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Wadsworth's wrestling team won its 20th consecutive Suburban League championship on Saturday at Revere High School.
BATH TWP., Ohio -- Nobody wants to be “that team.”
The good news for Connor Gray, Jordan Schleigh, Mathias Zollinger, Brandon Jones, Aaron Warstler, Chris Baughman, Cody Gordon, C.J. Edwards, Tim Knipl, Alex Carrell, Hayden Frisby, Brett Spinelli and Nick Tavanello is this year’s Wadsworth’s wrestling team isn’t.
They aren’t “it” after the school claimed its 20th consecutive Suburban League title, and the Grizzlies did so by adding an exclamation point Saturday on the mats at Revere High School.
The exclamation point came with 10 finalists, six champions and a total of 12 placers – it would have probably been 13 had Baughman (145) not defaulted out due to illness.
Make no mistake the drive comes from not wanting to be the team that loses the first SL crown in over two decades.
“That’s huge,” Jones said. “You think about how good the program is with so many champs and it pushes you.
“It’s the fear of being ‘that team.’ You don’t want to lose.”
Not that the Grizzlies did much of that with Gray (106), Schleigh (113), Zollinger (120), Jones (126), Squire (132) and Tavanello (285) taking home individual titles as they prepare for next week’s meat grinder of a sectional that includes Medina, Brecksville and Highland among others.
While not wrestling to their potential according to coach John Gramuglia, the Grizzlies continued a tradition that started in 1993, and that’s important.
“This was one of the big goals,” Gramuglia said. “We made the league championship important this season.
“This shows how far we’ve come. These guys wrestled with their guts today. It was seven (schools) against one and it prepared us for down the road.”
Green certainly paved itself a nice path in the SLT for what will happen in the future.
Heading to North Canton Hoover next week, the Bulldogs will face Uniontown Lake, Massillon Perry, Barberton and the Vikings.
So having five finalists certainly helped even though Green went 0-5 in championship matches.
Then again, so did having 10 total placers at the SLT, as the Bulldogs – who finished the dual meet portion of the league in a three-way tie for second with Nordonia and Highland – wrapped up a strong tournament showing to finish third overall.
The Knights finished second overall thanks to outpacing both the Bulldogs and Hornets by two points in the SLT.
Not bad for Green – a team viewed as a bottom-feeder in the conference when Anthony Hayes took over three years ago.
With just three seniors in the lineup – Anthony Cabot (138), Corey Fitzgerald (152) and Thomas Kreinbrink (285) – the future looks bright.
“This is a big step for us,” Hayes said. “We’re competing against the upper half of the league and in doing so, we’re moving up.
“Success this week is big. Going against these guys and coming out on top is big. It’s a great springboard for us as we move over to Hoover.’
One of the biggest springboards came at 220 when Cloverleaf’s Kyle Jenkin squared off against Nordonia’s Alex Woicehovich.
Jenkin beat his sophomore counterpart in a dual at the beginning of the season and then lost by a major decision to Woicehovich at the Kenston Invitational.
At the SLT, the rubber match went to Woicehovich with a pin, though the two will likely see each other at the Ashland District.
“This one’s pretty big,” Woicehovich said. “It’s a great way to kick off the sectional.
“With two wins in a row (against Jenkin), it’s great. The sectional should be pretty fun.”
Zach Walker (Copley, 138), Matt Nedolast (Copley, 145), Colin Rininger (Highland, 152), Lazar Vilimonovic (Highland, 160), Adam Kluk (Highland, 170), Isaiah Wheeler (Copley, 182) and Eric Claren (Nordonia, 195) were also named champion.
BATH TWP. - Results Saturday from the 51st annual Suburban League Tournament at Revere High School.
Team standings:1. Wadsworth 224; 2. Nordonia 160.5; 3. Green, Highland 158.5; 5. Revere 100; 6. Copley 90; 7. Tallmadge 59; 8. Cloverleaf 16.
Individual results
106: Gray (W) d. Schaub (G), 6-4; Third: Collica (N) by inj. def. Testa (T); 113: Schleigh (W) d. Doyle (G), 2-0; Third: Juskiw (N) d. M. Vilimonovic (H), 8-7; 120: Zollinger (W) d. Kaminski (G), 6-2, OT; Third: Flynn (R) d. Midock (T), 11-6; 126: Jones (W) d. DeCesare (N), 7-5; Third: Brant (H) p. Ramey (G), 2:15; 132: Squire (W) d. Kunzler (H), 7-1; Third: Tomayko (Cop) d. Peterson (R), 2-0; 138: Walker (Cop) by inj. def. Warstler (W); Third: Codnor (N) m.d. Smith (R), 10-2; 145: Nedolast (Cop) m.d. Gabyak (H), 9-0 ; Third: Roose (R) m.d. Taylor (N), 9-1; 152: Rininger (H) p. Fitzgerald (G), 3:17; Third: Gordon (W) t.f. Paonessa (T), 16-1; 160: L. Vilimonovic (H) d. Edwards (W), 3-0; Third: Khatib (R) p. McCAnn (N), :59; 170: Kluk (H) p. Knipl (W), 3:01: Third: Gladwell (G) d. Fetzer (R), 7-0; 182: Wheeler (Cop) d. Suglio (R), 11-6; Third: Mahaney (G) p. Williams (T), 3:50; 195: Claren (N) m.d. Frisby (W), 13-4; Third: Lewarchick (Cop) d. Zawahri (G), 3-1; 220: Woicehovich (N) p. Jenkin (Clo), 5:16; Third: Spinelli (W) d. Dahlman (G), 6-3; 285: Tavanello (W) p. Kreinbrink (G), 2:55; Third: Rem (N) p. Crowder (H), 3:28.