High school wrestling: Pioneers stay positive as four freshmen place at NOC

GARFIELD HTS. - Although Elyria wasn’t able to defend its Northeast Ohio Conference tournament title from a year ago, the Pioneers had plenty to be positive about after Saturday’s action was over.

The Pioneers had four freshman wrestlers place in the brutally tough event, junior 189-pounder Jason Gott repeated his runner-up performance and junior Myles Wright finished third at 140 pounds after picking up five pins in six matches.

“It was a pretty good weekend for our young guys,” Pioneers coach Erik Burnett said. “It’s nice to get on the podium in a tough tournament like this. Our older guys are obviously a little disappointed. Jason and Kodie (Egnor) came to win it, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. That’s when you got to come back and wrestle hard.”

Gott was the lone Elyria wrestler to advance to the finals, where he met Twinsburg’s Drew Rader - the only wrestler to hand him a league loss this season. Gott and Rader used explosive takedowns and escapes in a highly entertaining match, but when the dust settled Gott was on the wrong end of a 12-9 decision.

“He just knew everything I was going to do,” Gott said. “(If we meet again) I just won’t make the mistakes I made during the first two matches (against him). I was runner-up last year and I wanted to win it this year. But next year I’ll just come back harder.”

Coming back with a vengeance is exactly what Wright did after suffering his lone defeat of the weekend Friday night. After opening the tournament with a first-period pin of Medina’s Shane Hotchkiss, Wright lost to Brush’s Devon Range.

Wright bounced back with four pinfall victories Saturday - over Twinsburg’s Jeremy Clark at 3:33, over Mayfield’s Connor Shaughnessy at 2:58, over Brunswick’s Jacob Stephens at 4:37 and over Strongsville’s Nick Chrzanowski at 4:10.

“I knew I wasn’t seeded, so I felt I had to come in here and make a statement for myself,” Wright said. “Getting pins is something I work on during practice. I kind of look for that during matches, and it almost becomes like a habit. I don’t even know I’m doing it.”

Joining Wright with a third-place finish was freshman 103-pounder Nate Miller, who advanced to the championship semifinals before taking his first loss. He bounced back for a pair of wins - including an 8-0 major decision over Mayfield’s Nick Bishop in the third-place match.

“I know there’s some tough kids in our conference, and I lost to a few of them of course, but I just try to come back and do the best I can,” Miller said. “Third place at a tough tournament like this is great. Of course I’m aiming for first, but I think I’m at a peak (in the season).

“You want to wrestle the best so that you can get better. We have a tough schedule, we get the best of the best.”

That’s just one of the many reasons Burnett was happy with his team’s seventh-place finish Saturday night. After a grueling season that included the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, the Brecksville Holiday Tournament and the tough conference dual meets and tournament, Burnett knows his wrestlers are battle-tested and ready for the postseason.

“That’s the bottom line - to get better,” he said. “We haven’t had an undefeated wrestler yet come through, but the kids get better and better. That’s what we’re trying to do - better wrestlers, better people … the whole 9 yards.”

“It’s pretty much individual now. You want your guys to get through sectionals, get to districts and get down to Columbus and do the best they can.”

The other three freshman to place for Elyria were Brandon Egnor (sixth at 112), Eli Garcia (fifth at 125) and Zach Woodings (sixth at 160). Kodie Egnor, a senior, placed fifth at 130.

“Our younger guys are getting better and better, and that’s all you can ask,” Burnett said. “They’re buying in and doing a lot of things right, and you can’t ask much more than that.”

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

TEAM STANDINGS: Twinsburg 195.5, Medina 143.5, Strongsville 134.5, Solon 134, Cuyahoga Falls 131, Mayfield 126.5, Elyria 119, Normandy 108.5, North Royalton 106, Parma 91, Brush 86.5, Hudson 65, Garfield Heights 63, Stow 62, Lakewood 52.5, Nordonia 48, Brunswick 40, Valley Forge 20.

103 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Brandon Thompson (Solon) dec. Mike Reese (Garfield Heights), 6-2. THIRD-PLACE: Nate Miller (Elyria) maj. dec. Nick Bishop (Mayfield), 8-0. FIFTH-PLACE: Dylan Hartwig (Stow) dec. Dan Bartinelli (North Royalton), 6-4.

