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Olentangy Schools confirms new investigation into Liberty wrestling
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- Olentangy Schools confirms new investigation into Liberty wrestling
Olentangy Schools confirms it has broadened an investigation into whether longtime Liberty High School boys wrestling coach Mark Marinelli submitted incorrect win-loss records for his wrestlers to improve their postseason seeding, something for which he served a suspension last year.
Marinelli was suspended by the school district for the 2025 Central District wrestling tournament after it said he made an "inadvertent reporting error" when submitting individual wrestlers' records for seeding purposes before the postseason.
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The postseason begins with the sectional tournament, followed by district and state. The top four finishers in each weight class advance from sectional to district and district to state, so having a better win-loss record would improve a wrestler's starting point on the bracket.
Former Olentangy Liberty wrestling coach Mark Marinelli stands for the national anthem before the Patriots' match at Dublin Coffman on Jan. 6, 2022.
In an emailed statement March 11, Olentangy Schools assistant director of communications Amanda Beeman wrote, "In spring 2025, Liberty High School boys wrestling coach Mark Marinelli received a school-issued suspension barring his attendance/coaching at the Ohio High School Athletic Association's (OHSAA) district tournament after the school received information that some of the student match records he submitted for bracket seeding prior to the sectional tournament were not correct.
"Coach Marinelli then made the personal decision to not coach at the 2025 state competition as well. Olentangy Schools is presently conducting a broader investigation of these matters and will take appropriate action based on the findings."
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Marinelli, who is in his 19th season and has built Liberty into a perennial power, didn't immediately return email or text messages seeking comment March 12.
The school district's investigation follows a cleveland.com story that said Marinelli had been submitting incorrect records for sectional tournament seeding for years, rather than a single season, according to documents reviewed by the paper.
Tim Stried, OHSAA director of media relations, said he was unable to comment March 12 due to preparations for the boys and girls wrestling state tournaments March 13-15 at the Schottenstein Center.
Liberty has six boys wrestlers at state. The Patriots have had eight state champions, all from 2012-23.
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(This story has been updated with new information.)
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna and high school sports editor Andy Resnik can be reached at sports@dispatch.com and at @DispatchPreps on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA rules violation charges trigger review by Olentangy Liberty
