MIDDLETOWN — Jacob Castillo’s day typically starts at 5 a.m. in the gym.
The Middletown High School wrestler hasn’t wasted any time during his senior season on the mats getting himself into position to win.
Castillo defeated Milford’s Chad Robinson in the 144-pound title match at the Middletown Division I sectional tournament on Saturday.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Middletown coach Joe Campolongo said of Castillo, who is 32-1. “He’s something I’ve never seen before. I’ve been coaching collectively for 20 years, and his drive and motivation hasn’t been matched. He’s that big of a gym rat.
“That right there shows you his motivation. It just shows you who he is as a wrestler. He constantly wants to get more reps in, and he constantly wants to get better.”
Castillo, who was a district runner-up and placed seventh at state last year, advances to next weekend’s district tournament at Kettering Fairmont’s Trent Arena.
“When you put in the work like that, the W’s rack up pretty quickly,” Campolongo said. “Some knew him last year, but most didn’t. I told him that at the beginning of the year, he’d have a huge target on his back. Everyone wants to beat him, and I think everyone has taken that to heart.”
Edgewood junior Wyatt Walker suffered his first loss of the season when he fell to Little Miami’s Brentan Simmerman by a 6-4 decision at the Lebanon sectionals.
Walker is looking to return to state after a seventh-place finish last year.
“He wrestles year-round,” Edgewood coach James Conniff said of Walker, who is 36-1. “He’s the type of kid who will go get the extra workout. He gets a lot of his success naturally. He is a super athlete, and he is super strong. But it’s also because he puts the work in.
“He just loves being on a wrestling mat,” Conniff added. “It comes natural to him. He’s one of the best heavyweight wrestlers I’ve seen. The great thing about Wyatt is that he can wrestle explosively with power or he can out-technique you and twist you into a knot.
“He’s always wanted to put himself into position to want to be the best.”
Lakota West had three first-place finishers at the Lakota East sectional — senior Matthew Szczepaniak (144), sophomore Josh Allen (157) and senior Will Allen (165) — while Fairfield’s Jake Lentz placed first at 113.
Other area sectional wrestling results and placers:
(Top four placers from each weight class advance to districts)
Division I
At Lakota East
106 pound —5th Sneh Patel 11, Fairfield (22-17), md11-2; 6th Caleb Middendorf 9, Ross (12-19).
113 — 1st Jake Lentz 12, Fairfield (30-7), Dec 9-4; 2nd Jordan Miller 12, Ross (29-13); 6th Jagwinder Singh 11, Lak. East (22-18).
120 — 3rd Jacob Kaake 10, Ross (18-13), md15-6; 4th Evan Malay 9, Lak. East (16-13); 6th Colby Bales 12, Lak. West (8-21).
126 —2nd Hunter Smith 12, Fairfield (21-11); 3rd Jaiden Earls 12, Ross (30-11), Dec 8-3; 4th Evan Watterson 10, Lak. East (20-15); 5th Chase Riggle 10, Lak. West (7-12), Fall 2:16.
132 — 3rd Braeden Shanklin 11, Fairfield (32-9), Dec 3-2OT; 6th Ty Bastin 12, Lak. West (18-20).
138 — 2nd Tannar Beermann 12, Fairfield (28-4); 4th Austin Parker 11, Ross (24-15); 6th Tyler Epstein 11, Lak. East (25-13).
144 — 1st Matthew Szczepaniak 12, Lak. West (35-6), Fall 4:48; 3rd Ryan Foster 11, Ross (31-9), Dec 4-1; 6th Brennan Schwab 11, Lak. East (8-8).
150 — 3rd Micah Reynolds 11, Lak. West (21-13), Dec 4-2; 6th Luke Dunn 11, Ross (14-12).
157 — 1st Josh Allen 10, Lak. West (26-8), Dec 3-2; 3rd Traves Tideswell 12, Lak. East (36-9), Dec 5-1; 4th Jack Hansel 12, Ross (26-15).
165 — 1st Will Allen 12, Lak. West (31-7), Dec 3-1 OT; 3rd Titus Ray 11, Ross (23-7), md10-2; 4th Tyler Bryant 12, Lak. East (23-17).
175 — 3rd Vaughn Nguyen 12, Lak. West (29-11), Dec 4-2; 6th Josiah Wood 12, Lak. East (8-13).
190 —2nd Ryan Iams 12, Ross (30-6); 3rd Cooper Skelton 12, Lak. West (30-15), tf16-0.
215 — 3rd Cohen Reip 10, Lak. East (26-8), Dec 9-6; 4th Cory Whatley 12, Lak. West (26-14); 6th Connor Kakaris 11, Ross (8-12).
285 — 3rd Bryson Bastin 12, Ross (31-11), Fall 4:28; 5th Nick Harris 11, Lak. West (26-12).
At Middletown
106 pound — 5th Danny Dawson, Middletown (13-11); 6th Robert Merriweather III, Monroe.
113 — 2nd Nathan Moser, Monroe (31-7); 3rd Gavin Boner, Talawanda (28-3); 4th Caron Spicer, Middletown (20-14).
120 — 3rd Laban Green, Monroe (35-6); 4th Julius Knowles, Hamilton (34-7); 6th Gion Morgan, Middletown (9-11).
126 — 4th Dylan Miller, Monroe (27-11).
132 — 3rd Tyler Isbell, Middletown (32-10); 6th Noah Iglesia, Hamilton (22-9).
138 — 4th Carson Leach, Monroe (22-14); 5th Geronimo Thomas, Middletown (18-15).
144 — 1st Jacob Castillo, Middletown (32-1); 5th Sebastian Weschler, Hamilton (16-14).
150 — 2nd Sammy Dillon, Talawanda (28-7); 6th Jacob Muncy, Monroe.
157 — 4th Bobby Dadabo, Hamilton (35-15).
165 — 5th Karro Jallow, Middletown (20-15).
175 — 5th Nate Mullins, Middletown (12-4).
190 — 2nd Ronan Casanova, Middletown (18-6). 215 — 3rd Jay Taylor, Middletown (21-11); 6th Trey Verdon, Hamilton (22-14).
At Lebanon
120 pound — 3rd Jason Louiso 11, Edgewood (25-18).
126 — 5th Kobe Salyers 10, Edgewood (28-13), md13-2.
132 — 2nd Isaiah Nichols 10, Edgewood (27-7).
144 — 5th Gage Taggart 11, Edgewood (22-14), Fall 3:20.
165 — 4th Aiden Rader 12, Edgewood (26-11).
175 — 2nd Seth Lee 12, Edgewood (26-16).
215 — 2nd Wyatt Walker 11, Edgewood (36-1).
Division II
At Clinton Massie
120 pound — 5th Tyler Alatorre 9, Badin (4-8).
132 — 4th Kai Samples 10, Badin (18-8).
150 — 4th Kaylix Cunagin 11, Badin (9-7).
157 — 3rd Luke Campbell 9, Badin (21-9), Fall 2:06.
175 — 2nd Zach Yordy 11, Badin (22-10).
190 — 3rd Roscoe Martin 10, Badin (11-5), Fall 3:45.
Division III
At Versailles
106 pound — 6th Makenzie Mullins 9, Madison (0-18).
113 — 5th Ace Hall 9, Madison (6-15).
126 — 2nd Matthew Wheeler 10, Madison (26-11).
138 — 6th Tyler Helton Madison (13-18).
157 — 4th Kaden Sarbaugh 11, Madison (27-12).
285 — 3rd Damario Pendleton 12, Madison (25-11), Dec 7-6.
