds claiming the District Title. Marty pinned Columbus/WMU’s Russel Coil (1:17) in the semifinals and built a major decision over Mid-Prairie’s Gannon Callahan (9-0).
Jordan Schmidt (126) and Tyler Hancox (220) advanced to State with runner-up finishes. Schmidt, 37-18 on the season, won in sudden victory over Fairfield’s Zach Westercamp in the semifinals (4-0), but fell to Benton Community’s Jaiden Moore in the Championship Match (1:10). Schmidt won by no contest over Fairfield’s Westercamp in the Runner Up Match.
Hancock, 23-14, fell to Mount Vernon’s Clark Younggreen in the semifinals (1:10), pinned Washington’s Colley Billingsley in the Third Place Match (5:40), and pinned Columbus/WMU’s Kai Malone to win the Runner Up Match and advance (2:41).
Lawson Sinnwell (120), David Karam (152) and Braydon Hoffman (195) all placed fourth.
Coach Aaron Hadenfeldt said overall, it was a positive day for the Spartans.
“Obviously, we wanted to get all six wrestling (at State), but looking at brackets, we came out of Saturday feeling pretty happy. Gage continues to do what Gage does and that’s wrestle well, he’s more than capable of getting a gold medal next weekend in Des Moines. Tyler Hancox may have been a bit of a surprise to some, but not to us coaches. He is a dangerous wrestler who has had some unfortunate luck along the way. You could see how much it meant to him after he won that last match and we’re so happy for him. There’s no reason why he can’t make some noise next week either, he’s not satisfied. Jordan Schmidt is savvy, especially for a young kid. He’s wrestled more than 90 percent of the guys in our wrestling room, so he knows when to pick and choose the right times to take his chances. He wrestled smart this weekend and it paid off for him. He doesn’t typically show much emotion in terms of celebration and this weekend brought it out of him. Physically, he’s right there with the best of them and we’ll get him ready to roll next week.”
Hadenfeldt added he was proud of all six who made it to the district meet.
“We ask for their best effort and each one of them left it out on the mat. We’ve got a few guys who are right there, and they’ll need to use this as a learning experience and fuel for the offseason.”

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Joe Petz • Contributed Photo

Gage Marty is declared the winner over Columbus/WMU’s Russel Coil Saturday, Feb. 12, in the Class 2A District 8 meet in Williamsburg. Marty won the 285-pound title to advance to the State Tournament.