Bumps, battles and bruises were featured at the 68th annual OHSAA Tournament Final held at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University.
 

Out of 672 participants, two local Cincinnati area young men competed in Saturday’s final match. Ryan Fields, a 103-pound freshman from Lakota West High School, and University of Maryland – bound 275-pound Zachary Marshall from Mason High School represented Cincinnati well.  Participating in his first state championship, freshman Fields was paired against Tony Jameson from Austin Fitch High School in Youngstown in the 103-pound weight class.
 

When the match began, Fields and Jameson felt each other out in a stalwart battle that didn’t see any points scored until  Jameson scored on a take-down at the 1:42 mark in the first period. Jameson increased his lead to 3-0 with an escape 25 seconds into the final period, but Fields answered right back with a take-down to get within 3-2.
 

The second period began much like the first with both wrestlers jockeying for better position. Fields put points on the board first with a take-down.  But Fields' points were countered with a reversal move by Jameson with less than a minute remaining, ending the period with Jameson ahead 5-2.
 

The third period was pretty much the same as the previous two, as Fields tried to scratch and claw his way back to the top, but fell short. The final score was Jameson 7- Fields 2.
   

In the final match of the night, Marshall ended the dreams of Lakewood St. Edward's sophomore Ben Kuhar with an amazing last second victory in the 275 pound class. Down one point with eight seconds left in the match, Marshall reversed his fortune, as well as his opponent, with less than one tick remaining. With both young men battling like two bruised Greek soldiers, the drive of Marshall prevailed at the end.
 

The match began with both brutally blasting each other with vicious head shots and other arm techniques. At the 1:29 mark of the first period, Marshall scored on a reversal and had the lead at the end of the period.
 

The second period began with Marshall on the receiving end of a reverse from Kuhar, who scored with 1:06 remaining. The end of the second period had both athletes deadlocked at two points.
 

The third period saw Kuhar score two points on a take-down at the 1:29 mark, but Marshall quickly tied the match at four with another reversal move. Kuhar then scored two points on a take-down at the 56 second mark, setting up the dramatic finish. Marshall locked up with Kuhar with 36 seconds remaining in the match and scored one point by forcing Kuhar out-of-bounds.
 

A break in the action with eight seconds remaining gave Marshall a chance to regain his composure and focus on winning the championship.  The young men grabbed each other at the referees whistle, and with .02 seconds remaining, Marshall scored two points on a reversal and walked away with the championship.