112 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Mike Griffith (Medina) dec. Anthony Collica (Solon), 5-2. THIRD-PLACE: Del Vinas (Twinsburg) dec. Yousef Abdel-Salem (Lakewood), 5-2. FIFTH-PLACE: Brandon Birr (Mayfield) maj. dec. Brandon Egnor (Elyria), 11-2.

119 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Mike Labry (Twinsburg) dec. Matt Yurkovich (North Royalton), 5-2. THIRD-PLACE: Aaron Banko (Garfield Heights) def. J.R. Wiezbiski (Cuyahoga Falls) by forfeit. FIFTH-PLACE: Jared Kwait (Solon) pinned Michael Bolger (Strongsville), 2:38.

125 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Tywan Claxton (Brush) dec. Dan McNulty (Mayfield), 6-2. THIRD-PLACE: Scott Hysell (Cuyahoga Falls) dec. Evan Evangelista (Strongsville), 4-2. FIFTH-PLACE: Eli Garcia (Elyria) dec. Grant Blumenthal (Twinsburg), 3-2.

130 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Dan Yurkovich (North Royalton) dec. Matt Hammer (Medina), 7-1. THIRD-PLACE: Mike Carlone (Mayfield) dec. Collin Taylor (Cuyahoga Falls), 7-0. FIFTH-PLACE: Kodie Egnor (Elyria) dec. Grant Blumenthal (Twinsburg), 3-2.

135 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Francis Calarco (North Royalton) maj. dec. Eric Brooks (Strongsville), 11-1. THIRD-PLACE: Connor McMahon (Cuyahoga Falls) maj. dec. Nick Ramsey (Lakewood), 15-7. FIFTH-PLACE: Tyler Johnston (Brush) dec. Tyrone McGuniea (Twinsburg), 7-2.

140 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Kyle Marrone (Parma) pinned Devon Range (Brush), 5:20. THIRD-PLACE: Myles Wright (Elyria) pinned Nick Chrzanowski (Strongsville), 4:10. FIFTH-PLACE: Jacob Stephens (Brunswick) maj. dec. Jake Dittoe (Hudson), 10-2.

145 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Michael Travagliante (Normandy) dec. Mike Benson (Nordonia), 5-4. THIRD-PLACE: Devin Orr (Solon) dec. Shane Pietropinto (Mayfield), 3-1 (OT). FIFTH-PLACE: Jake Piatt (Medina) maj. dec. Jordan Freeman (Brush), 15-4.

152 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Waquiem Comar (Twinsburg) dec. Teddy Hammer (Medina), 11-5. THIRD-PLACE: Zack Messinger (Stow) dec. Michael Haumesser (Normandy), 4-3. FIFTH-PLACE: Dylan King (Cuyahoga Falls) pinned Shiloh Moore (Solon), 2:36.

160 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Chet Bissell (Twinsburg) dec. Tyler Tesny (Cuyahoga Falls), 7-6. THIRD-PLACE: Alex Pangrace (Strongsville) maj. dec. Brandon Anderson (Normandy), 10-0. FIFTH-PLACE: Patrick Berg (Hudson) dec. Zach Woodings (Elyria), 10-9.

171 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Tylan Coleman (Mayfield) dec. Michael Baker (Twinsburg), 3-1. THIRD-PLACE: Kyle Kutsko (Solon) dec. Tyler Eastman (Cuyahoga Falls), 12-10. FIFTH-PLACE: Kyle Kumhall (Medina) pinned Britt Haneline (Hudson), 1:34.

189 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Drew Rader (Twinsburg) dec. Jason Gott (Elyria), 12-9. THIRD-PLACE: David Stauder (Strongsville) pinned Brian Yurko (Nordonia), 1:47. FIFTH-PLACE: Adam Archacki (Normandy) dec. Joe Gigliotti (Medina), 9-5.

215 - CHAMPIONSHIP: Michael Samijlenko (Normandy) dec. Caleb Curtis (Brunswick), 3-1. THIRD-PLACE: Ryan Marrone (Parma) dec. Trevor Stiles (Medina), 6-5. FIFTH-PLACE: Addison Carbone (Hudson) dec. Arshak Asriyan (Strongsville), 4-3.

HVY - CHAMPIONSHIP: Nick Rajcsak (Stow) dec. Brandon Bucknell (Twinsburg), 5-1. THIRD-PLACE: Nate Hoff (Solon) pinned Raul Moyano (Parma), 1:25. FIFTH-PLACE: Robert Bures (North Royalton) dec. Andy Boggs (Medina), 8-3.