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By David Lee Morgan Jr.
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 10:56 p.m. EST, Feb 06, 2010
GARFIELD HEIGHTS: There was no question that Twinsburg was all about business today at the Northeast Ohio Conference wrestling tournament.
The Tigers had six wrestlers battling for a championship and four came away as individual conference champions as well as winning the Valley Division and the overall conference championship with 195.5 points.
Medina won the River Division with 143.5 points and Cuyahoga Falls won the Lake Division (131.0).
''We had a black cloud over our head in some of the dual meets this year, so we came in to try to get through all of that and show we're definitely good enough to win [the championship],'' Twinsburg coach Dave Mariola said.
Junior Mike Labry started things off for Twinsburg by winning the 119-pound weight class, defeating Matt Yurkovich of North Royalton.
Labry avenged a loss to Yurkovich in December.
''It was early in the season and I knew I would get better,'' Labry said.
Labry's dad, Mark Labry, an assistant coach, said he knew his son would be ready.
''Mike had trouble with his weight,'' Mark Labry said. ''He dropped down from 138 to 119 and he had trouble with his weight but he's been progressing. What counts is what's coming up in two weeks [sectionals] , but you want to see the progression.''
Twinsburg senior Waquiem Comar won the 152 championship defeating Medina junior Teddy Hammer 11-5.
Comar was in control right from the start and looked comfortable and confident the entire match.
''I just wanted to come in and have fun,'' said Comar, who finished third in the state last year at 140. ''I didn't want to be nervous. I hear a lot of what people are saying instead of using my own judgment sometimes so that gets me nervous.''
After winning the championship, Comar sat on the mat next to his coaches to watch teammate and senior Chet Bissell battle Cuyahoga Falls senior Tyler Tesny in the 160-pound championship.
The score was tied 2-2 at the end of the first period and Tesny led 3-2 heading into the third period.
With 18 seconds left and down 6-5, Bissell scored two points on a reversal to win 7-6.
''This was the first guy I've wrestled of state caliber since Brecksville and that was [late] December,'' Bissell said. ''Plus, I was out three or four weeks because of an injury and I've been back for two weeks, so it took me awhile to get going. All I kept thinking about was 'I gotta win.' ''
And Twinsburg senior Drew Rader claimed the 189 championship by defeating Jason Gott of Elyria 12-9.
''We came in with a positive attitude,'' Rader said. ''We had to come in and make a mark to let everyone know who we are.''
After finishing third last year at the NOC championship, Medina junior Mike Griffith expected to improve on that performance from a year ago and he did.
Griffith defeated Anthony Collica of Solon 5-2 to win the 112 title.
''There are a lot of kids here who I will see in sectionals so it's great to see where I'm at before we get to the do-or-die,'' said Griffith, referring to the sectionals. Last year, Griffith finished sixth at districts.
Nordonia senior Mike Benson finished second at 145, losing a close decision to Parma Normandy's Michael Travagliante by a 5-4 margin. It was tied at 4 but Travagliante scored with less than 30 seconds left.
Twinsburg junior Del Vinas finished third at 112 and teammate and sophomore Michael Baker finished second at 171.
Medina sophomore Matt Hammer finished second at 130 losing 7-1 to Dan Yurkovich of North Royalton.
And in the 275 class, Stow senior Nick Rajcsak defeated Twinsburg senior Brandon Bucknell 5-1 to improve to 31-1.
''We're big boys and we get tired in the third period, so I just try to wear my opponent down,'' Rajcsak said.
David Lee Morgan Jr. can be reachedat dlmorgan@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Varsity Letters high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
GARFIELD HEIGHTS: There was no question that Twinsburg was all about business today at the Northeast Ohio Conference wrestling tournament.
The Tigers had six wrestlers battling for a championship and four came away as individual conference champions as well as winning the Valley Division and the overall conference championship with 195.5 points.
Medina won the River Division with 143.5 points and Cuyahoga Falls won the Lake Division (131.0).
''We had a black cloud over our head in some of the dual meets this year, so we came in to try to get through all of that and show we're definitely good enough to win [the championship],'' Twinsburg coach Dave Mariola said.
Junior Mike Labry started things off for Twinsburg by winning the 119-pound weight class, defeating Matt Yurkovich of North Royalton.
Labry avenged a loss to Yurkovich in December.
''It was early in the season and I knew I would get better,'' Labry said.
Labry's dad, Mark Labry, an assistant coach, said he knew his son would be ready.
''Mike had trouble with his weight,'' Mark Labry said. ''He dropped down from 138 to 119 and he had trouble with his weight but he's been progressing. What counts is what's coming up in two weeks [sectionals] , but you want to see the progression.''
Twinsburg senior Waquiem Comar won the 152 championship defeating Medina junior Teddy Hammer 11-5.
Comar was in control right from the start and looked comfortable and confident the entire match.
''I just wanted to come in and have fun,'' said Comar, who finished third in the state last year at 140. ''I didn't want to be nervous. I hear a lot of what people are saying instead of using my own judgment sometimes so that gets me nervous.''
After winning the championship, Comar sat on the mat next to his coaches to watch teammate and senior Chet Bissell battle Cuyahoga Falls senior Tyler Tesny in the 160-pound championship.
The score was tied 2-2 at the end of the first period and Tesny led 3-2 heading into the third period.
With 18 seconds left and down 6-5, Bissell scored two points on a reversal to win 7-6.
''This was the first guy I've wrestled of state caliber since Brecksville and that was [late] December,'' Bissell said. ''Plus, I was out three or four weeks because of an injury and I've been back for two weeks, so it took me awhile to get going. All I kept thinking about was 'I gotta win.' ''
And Twinsburg senior Drew Rader claimed the 189 championship by defeating Jason Gott of Elyria 12-9.
''We came in with a positive attitude,'' Rader said. ''We had to come in and make a mark to let everyone know who we are.''
After finishing third last year at the NOC championship, Medina junior Mike Griffith expected to improve on that performance from a year ago and he did.
Griffith defeated Anthony Collica of Solon 5-2 to win the 112 title.
''There are a lot of kids here who I will see in sectionals so it's great to see where I'm at before we get to the do-or-die,'' said Griffith, referring to the sectionals. Last year, Griffith finished sixth at districts.
Nordonia senior Mike Benson finished second at 145, losing a close decision to Parma Normandy's Michael Travagliante by a 5-4 margin. It was tied at 4 but Travagliante scored with less than 30 seconds left.
Twinsburg junior Del Vinas finished third at 112 and teammate and sophomore Michael Baker finished second at 171.
Medina sophomore Matt Hammer finished second at 130 losing 7-1 to Dan Yurkovich of North Royalton.
And in the 275 class, Stow senior Nick Rajcsak defeated Twinsburg senior Brandon Bucknell 5-1 to improve to 31-1.
''We're big boys and we get tired in the third period, so I just try to wear my opponent down,'' Rajcsak said.
David Lee Morgan Jr. can be reachedat dlmorgan@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Varsity Letters high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
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