Carson Chiesa of Delta, top, wrestles during a match at the 2021 Division III State Wrestling Tournament. He placed sixth at 120 pounds for the Panthers.
File photo
Delta’s Austin Kohlhofer, left, in a match at a Division III district tournament at Rossford last season. Kohlhofer went on to win the Division III 220-pound state championship.
File photo
Mark Nagel takes over the Delta wrestling program from longtime coach Anthony Carrizales and looks to have a deep and talented team in his first season at the helm.
The new coach expects to have roughly 30 kids on the roster for the 2021-22 campaign.
“This will be the biggest team we have had in a long time,” Nagel said. “It will benefit us to have some depth this year and great senior leadership.”
Leading the list of returnees for the Panthers is senior Austin Kohlhofer, last year’s Division III state champion at 220 pounds. Also, they return fellow seniors Carson Chiesa (state placer), Rylee Hanefeld, Evan Perry (state qualifier), Shane Kruger, Devon Haven, and Tristen Mylnarek.
Another key returnee for the Panthers is Evan Hanefeld, a state qualifier from a season ago. The remaining letter winners back include Gabe Aranjo, Jose Fonseca, Kallen Incorvaia, Anthony Hernandez, Luke Schlatter, and Jeremy Hambly.
Delta will add many newcomers as well.
Their additions to the roster are Adam Mattin, Landon Lintermoot, Brady Creps, Hunter St. John, Carl Warner, Daniel Thatcher, Cass Chiesa, Connor Sintobin, Richard Flores, Parker Cone, Caleb Lantz, Dakota Sintobin and Rollin Robinson.
“We have lots of newcomers this season. Development from beginning to end will be crucial,” said Nagel.
The Panthers do lose some wrestlers from last year that made an impact. The biggest loss is obviously Zack Mattin, a four-time state qualifier and previous champion. He was the D-III runner-up at 132 pounds as a senior.
Also gone is Gabe Meyer who took fifth at 138 pounds during the 2021 state tournament. Other departed letter winners include Max Hoffman (state qualifier), Kaleb Barnes, and Jayce Helminiak.
With the help of Kohlhofer’s state title and numerous other placements, Delta was able to place third in Division III last year. However, they did not win the Northwest Ohio Athletic League and have not captured a league title since the 2015-16 season. That is likely their goal in 2021-22.
Delta opens the season this Saturday at the Bob Williams Kickoff Classic at Marysville High School.
Reach Max Householder at 419-335-2010.
