High school wrestling: Wadsworth places fourth in state duals

LAKEWOOD — The Wadsworth wrestling team does not have its lunch money taken away often. On Saturday, it happened twice during a fourth-place finish at the Division I State Duals. After opening with a convincing 63-3 win over seventh-seeded Mason, the second-seeded Grizzlies dropped a 33-26 heartbreaker to third-seeded Brecksville to fall to the consolation final. Wadsworth battled the entire way but fell 34-31 to fourth-seeded Dublin Coffman in a third-place showdown that went down to the last match. Top-seeded St. Edward beat the Bees 38-22 in the final. "It's always a big learning curve," 170-pound senior Logan Messer said. "It always shows that we have stuff to work on. It's going to drive us a lot because none of us like the feeling of losing, so our competitive insides will push us. It's better to take these losses now so you can get the shock out of the way and win the state title later." That's the way many wrestlers took the slip up against the best of the best the state has to offer. Instead of looking for excuses, there were things to be learned after Mikey Lewarchick (126 pounds) took a nasty bump to the head and Mason Brugh (113) walked out of the St. Edward match banged up. "We saw good things, but we have three or four weeks with a lot to work on," Wadsworth coach Clay Wenger said. "We have to get ready for our sectional and the postseason. It happens. We'll see how we respond." If seasons past are indicators, expect the Grizzlies (21-3) to come back grumpy and dominate. "It's going to help us a lot because we're going to see this type of competition at sectional, district and state," 106-pounder Jaxon Joy said. "It's good to see them now, so it's not a surprise. We improved a lot. We can learn from what we did wrong and build on what we did right." Joy, Chris Earnest (132), Messer and Coen Grimm (220) were the only Grizzlies to win all three of their matches. "Obviously, we're competing against the best kids in the state," Grimm said. "We had unfortunate losses to Brecksville and Coffman, but our motto is to keep moving forward and keep wrestling through adversity." The glass-half-empty outlook is the Grizzlies took one on the chin. The glass-half-full outlook is Wadsworth got a sneak peek at what the state individual tournament will be like. "It's better to get these matches out of the way now than it is in March," Messer said. "If you take a loss now, it helps with the shock later. I took a loss last week (at the Grizzly Invitational,) and now I realize the traditions I want to keep with and what I want to change in my warmup. When you lose, you kind of focus on what you have to do right. It helps you focus a lot." Expect that focus to be laser sharp during the second season as Wadsworth turns its eyes to winning another state title. "This prepares us for the postseason," Wenger said. "That's why we do these things and compete against the best teams we can. We know it will help us at the end." Contact Brad Bournival at bournival929@gmail.com. Division I State DualsChampionshipSt. Edward 38, Brecksville 22106: Ryan Bennett (S) p. Brett Stanley, 1:23; 113: Wyatt (S) d. Chase Pluhar, 7-3; 120: Sean Seefeldt (S) d. Kaden Jett, 3-1, 3OT; 126: Brock Herman (B) p. Patrick Andosik, 1:19; 132: Richard Delsanter (S) m.d. Manny Scordos, 19-8; 138: James Bronstrup (B) p. Dan Tome, 1:17; 145: Kael Voinovich (B) d. Thomas West, 2-1; 152: Victor Voinovich (B) d. Evan Bennett, 7-2; 160: Paddy Gallagher (S) p. Carter Lloyd, 2:57; 170: Luke Geog (S) m.d. Luke Vanadia, 9-1; 182: Hudson Hightower (S) d. Anthony Rizzo, 6-0; 195: Aris Dashiel (S) d. Max Vanadia, 6-0; 220: Ben Vanadia (B) m.d. Jonny Slaper, 19-9; 285: Michael Kilband (S) p. Kirk Doskicil, :32; Records: St. Edward (14-1), Brecksville (17-3).Third placeDublin Coffman 34, Wadsworth 31106: Jaxon Joy (W) t.f. Joseph Baumann, 20-4; 113: Omar Ayoub (C) d. Mason Brugh, 5-3; 120: Kaden Mellon (W) p. Rahul Raghuram, 2:58; 126: Ismael Ayoub (C) by ff.; 132: Chris Earnest (W) d. Ethan Birden, 3-0; 138: James Baumann (C) p. David Shue, 3:05; 145: Landen Hacker (W) p. Noah Huth, 1:05; 152: Nick Humphrys (W) d. Rupert Moore, 5-1; 160: Dez Gartrell (C) m.d. Logan Scandlon, 17-8; 170: Logan Messer (W) t.f. Casey Magyar, 15-0; 182: Mitchell Broskie (C) p. Jamisen Jackson, 3:24; 195: Seth Shumate (C) p. Maverick Blackburn, :42; 220: Coen Grimm (W) d. Michael Blocher, 9-3; 285: Riley Ucker (C) d. Aaron Ries, 5-1.Records: Wadsworth (21-3), Dublin Coffman (21-3).SemifinalBrecksville 33, Wadsworth 26106: Joy (W) t.f. Stanley, 18-3; 113: Brugh (W) m.d. Pluhar, 10-2; 120: Jett (B) d. Mellon, 11-8; 126: Herman (B) by med. def. Lewarchick; 132: Earnest (W) m.d. Scordos, 11-2; 138: Bronstrup (B) d. Shue, 5-1; 145: K. Voinovich (B) d. Hacker, 5-1; 152: V. Voinovich (B) t.f. Humphrys, 28-10; 160: Lloyd (B) m.d. Scandlon, 14-5; 170: Messer (W) d. L. Vanadia, 7-1; 182: Rizzo (B) d. Jackson, 5-3; 195: List (W) t.f. M. Vanadia, 15-0; 220: B. Vanadia (B) p. Grimm, 4:55; 285: Ries (W) p. Doskicil, :29. Records: Wadsworth (21-2), Brecksville (17-2)Other scoreSt. Edward 45, Coffman 21QuarterfinalsWadsworth 63, Mason 3106: Joy (W) t.f. Ethan Pickens, 18-1; 113: Brugh (W) p. Noah Lippeatt, 2:55; 120: Mellon (W) p. Logan Kopler, 4:29; 126: Lewarchick (W) d. Dominic DiTullio, 5-4; 132: Earnest (W) m.d Sam Libby, 12-0; 138: Shue (W) p. Nathan Werner, 1:47; 145: Hacker (W) p. Julner Waldon, 1:55; 152: Humphrys (W) d. Nolan Fitz, 8-1; 160: Scandlon (W) d. Nathan D'Agostino, 7-6; 170: Messer (W) p. Korey Shea, :55; 182: Jackson (W) p. Carson Downs, :14; 195: Owen Amburgey (M) d. List, 8-6; 220: Grimm (W) p. Jared Glover, 4:49; 285: Ries (W) d. Dillon Walker, 7-2. Records: Wadsworth (21-1), Mason (23-3).Other scores:Brecksville 44, LaSalle 18St. Edward 58, Marysville 13Dublin Coffman 51, Elyria 15Consolation roundsMarysville 46, Elyria 29LaSalle 42, Mason 36