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Wadsworth senior Cody Gordon's pin of St. Edward state qualifier Matt VanCuren (152) was a highlight on Sunday as the Grizzlies held their seed and placed fourth at the Div. I State Wrestling Duals.

WADSWORTH, Ohio – Don’t read too much into Wadsworth’s fourth-place finish at the Division I State Duals.

But read a lot into the momentum the Grizzlies can take out of their fourth-place showing on Sunday.

As strange as that sounds, that’s exactly what coach John Gramuglia will do after fourth-seeded Wadsworth started the day by beating No. 5 Maple Heights 47-19, but lost to eventual champion and top seed St. Edward 49-12 and No. 3 Massillon Perry 35-21.

While only Chris Baughman (145 pounds), Cody Gordon (152) and Nick Tavanello (285) won all three of their matches for the Grizzlies, the squad showed some strong resolve.

After disposing of the Mustangs in the opener, a rematch of the last two Division I champions awaited in the semifinals between Wadsworth and St. Edward.

The Eagles blew the doors off, however, winning their first six matches before Baughman and Gordon won for the Grizzlies with Tavanello winning at heavyweight as well.

On a side note, the Edgar Bright vs. Kagan Squire match never materialized as Squire was held out for precautionary purposes. A Tavanello-Greg Kuhar match did not take place either with Kuhar on crutches.

The loss brought a consolation final between Perry and Wadsworth. With no love lost between the two, the match was everything it was expected to be as Connor Gray (103), Mathias Zollinger (120) and Brandon Jones (126) joined Baughman, Gordon and Tavanello putting one in the win column.

But the Panthers had too much in the tank, winning eight of the 14 matches.

Not that it derailed Gramuglia.

“If we have Kagan in there, it’s 12 points and maybe the kids might wrestle different,” Gramuglia said. “If we take the lessons we learned today, it will be phenomenal.

“St. Edward has one of the best teams we’ve ever seen. It’s unbelievable. It’s one of the best teams they’ve ever had from top to bottom. We’ll move on and get better.”

Confidence-wise, Gordon might have hit his peak.

A backup as a sophomore, he was ready to take the season by storm a year ago before a knee injury eliminated his junior campaign.

He sat and watched, but got better mentally because of it.

“It bothered me a lot. I saw people I could beat, so it kind of hurt,” Gordon said. “I didn’t wrestle last year, so in all these tournaments I’m not seeded, but I like it. No one is expecting me to come out on top.”

All that went out the window Sunday when Gordon pinned St. Edward's two-time state qualifier Matt VanCuren.

And it wasn’t like Gordon caught VanCuren, rather he was up 10 in the third period before sticking him with 20 seconds left.

All in a day’s work for Gordon, who counts a third-place finish at North Canton and fifth-place finish at Brecksville on his resume this season.

“Cody is a great talent,” Gramuglia said. “He had to wait his turn. With his brother (Louden) winning the state title two years ago, he thought he was second fiddle.

“But he’s coming into his own. If kids have confidence and stay with the formula, they’ll do well. That’s huge. It gives him the confidence. He had a great North Canton Tournament. He’s one of the sleepers that can get in there and get us the banner. He’s growing up as a person. He’s a real solid kid now.”

Division II State Duals

No. 4 Walsh Jesuit lost 51-16 to No. 6 Wauseon to start and then dropped a 48-17 decision to No. 8 Perry. With four holes in the lineup, the Warriors lost to No. 7 New Richmond 46-32.

Individual results will be posted when they become available.

Division I State Duals

Finals

St. Edward 44, Moeller 13

106: Bentley (SE) d. C. Ziegler, 3-2; 113: Moore (SE) p. Tepe, 1:24; 120: Heffernan (SE) m.d. A. Mendel, 16-3; 126: Heil (SE) m.d. T. Ziegler, 14-1; 132: Bright (SE) d. Ward, 3-1; 138: Barber (SE) d. Lindsey, 5-1; 145: Scheidel (SE) d. Meyer, 8-3; 152: Morton (M) by ff; 160: Davis (SE) p. Wilson, 3:50; 170: Blum (SE) m.d. Rogers, 10-2; 182: Abounader (SE) t.f. Rooser, 18-3; 195: Suvak (SE) m.d. Thornberry, 11-3; 225: Walz (SE) d. Freauf, 6-4; 285: Lalley (M) d. Belford, 3-2.

