by Michael Leonard
Sports Editor
Perry Township -- After not reaching districts last year, Bedford 130-pounder Jerrell Hodge had hoped to make up for that by reaching the state wrestling meet.
As it is, Hodge is on the outside looking in.
Hodge had to settle for fifth place at the Division I district tournament at Massillon Perry, earning himself a state alternate position.
Hodge still has an outside chance of competing at states, but only if one of the top four placers at Perry at 130 is unable to compete.
The Division I state wrestling meet will begin Feb. 28 at 5:40 p.m. at Value City Arena in Columbus.
Hodge got a bye in his first match at Perry, but then had to face Perry's Seth Horner, the eventual weight class winner. According to Jackson, Hodge nearly had Horner beat on several occasions, but lost a 4-2 decision.
Hodge rebounded well in the consolations, beating Lake's Josh Oswald 10-2 and dominating Wooster's Brian Kurzenberger 13-4. That set up Hodge against Akron Kenmore's Garland McCormick in the consolation semifinals with a berth at states on the line.
Hodge was trailing 8-4 late in third period when he nearly pulled out the win. With seconds left, Hodge hit a lateral drop on McCormick which landed McCormick on his back. However, McCormick's shoulders were out of bounds and Hodge couldn't pull him in. Hodge was given a takedown, but didn't get the back points he needed to win and lost 8-6.
Hodge salvaged the alternate sport by beating Twinsburg's Dion Johnson 9-3.
Bedford had two other wrestlers finish off the podium at districts. Sophomore 135-pounder Chris Farmer finished 0-2, while junior heavyweight Dario Hillard went 1-2.
Reflecting on the season, Jackson said he was happy if exhausted.
"There's some stuff we've done this season which is promising," Jackson said. "It's a long season. It was tiring, even for me. We're going to have some tough kids coming back in the room next year."
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