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Oak Harbor wrestling coach George Bergman left it up to his senior wrestler. He could compete at 119 pounds this season or move up to 125. The choice was his.
Bergman might not have agreed with Tyler Hackworth's decision, but sometimes you have to trust your athlete's judgment. Good thing, too, because Hackworth won a Division II state championship – at 125 - last Saturday night at the Division II state tournament in Columbus.
“That was his decision to go 125 instead of 119,” Bergman said, “and it turned out to be a wise decision. I was leaning towards encouraging him to go 119. He had beaten a lot of the good kids at 119. He decided to go 125 and from there he wrestled very, very well. He won a pretty competitive sectional and had some quality matches at districts. The guy he beat in the district finals ended up third in the state.”
As a result, Hackworth is awarded Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press Most Outstanding Wrestler and will receive a plaque. It was a long, tough journey for Hackworth, who finished his career with a 132-29 record.
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| Tyler Hackworth |
He transferred from Eastwood to Oak Harbor following his freshman year, when he earned a Suburban Lakes League title at 112 pounds. He was the Sandusky Bay Conference champ at 125 as a sophomore and went down to 119 to win an SBC title as a junior.
This year Hackworth claimed SBC, sectional and district titles at 125, then capped off a 38-2 season by winning Oak Harbor's 21st individual state title. Hackworth said qualifying for state last season (he lost both matches in Columbus) prepared him for this year's tournament.
The Brakeman Report rated Hackworth as the seventh-best 125-pounder in the state.
“Last year I was pretty happy about being a state qualifier,” Hackworth said. “This year I knew I couldn't be happy about it. I had to accomplish more. I couldn't just be happy being a state qualifier.”
Hackworth needed just 44 seconds to pin his opening-round opponent. He earned an 8-6 decision in the second round, then pinned his semifinal opponent in 5:21, setting up a state championship match against Canfield senior Robby Reed.
Hackworth took an early 2-0 lead over Reed (43-4), rated No. 2 in the Brakeman, and held on for a 2-0 victory to become the 10th state champion for Bergman, who became Oak Harbor's head coach in 1992-93.
“Tyler got a good draw and wrestled very well in all four of his matches,” Bergman said. “It (the title) was very surprising.”
Hackworth said getting a takedown on Reed less than 30 seconds into their title match boosted his confidence.
“I was pretty confident the whole match,” he said. “That was my first time wrestling him, but I knew he was tall and lanky like me and he likes cradles and legs on top. I knew he was good on top and I knew I was better on my feet.
“When I got that takedown, I knew I was pretty set and then I rode him until the end of the first. At the end of the second period, I deferred and I chose down. He had to kick me or I was going to escape on my own. I would have been on my feet where I wanted to be and he couldn't take me down. He just kept riding me, and I wasn't going to get turned.”
Hackworth, 18, who has been wrestling since age 6, said winning the title his senior year “means a lot.”
“I worked hard for it and it's a good accomplishment,” he said. “When I was on the podium I was thinking how great it felt. When I was little I pictured myself being on top of that podium, and there I was standing on it.”
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