SPORTSINK.COM PHOTO
Nordonia’s Rob Eckenrode will get his just recognition when the Northeast Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrator Association names him its Athletic Director of the Year on Monday.
MACEDONIA, Ohio – Something happened on the way to next week’s Suburban League dual between undefeated conference powers Wadsworth and Nordonia.
While the Grizzlies dispatched Green 54-12 and Copley 63-12, the Knights hit a speed bump Thursday in their home gym.
Nordonia bounced the Indians 49-18, but fell to the Bulldogs 36-30 in a heartbreaker.
Trailing 33-30 heading into the heavyweight match, if the Knights (6-2, 5-1) won the final bout they would have beaten Green on criteria.
The match was everything it was supposed to be as Nordonia’s Brandon Rem and Green’s Thomas Kreinbrink went into overtime tied at zero.
After a scoreless first overtime, Rem escaped to take a 1-0 lead. With Kreinbrink down in the third overtime, he reversed Rem and held the sophomore down to escape with a 2-1 victory.
“Green wrestled a good match and as a result we had a few things end up differently than we had planned,” Nordonia coach Audie Atienza said. “My hat goes off to them. Any momentum going into Wadsworth next week was halted by Green.
“We offer no excuses. They out-wrestled us in matches that we thought we would win. We hope to bring our best team to Wadsworth next week. It will be an uphill battle, but it’s great that we have an opportunity to wrestle one of the best teams in the state.”
The Grizzlies (9-4, 6-0) haven’t wrapped up their 20th consecutive league title just yet as the SL Tournament counts for 50 percent, but a win next week over Nordonia will once again put them in the driver’s seat.
Nick Collica (106 pounds), Jimmy Coyne (120), Mike DeCesare (132), Eric Claren (195) and Alex Woicehovich (220) won both their matches for Nordonia, so the squad isn’t going into next Thursday’s dual at Wadsworth in fear.
“Wow, 19 titles in a row are a lot,” Atienza said. “Our expectations for our team are that we wrestle our best against the best team. As long as our wrestlers give their best against Wadsworth, we will live with the results, win or lose.
“We are very excited to go to Wadsworth next week. It’s great that the dual will have meaning to it, especially since it’s the last dual in the Suburban League for the year. With that being said, our goal is to wrestle our very best at the end of the year, not in January.”
The Grizzlies are thinking the same thing as next week’s dual with the Knights will be the last league meet in the Grizzly Den as Wadsworth is getting a new high school next year.
“We looked vastly improved and more physical,” Grizzlies coach John Gramuglia said. “The youngins are really getting more confidence and it’s right on time. It’s on to the Nordonia dual and especially the (Grizzly Invitational Tournament). It will be the last time we wrestle in the west gym.”
Connor Gray (106), Jordan Schleigh (113), Mathias Zollinger (120), Dusten Cart (126), Kagan Squire (132), Chris Baughman (145), C.J. Edwards (160), Tim Knipl (170), Brett Spinelli (220) and Nick Tavanello (285) won both matches for Wadsworth.
While the Indians dropped both duals against the powers in the SL, Zach Walker (138) and Isaiah Wheeler (182) went 2-0 on the night.
“Tough night for us,” Indians coach Jim Dies said. “Our guys have been facing some adversity and I’m proud of their effort tonight. Some younger guys had an opportunity and their inexperience showed tonight. Again though, I’m proud of the way all our guys battled.”
Wadsworth 63, Copley 12
106: Connor Gray (W) t.f. Tanmay Shah, 20-2; 113: Jordan Schleigh (W) by ff; 120: Mathias Zollinger (W) by ff; 126 Dustin Cart (W) m.d. D.J Johnson, 15-3; 132: Kagan Squire (W) by ff; 138: Zach Walker (C) p. Hussain Abdulhabib, 2:34; 145: Chris Baughman (W) d. Matt Nedolast, 5-0; 152: Cody Gordon (W) m.d. Sean Esparza, 11-2; 160: C.J. Edwards (W) d. Justin Hastings; 170: Tim Knipl (W) p. Titus Slater, 2:31; 182 Isaiah Wheeler (C) by ff; 195: Alex Carol (W) p. Tyler Whitfield, 1:01; 220: Brett Spinelli (W) p. Chris Burke, 2:30; 285: Nick Tavanello (W) by ff.
Nordonia 49, Copley 18
106: Nick Collica (N) t.f Shah, 18-3; 113: Eric Juskin (N) p. Powell, 5:07; 120: James Coyne (N) by ff; 126: Jake Urich (N) t.f. Johnson, 18-2; 132: Mike DeCesare (N) by ff; 138: Walker (C) m.d. Heath Phillibert, 11-3; 145: Nedolast (C) d. Chuck Vickers, 8-2; 152: Esparza (C) d. Nathaniel Codner, 5-4; 160: Ryan Taylor (N) t.f. Rockoff 18-3; 170: Tyler McCann (N) m.d. Justing Hastings, 17-7; 182: Freddie Kollner (C) by ff; 195: Wheeler (C) d. Eric Claren, 8-2; 220: Alex Woicehovich (N) p. Burke, 1:44; 285: Brandon Rem (N) by ff.
Wadsworth 54, Green 12
106: Gray (W) d. Chris Doyle, 6-5; 113: Schleigh (W) p. Noah Schaub, :34; 120: Zollinger (W) d. Ryan Kaminski, 3-1; 126: Cart (W) d. Dylan Ramey, 11-5; 132: Squire (W) p. Jacob Bostic, 1:35; 138: Warstler (W) m.d. George Zawahri, 15-1; 145: Baughman (W) p. Max Riffle, 0:35; 152: Corey Fitzgerald (G) d. Gordon, 8-6; 160: Edwards (W) t.f. Kyle Valatka, 19-4; 170: Knipl (W) p. Jacob Gladwell, 2:08; 182: Gabe Mahany (G) p. Alex Carrell, 2:45; 195: Jordan Zawahri (G) d. Hayden Frisby, 3-1; 220: Spinelli (W) p. Mark Dahlman, 4:52; 285: Tavanello (W) p. Thomas Kreinbrink, 3:51.
* Results as given by area coaches.