GREEN: Wadsworth continued its reign over foes Saturday in the Suburban League Wrestling Tournament.
The Grizzlies won eight of the 14 individual titles and earned the team championship with 230 points at Green. The victory marks the 21st season in a row that Wadsworth has won the Suburban League outright or shared the title.
“I am real proud of the kids,” Wadsworth coach John Gramuglia said. “We were not as emotionally high, but we just wrestled very solid and stayed within ourselves. We put on a show in the final. We had 10 in the finals and had eight champs. ... Overall, we had 13 place out of 14.”
Nordonia finished second in the team standings with 173.5 points, and Green was third with 110.5 points.
Freshman Noah Baughman won Wadsworth’s first title Saturday on a 7-6 decision over Nordonia freshman Tony DeCesare at 106 pounds.
Green junior Chris Doyle won 5-0 at 113 over Cloverleaf freshman Greg Briggs.
The Grizzlies then won five out of the next six weight classes, with sophomore Connor Gray, freshman Darrin Gilkerson, senior Mathias Zollinger senior Abdulhabib Abdulhabib and junior Robbie Bosley triumphing.
“It is just so rewarding after I win to look up and see my family’s support, and support from my coaches and teammates,” Zollinger said. “They are all there for me. I am just so thankful for that.
“I had to wrestle smart and not make stupid mistakes. I just listened to all the coach’s rules that he makes about wrestling a smart match. We have a board that we have a list of 10 rules on, work the boundaries and get back points early, stuff like.”
Gray decisioned Green sophomore Noah Schaub 5-3 at 120, Gilkerson topped Nordonia junior Trevon Berry 4-3 at 126, Zollinger defeated Nordonia junior Mike DeCesare 12-6 at 138, Abdulhabib bested Nordonia junior Jake Urich 7-5 at 145 and Bosley beat Copley junior DJ Heap 3-2 at 152.
“Everyone has been working hard to win this tournament,” Abdulhabib said. “I lost to that kid earlier in the season, and I just have been working hard in practice. This whole week at practice I have been focusing on what I did wrong and how to get better from that match.”
Cloverleaf junior Marc Heidelman won 5-2 over Nordonia junior Heath Phillibert at 132.
Revere sophomore Zeck Lehman scored a 9-7 victory over Wadsworth sophomore Shane Mast at 160.
“He beat me earlier in the season, so I knew what he was going to go for,” Lehman said. “I just tied it up and tried to limit the points at the beginning so I could wear him out in the third period. When I had my opportunities I took them.”
Wadsworth’s final two champions were sophomore Timmy Knipl and senior Daryk Maki. Knipl beat Revere junior Ahmad Khatib 10-7 at 170 and Maki topped Green senior Mark Dahlman 1-0 at 285.
“He got a big early jump on me [and led 4-0 after one period],” Knipl said. “I didn’t want to rush it and get myself in an even worse position, so I just tried to take a little bit away from his lead at a time and it ended up working.”
Revere senior Stephen Suglio won 7-2 over Nordonia junior Eric Claren at 182.
“I just went out there and tried to control the ties,” Suglio said. “When I got him out on that slide-by by throwing the arm back, I got a takedown and I started to open up a bit more and gain more confidence.”
Highland senior Adam Kluk and Nordonia junior Alex Woicehovich both won by pin.
“I just tried to come out and get some points right away, and see where the match took me,” said Kluk, who pinned Tallmadge senior Jacob Wiegand in 1:00 at 195.
Woicehovich pinned Wadsworth senior Chris George in 1:33 at 220.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
