HARWELLPHOTO.COM
Barberton junior Sonny Shump (right) won this 120-pound Dies Memorial semifinal over Manchester senior Kyle Ferguson. Shump placed second. The Magics had three individual champs and were second in the team standings.
AKRON, Ohio – For Stow-Munroe Falls' Connor McMahon, it’s all about the drive for five.
Or rather the motivation to improve upon five.
While most wrestlers would jump at the chance to finish fifth in the state tournament, the 160-pound senior looks at last year as a way to push himself now.
Every time the undefeated wrestler sees a Hostess Twinkie waiting to be eaten, Columbus pops in his head.
Every time he’s ready to call it a night, that state medal stares him in the face.
See, McMahon isn’t content with fifth when No. 1 is still out there.
“I think about it all the time,” said McMahon after winning Saturday’s Bill Dies Memorial Tournament. “Every time I think about quitting, I think, ‘Fifth.’ If I don’t push it, I’ll finish lower.”
McMahon didn’t and as a result he stood atop the podium.
It didn’t come easy though as Garrettsville Garfield returning state placer Aaron Yonker put up a fight.
Scoreless after two periods, McMahon picked up an escape and then took Yonker down to his back with 27 seconds remaining to hammer out a 5-0 victory.
“This win is definitely huge,” McMahon said. “I’m always looking to improve here. But you forget about this after tomorrow. I’ll use it to pump me up for my next match, but today is today and tomorrow it becomes yesterday.”
Twinsburg’s Mike Labry (138) might remember “yesterday” a little more after handing Cuyahoga Falls’ Collin Taylor a 17-7 thumping in the final.
In winning the Dies for the third consecutive time, Labry was named the tournament MVP and joined teammate Michael Baker (182) on the top step of the podium.
“I’m pretty happy to win three times,” said Labry. “It’s always good to win against good competition. I don’t look too far ahead. I’m working hard and making strides.”
So is Baker after winning at 182. A runner-up last year at the Dies, Baker scored a 5-1 win over returning state placer Kevin Stock of Garrettsville Garfield in the finals.
“We came in with the hopes that these two kids would win and they did,” Twinsburg coach Dave Mariola Sr. said. “This is great motivation with the Northeast Ohio Conference Tournament around the corner.”
Barberton made huge strides, finishing second behind four-time champion Brecksville.
The Magics, who have three tournament wins this season, crowned Cobey Fehr (126), Aaron Tschantz (195) and Vern Rowe (220) and saw Sonny Shump (120) finish second.
With an additional two placers, Barberton improved its Dies position by one from a year ago.
“We’re pretty happy,” Magics coach Dave Mariola Jr. said. “There were some hard fought matches here and we turned out on top. There’s good coaches and good kids here. I was pleased.”
So was Highland’s Adam Kluk (170), who appears right at home after dropping from 182 over the holiday season.
It’s a weight Kluk will stay at after pinning Garfield Heights’ Raemell Shepard in the finals.
“I feel like I’m a little faster there,” Kluk said. “I felt small at 182. I just feel more comfortable there.”
With 23 SportsInk.com teams at the Dies there were oodles of placers. They are all listed in the agate below.
AKRON – Results Saturday from the 25th annual Bill Dies Tournament at Firestone High School.
Team standings: 1. Brecksville 211; 2. Barberton 187.5; 3. Elyria 145.5; 4. Coventry 140.5; 5. Olmsted Falls 140.5; 6. Highland 124; 7. Twinsburg 118.5; 8. West Branch 118; 9. Green 99.5; 10. Garrettsville Garfield 98; 11. West Branch 118; 12. Canton South 96.5; 13. GlenOak 94; 14. Manchester 86; 15. Canfield 84; 16. Norwayne 83; 17. Garfield Heights 81; 18. Stow 73.5; 19. Brunswick 71.5; 20. Norton 71; 21. Cuyahoga Falls, Woodridge 69.5; 23. Northwest 66; 24. Copley 65; 25. Jefferson Area 62; 26. Firestone 49.5; 27. Chippewa 44; 28. Cuyahoga Heights 43.5; 29. Revere 42; 30. Buckeye 41; 31. Triway 40.5; 32. Bloom Carroll 39; 33. Archbiship Hoban 37; 34. Kenmore 30; 35. Miami Valley 29.5; 36. Kent Roosevelt 28; 37. Ellet 16; 38. Akron North 14.
