High school wrestling: Buckeye outlasts Aurora, St. Vincent-St. Mary for sectional crown

BEACHWOOD — Maybe wrestling teams came after Buckeye because they didn't know how good the Bucks really were. Maybe the reasoning was the Norwalk Division II District is arguably a bit easier than Perry. Whatever the motivation, teams jumped at the Beachwood Sectional in the seeding meeting but found out what most already knew. Buckeye isn't just good. The Bucks are very good, and they proved so by winning a sectional that included third-ranked Aurora and fifth-ranked St. Vincent-St. Mary. Both looked up at Buckeye at the top after it had five sectional champions, 12 district qualifiers and two district alternates. "I'm excited because these guys put a lot of work in," Bucks coach Mike Tecco said. "We've been telling them since youth that this is what we're capable of doing and they're buying in. This is the first step of where we want to be in three weeks. "It's that hard work and mentality. When we step on the mat, we own the mat. We will take anyone that challenges us and we will rise up to that challenge. I think the kids did a good job of doing that today." Eddie Neitenbach (138 pounds), Trevor Badiu (152), Ryan Steppenbacker (160), Dillon Badiu (170) and Todd Allen (285) took home titles. Colyn Limbert (106), Logan Cravatas (113), Preston DiMarco (145) and Caleb Chipgus (195) finished second. Add district qualifiers Eddie Pinc (3rd, 126), Joe Maitland (3rd, 182) and Nick Brunst (4th, 120), along with alternates Arthur Vogt-Pimm (138) and Mark Stanton (220), and it was a red-letter day for the Bucks. It was also the first time in school history Buckeye won back-to-back sectional team titles. "That's exactly what we were shooting for," Trevor Badiu said. "We haven't been this good in a while, but we prepared for that early in the season. We work that hard in the practice room. We really work harder than anyone else." That logic is hard to dispute considering the five champions were more than second-place Aurora (3) and third-place St. Vincent-St. Mary (3) and their 12 qualifiers was equal to the Greenmen and two more than the Fighting Irish. That came in an 11-team field that had 18 state-ranked individuals, two projected state champions and two state runners-up. "That means a lot more than we can ever imagine," Steppenbacker said. "Our team worked our butts off for it. It's a major accomplishment. That's going to help us next week for better seedings. It will help push us high for state." The way the Bucks did it was a testament to strength as well. The lightweights for Buckeye have gotten a ton of attention and for good reason. The Bucks did well against Aurora and St. Vincent-St. Mary, which are loaded at the bottom as well. After the first seven weights wrestled in the morning session, Buckeye had one champion and six district qualifiers, but trailed Aurora by 20 points. The Bucks made up that difference after one round in the afternoon. They had the lead by the next round and rolled through the rest of the way. "We called them out at the break," Tecco said. "We told them the lightweights set the tone and if we want to win this tournament it was up to them. We challenged them to have more champs than the first session and have more placers. We said it was up to them. We put it on their shoulders and they responded better than I could expect." That the upper weights rose to the challenge showed just how seasoned they were at a sectional where every match mattered if Buckeye wanted a team title. "We were ready," Allen said. "Coach said to just go out there and do what we do. We've been waiting three weeks for this and it showed. We dug ourselves out of a 20-point hole and went out there and kicked butt." Contact Brad Bournival at bournival929@gmail.com. Norwalk D-II District Team standings: 1. Buckeye 260, 2. Aurora 226.5, 3. St. Vincent-St. Mary 182.5, 4. Bay 126.5, 5. Rocky River 87, 6. Orange 75, 7. Benedictine 68, 8. Chagrin Falls 50.5, 9. Beachwood 44, 10. Chaney 31, 11. Warrensville Heights 28. Individual results (top 4 advance to Norwalk District) 106: Codie Cuerbo (Aur) p. Colyn Limbert (Buc), 1:38; Third: Christian Osborne (STVM) t.f. Anthony Rocco (Bay), 15-0; 113: Kenneth Crosby (STVM) d. Logan Cravatas (Buc), 13-6; Third: Robbie Sagaris (Aur) t.f. Harrison Fritz (CF), 16-0; 120: Dierre Clayton (STVM) p. Antwan Sagaris (Aur), 1;17; Third: Ryan Maloney (RR) p. Nick Brunst (Buc), :36; 126: Te'Andre Allen (Ora) m.d. Shane Cheatham (Aur), 10-0; Third: Eddie Pinc (Buc) d. Bryce Skinner (STVM), 6-1: 132: Elliott Alessia (STVM) m.d. Shareef Williams (Ben), 10-0; Third: Bo Dijulius (Aur) t.f. Quinn Sanfillipo (Bay), 20-4; Fifth: Arthur Vogt-Pimm (Buc) d. Ronan Fritz, 7-5; 138: Eddie Neitenbach (Buc) p. Jacob Dolan (Ben), :50; Third: Kyle Bizjak (Aur) d. Joshua Greenwood (Bea), 14-8; 145: Nic Willingham (Aur) t.f. Preston DiMarco (Buc), 17-2; Third: Tyson Seig (STVM) d. Nicholas Abounader (Ben), 8-3; 152: Trevor Badiu (Buc) d. Ashton Smith (Aur), 5-2; Third: Sam Partain (CF) t.f. Calvin Gwinn (STVM), 21-5; 160: Ryan Steppenbacker (Buc) d. Mitchell Copley (Aur), 7-3; Third: Eric Steckner (Bea) by ff. Omar Abazied (RR); 170: Trevor Badiu (Buc) m.d. Ryan Price (STVM), 17-5; Third: Jack Hildebrand (Bay) by ff. Carl Bartlett (Aur); 182: Griffin Novotny (Bay) d. Grant Bell (Ora), 7-2; Third: Joe Maitland (Buc) p. Owen McClintock (CF), 2:26; 195: Dylan Fishback (Aur) p. Caleb Chipgus (Buc), :15; Third: Mark Stankorb (Chan) by med. def. Fred Berland (Ora); 220: Mason Cover (Bay) d. Bryson Getz (STVM), 4-2; Third: Ronald Williams (Ben) p. Quinn Gorman (Aur), :49; Fifth: Mark Stanton (Buc) p. John Sadiku (RR), 2:22; 285: Todd Allen (Buc) p. Dakarai Johnson (WH), 2:51; Third: Andy VanScoy (STVM) d. Uzonna Nzekwe (Bea), 1-0.