St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Bryce Skinner pins to 2nd-straight state wrestling championship: 2023 OHSAA Division II recap

COLUMBUS, Ohio — St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Bryce Skinner made his last high school wrestling match an emphatic one.

The senior at 126 pounds secured his second consecutive state championship by pinning Columbus Bishop Hartley’s Aiden King in two minutes, 52 seconds. It was Skinner’s second pin of the tournament, and he won all four of his matches with bonus points.

“In the districts, I didn’t score that much,” Skinner said. “This past week at practice, me and my coaches worked on being really aggressive and scoring as many points as I can.

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Skinner had multiple close calls on his way to his first state title a year ago with a win in sudden victory in the quarterfinals, one by the ultimate tiebreaker in the semis and a one-point win in the championship vs. Matt Ellis of Waynesville.

Sunday night, Skinner took away the drama early in the second period. After giving up a takedown in the first and starting on bottom in the second, Skinner got a reversal on King and completed the pin to cap off his second state title victory.

“I knew he was going to throw in leg, so I figured if I could just catch his leg and just drive him forward, get his back, then I could hold him there,” Skinner said. “He was long, and he was strong. He got the takedown, and I saw he was throwing in legs in the first period.”

With the win, Skinner became the school’s second two-time state champion in history.

“I never really expected it. But I just kept my head down, worked hard, and it paid off,” Skinner said.

CVCA’s Kyle Snider wins his second state championship in three years

It took a third year, but CVCA’s Kyle Snider has his second state wrestling championship. A late takedown against Tiffin Columbian’s Max Ray gave Snider a 3-1 win in the 190-pound final.

Neither wrestler got much going in the match as Ray had an escape in the second period and Snider had one in the third to tie the match.

“We wrestled each other in January, my first time cutting to (190). I did a lot of film study on him and just the type of wrestler he is,” Snider said. “I know I had to get my hands on him to tire him out and gas him out for the third.”

With fewer than 30 seconds left, Snider was able to get in the pivotal takedown for the two points, and he rode out Ray to reclaim a state title.

“You can feel certain things when you wrestle,” Snider said. “I knew if I pushed in, he was going to have to push back sooner or later. I just timed it up and hit a single-leg, and then I hit a cutback right on him to get the two.”

Snider won at 220 pounds in the 2021 tournament and finished third at 215 in 2022.

“Last year, I could barely fall asleep after that match,” Snider said. “Coming in the room every time this year, I looked at our wall, our state championship wall, and I knew there was a missing piece. And that was my name on it.”

Copley’s Javaan Yarbrough pins for his first state title

Javaan Yarbrough hadn’t made it to the championship match in his first two trips to the state tournament. He got there on his third try, and the Copley junior got an emphatic result when he pinned New Lexington’s Ethan Burkhart in 4:27 to win at 106 pounds.

Yarbrough fell behind early after giving up a takedown in the first period. He got an escape late in the period, then another in the second to tie and a takedown to take the lead.

“In my mind, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m on my back, I only gave up two. I have to fight back,’” Yarbrough said. “That’s what I did. I fought back.

“I work hard in the gym with my drill partners. My drill partners kick my butt every day. I get in those positions every day.”

Burkhart chose bottom to start the third. Yarbrough was able to turn him and get the pin to win his first state title and Copley’s second in three years.

Yarbrough finished fifth at 106 in 2021 and sixth in the same weight class in 2022. He and St. Edward’s Ethan Timar emerged as area state champions from a very strong 106 class in 2023.

“We got the best of the best,” Yarbrough said. “You’ve got Timar ranked top 10, (Brecksville’s Rylan) Seacrist ranked top 10. I’m ranked top 10. It’s the best of the best in that 106-pound weight class.”

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