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On Saturday, Twinsburg 138-pound senior Michael Labry became the first wrestler to win three NOC tournament titles. He is pictured here with his Hall of Fame coach Dave Mariola.
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio – Beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to where teams wind up at wrestling tournaments.
Stow-Munroe Falls’ fifth-place finish at Saturday’s Northeast Ohio Conference Tournament might not look like anything special because Connor McMahon was upset by Solon’s Justin Kresevic in the final at 160 pounds.
But the Bulldogs did some upsetting of their own with individual champions in Gage Finegan (195) and Dan Garner (220).
“This was a big step,” Stow coach Randy Jenkins said. “We train to peak now and do our best to make sure it happens.
“To see it as a coach, I’m delighted. The team is right there. It’s up to us right now to maintain what we have and work on it moving forward. That means the team will grow.”
Despite fielding champions in Mike Labry (138) – who won his third NOCT title – Michael Baker (182) and Willie Williams (285), Twinsburg coach Dave Mariola wasn’t too pleased with his team’s third-place finish behind Solon and Elyria.
The good news for the Tigers is that the postseason run is still two weeks away as they prepare to do battle with NOC Valley champion Solon.
The bad news came after Twinsburg slipped a bit after holding a precarious three-point lead over the Comets on Day 1.
“We found out we’re not where we need to be on Day 2,” Mariola said. “I don’t know if we ate too much on the (second day) break or what.
“But we’ll see Solon at sectional, district and state. We’re always ready for Solon. We just need to step things up.”
It wasn’t all bad news for the Tigers as Williams came into his own at the tournament.
Williams pinned second-seeded Andrew Thomas of Brush to reach the semifinals and then followed that win up with a 14-5 major decision over third-seeded Tyler Sullens of Mentor.
The wins brought top seed and returning tournament placer Tim Reagan of Brunswick in the finals.
Outweighing his opponent by nearly 60 pounds, Williams used the discrepancy to his advantage, pinning Reagan in 2:35.
“It’s the start of a new season,” Williams said. “This is real big for me because it gave me a chance to prove myself. It’s a great feeling.”
After winning three straight River Division titles, Medina left Garfield Heights’ gymnasium down as Hudson and Stow will finish ahead of the Bees in the league.
While Ryan Hornack (113) and Matt Hammer (138) reached the finals for Medina, neither managed a title.
“We’ve had some good kids come through here,” Bees coach Chad Gilmore said. “We’ve come a long way from our first duals this season and finished a couple points short. But this is the end of the team season, now we work on what our individuals can improve upon.”
GARFIELD HEIGHTS– Results Saturday from the fifth annual Northeast Ohio Conference Tournament at Garfield Heights High School.
Team standings: 1. Solon 183; 2. Elyria 160.5; 3. Twinsburg 154; 4. Parma 130.5; 5. Stow, Mentor 104.5; 7. Hudson 103; 8. Medina 99; 9. Garfield Heights 93; 10. Brunswick 89; 11. North Royalton 87.5 12. Strongsville 69.5; 13. Cuyahoga Falls 53.5; 14. Mayfield 48; 15. Lakewood 46.5; 16. Normandy 46; 17. Brush 45; 18. Valley Forge 6.
Individual standings
106: Torres (Ely) d. Kramer (Ment), 5-4; Third: Herron (NR) d. Clement (Sol), 7-1; Fifth: D’Amico (Str) d. Thomas (Brun), 3-1; 113: Thompson (Sol) d. Hornack (Med), 7-4; Third: Bartenelli (NR) d. Desanto (Ment), 7-4; Fifth: Lugo (Nor) d. Csongedi (Par), 11-9; 120: Duran (Sol) d. Canon (Ely), 11-10; Third: Getto (Med) m.d. Gregory (Hud), 9-0; Fifth: Taylor (Brun) d. Hartwig (Sto), 7-0; 126: Levitsky (Par) d. Williams (Sol), 1-0; Third: Trunzo (NR) p. Bishop (May), 3:58; Fifth: Szoch (Hud) d. Anderson (Twi), 7-1; 132: Egnor (Ely) d. Abdel-Salem (Lak), 6-5; Third: Victor (Ment) by default over Morgan (NR); Fifth: Hogue (Med) by default over Perez (Str); 138: Labry (Twi) d. Hammer (Med), 6-2; Third: Schmidt (Brun) p. Restifo (Sol), 1:50; Fifth: Taylor (CF) p. Merrill (Str), 1:53; 145: Collica (Sol) p. Feckley (Lak), 3:25; Third: McGuinea (Twi) d. Mocniak (Par), 9-4; Fifth: Celinski (GH) d. Coleman (Hud), 5-1; 152: Price (Ely) d. Smith (Brus), 3-1; Third: Banko (GH) d. Henry (Ment), 3-1, OT; Fifth: Juhn (Par) d. Massey (Sto), 9-4; 160: Kresevic (Sol) d. McMahon (Sto), 3-1; Third: Lebrun (Str) d. Toth (Par), 9-3; Fifth: Workman (Ely) d. Keller (Twi), 11-7; 170: Murray (May) d. Hughes (Bru), 7-6; Third: Slone (GH) d. Glasko (Norm), 7-1; Fifth: Kamczyc (Ely) d. Repasky (CF), 6-0; 180: Baker (Twi) p. Shepard (GH), 5:28; Third: Halaska (Par) d. Doyle (Hud), 10-4; Fifth: Ellis (Ely) p. Jaggers (Sol), 2:49; 195: Finegan (Sto) d. Campbell (Twi), 10-9; Third: Lykins (Par) d. Jones (Ely), 6-5; Fifth: Cuevas (Str) d. McBride (Hud), 4-0; 220: Garner (Stow) p. Trommer (Hud), 5:07; Third: Ware (CF) p. Kopacz (Med), 3:40; Fifth: Asriyan (Str) d. Mbua (GH), 2-0; 285: Williams (Twi) p. Reagan (Bru), 2:35; Third: Thomas (Brus) d. Sullens (Ment), 8-3; Fifth: Mougey (Hud) p. Vogler (NR).