Third place

Massillon Perry 35, Wadsworth 21

106: Gray (W) d. Genetin, 3-1; 113: Bavery (P) d. Schleigh, 4-1; 120: Zollinger (Wad) d. Phillips, 7-4; 126: Jones (W) d. Norris, 5-3; 132: Bast (P) m.d. Cast, 20-8; 138: Newhouse (P) m.d. Warstler, 19-6; 145: Baughman (W) d. T. Dailey, 10-4; 152: Z. Dailey (P) p. Edwards, 1:40; 160: Gordon (W) d. Millin, 6-4; 170: Arrandale (P) Lucas-Walsh, 17-6; 182: Spangler (P) d. Knipl, 3-2; 195: Tayse (P) t.f. Frisby, 18-3; 225: Millin (P) p. Spinelli, 5:02; 285: Tavanello (W) by ff.

Fifth place

Marysville 44, Maple Heights 21

Seventh place

Dublin Coffman 34, Fairmont 32

Semifinals

St. Edward 49, Wadsworth 12

106: Bentley (SE) d. Gray, 3-0; 113: Moore (SE) m.d. Schleigh, 18-7; 120: Heffernan (SE) m.d. Zollinger, 11-0; 126: Heil (SE) t.f. Jones, 16-1; 132: Bright (SE) t.f. Cart, 15-1; 138: Barber (SE) d. Warstler, 7-2; 145: Baughman (W) d. Scheidel, 4-2; 152: Gordon (W) p. VanCuren, 5:40; 160: Rogers (SE) d. Edwards, 5-1; 170: Davis (SE) p. Knipl, :50; 182: Abounader (SE) p. Carroll, 1:29; 195: Suvak (SE) t.f. Frisby, 16-0; 220: Walz (SE) p. Spinelli, 1:25; 285: Tavanello (W) d. Belford, 7-0.

Cincinnati Moeller 33, Massillon Perry 29

106: Ziegler (M) d. Genetin, 3-0; 113: Bavery (P) m.d. Tepe, 11-2; 120: Mendel (P) d. Phillips, 6-2; 126: T. Ziegler (P) d. Norris, 9-3; 132: Ward (M) m.d. Bast, 11-1; 138: Newhouse (P) p. Lindsey, 3:56; 145: T. Dailey (P) d. Meyer, 9-5; 152: Z. Dailey (P) p. Morton, 3:00; 160: Sizemore (M) d. Millin, 2-0; 170: Arrendale (P) m.d. Wilson, 15-7; 182: Blum (M) p. Spangler, 1:15; 195: Tayse (P) p. Thorberry, 2:25; 220: Frueauf (M) t.f. Millin, 15-0; 285: Swoboda (M) by ff.

Other scores

Maple Heights 39, Fairmont 37

Marysville 40, Coffman 28

Quarterfinals

Wadsworth 47, Maple Heights 19

106: Gray (W) p. Freeman, 1:32; 113: Schleigh (W) p. Fradncik, 3:08; 120: Zollinger (W) p. Darby, :49; 126: Jones (W) m.d. D. Johnson, 11-3; 132: Squire (W) t.f. D. Johnson, 15-0; 138: Warstler (W) p. M. Robertson, 5:35; 145: Baughman (W) m.d. M. Johnson, 11-3; 152: Gordon (W) m.d. Stafford, 16-4; 160: R. Robertson (MH) m.d. Edwards, 13-2; 170: Knipl (W) m.d. Duncan, 17-6; 182: L. Robertson (MH) d. Bertuzzi, 195: Wilbert (MH) p. Frisby, 3:15; 225: Patrick (MH) p. Spinelli, :14; 285: Tavanello (W) d. Pipkins, 5-0.

St. Edward 54, Kettering Fairmont 16

106: Bentley (SE) m.d. Delvaile, 13-4; 113: Stanley (SE) by ff; 120: Kihn (F) t.f. Wysocki, 18-2; 126: Heil (SE) m.d. Parrett, 17-5; 132: Bright (SE) m.d. Huffman, 12-1; 138: Barber (SE) m.d. Denzinger, 15-5; 145: Scheidel (SE) p. Blondie, 1:17; 152: Boykin (F) by ff; 160: Davis (SE) p. Henger, :43; 170: Kimrell (F) t.f. Rogers, 15-0; 182: Abounader (SE) p. Plumlee, 3:16; 195: Dzuro (SE) m.d. Harowski, 12-5; 225: Walz (SE) t.f. Ball, 17-0; 285: Bilford (SE) p. Tolloch, :28.

Other scores

Cincinnati Moeller 69, Dublin Coffman 3

Perry 41, Marysville 19