At the conclusion of the Dublin City Championships on Feb. 9, Dublin Coffman High School wrestling coach Bob Stoll gathered the members of his team and congratulated them for their performance. At no point did he talk about himself.

The Shamrocks’ victories over Jerome (50-19) and Scioto (44-16) gave them community bragging rights. They also represented the final dual meets of Stoll’s coaching career, as he has decided to retire after 17 seasons leading the program.

“I didn’t tell them, but I think most of them know I’m not coming back next season,” said Stoll, whose team competes Saturday, Feb. 18, in the Division I sectional tournament at Westland. “I haven’t formally resigned, but I’m done. It really comes down to me having to take care of my health right now.”

The decision to step away from coaching followed a doctor’s recommendation that he have a third surgery on his neck, which will have to be immobilized for six months.

Stoll thought about ending his coaching tenure at Coffman after his twin sons, Matt and Mark, graduated in 2008, but decided to stay. With the program growing in numbers, he is reluctant to leave after this season.

Coffman has earned a number of championships during his tenure, including back-to-back district titles in 2000 and 2001. Also in 2001, the Shamrocks had nine state qualifiers, including two placers in Bobby Dysart (second) and Adam Olds (third).

This year, Coffman appears to have the potential to finish among the top teams in the district.

“He’s a great coach, but he’s never had a state champion and we sure would like to get one for him,” said senior Ryan Murdock, who is 34-1 at 126 pounds. “It was nice to beat the other Dublin teams for him, but we want to give him more. There’s really no reason why we shouldn’t win a sectional championship.”

Murdock, who placed sixth at state at 112 last season and fifth at state at 103 in 2010, might have the best shot at winning a state title. He won a district championship a year ago.

The Shamrocks will be trying to match or top last season’s sectional finish when they had nine district qualifiers. The top four finishers in each weight class at sectional advance to the district tournament Feb. 24 and 25 at Hilliard Darby.

Chris Mullucey, who is 18-2 at 120, also reached state a year ago. Other top performers for Coffman include Joe Schulze (28-7 at 132), Jake Cline (25-7 at 145), Markell Wooden (27-8 at 152), Tyler McCourt (24-8 at 160) and T.J. Armengau (22-9 at 170).

Although Coffman easily won the Dublin City Championships, one of the top matches during the event was between Scioto’s Wes King and Jerome’s Brett Mowery at 220. King pinned Mowery to improve to 35-4. The loss dropped Mowery to 29-3.

“Wes got him in the final five seconds,” said Jerome coach Adam Huddle, whose team lost to Scioto 37-34 on Jan. 26 in an OCC-Cardinal Division dual. “Brett tried to roll and got caught at the end. Both of us were giving up a lot of points with guys missing in weight classes, so that kind of balanced it out.”

Jerome enters the sectional tournament on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Marysville with four returning district qualifiers in Mowery, Bennett Comfort (27-8 at 126), Kyle Harness (27-11 at 160) and Jack Austin (31-10 at 145).

That same day, Scioto will compete in the sectional at Watkins Memorial, with King, Ian Richeson (18-9 at 120), Daniel Higuera (18-11 at 152), Brian Fox (25-7 at 170) and Yoshi Akutsu (16-6 at heavyweight) holding the team’s best records.

King, a senior, was a state qualifier a year ago.

“Looking at the four sectionals, we’re probably middle-of-the-pack competition-wise at our sectional,” Scioto coach Aaron McKenzie said. “But looking at the individuals, I think we’ve got a good shot of getting six or seven guys out to the district.”