Individual standings
106: Kolodzik (MV) m.d. Torres (Ely), 11-1; Third: Frost (Can) p. Doyle (Gre), 1;46; Fifth: Thomas (Bru) by inj. def. over Assad (Bre); Seventh: Fagen (Cov) d. Bowen (Man), 6-2;
113: Schoeppner (CS) d. Minnard (BC), 9-2; Third: Dupratt (OF) d. Frye (CH), 2-0; Fifth: Maple (JA) m.d. Britton (Norw), 9-0; Seventh: Spence (Can) d. Adkins (Gle), 7-0;
120: Canon (Ely) p. Shump (Bar), 2:21; Third: Gunter (Cov) d. Ferguson (Man), 3-1; Fifth: Pruchinski (Bre) d. Griffiths (Gle), 14-7; Seventh: Taylor (Bru) p. Baitt, 3:05;
126: Fehr (Bar) p. Asadorian (OF), 3:49; Third: Knepper (Gar) d. Dunbar (Can), 6-5; Fifth: Swaney (Hob) d. Smith (Nort), 9-8; Seventh: Lucas (Bre) m.d. Lake (Cov), 11-3;
132: Egnor (Ely) p. Grier (Norw), 6:41; Third: Smith (North) d. Srnad (Bre), 13-7; Fifth: Kunzler (Hig) d. Nick Chuha (CH), 7-4: Seventh: Peterson (Rev) by ff over Bevilacqua (OF);
138: Labry (Twi) m.d. Taylor (CF), 17-7; Third: Walker (Cop) d. Schmidt (Bru), 4-3; Fifth: Estock (WB) d. Harris (North), 6-4; Seventh: Dickinson (Woo) d. Celinski (GH), 6-0;
145: Baran (Bre) d. Nedolast (Cop), 5-0; Third: Banko (GH) d. Minnis (Woo), 3-1; Fifth: Moore (Nor) d. Parker (Gle), 9-3; Seventh: Karavantas (Roo) d. Slater (OF), 7-2;
152: Barr (Bre) d. Rininger (Hig), 4-3; Third: Fitzgerald (Gre) d. Rice (Bar), 4-2; Fifth: Downs (Woo) d. Rang (Cov), 8-6; Seventh: Poullas (Can) pin Cash (JA), 2:04;
160: McMahon (Sto) d. Yonker (Gar), 5-0; Third: Hiles (Bre) p. Vilimonovic (Hig), 2:00; Fifth: Sommer (OF) d. Sherman (Buc), 3-0; Seventh: Workman (Ely) d. Rohrbaugh (Norw), 8-3;
170: Kluk (Hig) p. Shepard (GH), 2:27; Third: Page (WB) by ff over Kamczyc (Ely); Fifth: Kokitka (OF) d. Hymes (Bar), 1-0; Seventh: Lang (Bre) p. William (Fir), 4:02;
182: Baker (Twi) d. Stock (Gar), 5-1; Third: Wheeler (Cop) d. Marotta (Bre), 1-0; Fifth: Rutherford (Nort) p. Linville (OF), 1:42; Seventh: Stieger (Sto) d. Musci (Fir), 8-2;
195: Tschantz (Bar) p. Campbell (Twi), 3:48; Third: Zody (Tri) m.d. Dies (Man), 10-2; Fifth: Headrick (Cov) d. Hunt (CS), 6-5; Seventh: Haramis (Nort) by ff over Murphy (Bre);
220: Rowe (Bar) d. Hodge (CS), 5-4; Third: Cuenot (Gle) by ff over Ware (CF); Fifth: Linden (Bre) d. Hilling (Woo), 10-4; Seventh: Vinson (Ken) p. Mbua (GH), 1:00;
285: Srock (Chi) d. Sharp (WB), 4-3; Third: Everett (Gle) p. Gosnell (Cov), 1:17; Fifth: Reagan (Bru) d, Severino (JA), 1-0; Seventh: Hanzel (Man) p. Dressler (Gar), 2:21.