High school wrestling: Wadsworth's Christopher Earnest joins brother as Ironman All-American

CUYAHOGA FALLS — Move over, brother, you have company. Wadsworth's Christopher Earnest (150 pounds) has always felt the pressure of living up to state champion brother Jordan. On Saturday, the junior joined his big brother as an Ironman All-American when he beat two-time state champion Gavin Brown of Legacy Christian 5-3 to finish seventh at the 27th annual Walsh Ironman. "Like I said earlier, it's pretty much everyone's dream to become an All-American," Chris Earnest said. "I'm kind of in my older brother's shadow. and now I'm making an even bigger shadow for my younger brothers to live up to." The junior became the 20th Grizzly to place at the Ironman and the first since 2018, when Michael North finished fifth. Jordan Earnest was third as a senior and eighth as a junior. "It shows just how hard Ohio really is," Chris Earnest said. "I'm ranked No. 2 in Ohio, and I just placed seventh at a national tournament. That shows how hard the competition is in Ohio compared to everywhere else in the country. It's us, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It's just a constant scrap." While Jaxon Joy (120), Mason Brugh (126) and David Shue (138) finished two rounds from placing, Aaron Ries (285) felt the heartache of just missing the quarterfinals and automatic placing. Ries' day ended against state champion and junior Greco-Roman national champion Ryan Boersma of Mt. Carmel (Ill.). That said, the sophomore took huge strides when he beat Teays Valley state qualifier Joey Thurston 4-2 in the previous round. That's a far cry from his 1-2 district performance as a freshman. "I think this gave him confidence that he's in the mix," Wadsworth coach Clay Wenger said. "Almost placing in a tournament like this should tell him he's right there in terms of the state tournament. I think he showed himself a lot and I think he showed other people, too." Buckeye's Colyn Limbert showed how much mettle he has in losing one round before placement. The sophomore opened with an 11-6 win over state runner-up John Green of Aurora and set up a donnybrook of a match with Christian Forbes of Broken Arrow (Okla.). Forbes came in ranked eighth in the nation, and Limbert gave him all he could handle before falling 3-1. "I'm very proud that I got to the blood round of this tournament," Limbert said. "I came to this tournament and compete with the best in the country and show that I can compete at that level. This is the biggest jump I've made. I beat two of the top kids in Ohio (Green and Perrysburg's Cole Evans) and competed with multiple kids in the country. I just wanted to show them I was at that level." Highland's James Scavuzzo (157), William Scavuzzo (165) and Joey Scally (285) had a short stay Saturday, with all losing two rounds before placement. Buckeye's Eddie Neitenbach (150) also dropped in the same round. "I think it's a good step for them," Hornets coach Tim Maxworthy said. "They can say, 'Hey, I made it to the second day of the Ironman', but the next question would be, 'How did you place?' and they didn't. "That's humbling. I think it shows them either they need to pick it up in the room. They need to drop a weight, but not placing is exactly that. It's not placing." Contact Brad Bournival at bournival929@gmail.com. Results Team standings: 1. Blair Academy (N.J.) 176.5, 2. Malvern Prep (Pa.) 146, 3. Wyoming Seminary (137.0), 4. Stillwater (Okla.) 107.5, 5. Bethlehem Catholic (Pa.) 107, 6. St. Paris Graham 97, 7. Crescent Valley (Ore.) 91.5, 8. Waynesburg Central (Pa.), 85, 9. St. Edward 83.5, 10. Lake Highland Prep (Fla.), 11. Mt. Carmel (Ill.) 70.5 12. Perrysburg 68.5, 13. Liberty 66, 14. Dublin Coffman 65, 15. Aurora, Pomona (Col.) 62, 17. Legacy Christian 57.5, 18. Minisink Valley (N.Y.) 53, 19. New Kent 50, 20. Notre Dame 49.5, 21. Homewood-Flossmoor 49, 22. Massillon Perry 48, 23. Louisville 46.5, 24. Palmetto Ridge (Fla.) 46, 25. Broken Arrow (Okla.) 45.5, 26. Aurora Christian (Ill.) 42.25, 27. Tiffin Columbian, Wadsworth 42, 29. McDonogh (Md.) 41, 30. Caravel Academy (Del.) 40, 62. Highland 17.5, 76. Buckeye 11. 106: Beric Jordan (Gra) d. Nathan Desmond (BC), 6-4, OT; Third: Cooper Hilton (WS) d. Anthony Mutarelli (MP), 3-2; Fifth: Seth Mendoza (MC) d. Christian Forbes (BA), 3-0. Seventh: Deion Johnson (HF) d. Carson Dupill (Gree), 5-0. 113: Marcus Blaze (Per) d. Luke Lilledahl (WS), 3-2; Third: Draegen Orine (Sec) d. Leo DeLuca (BA), 5-2; Fifth: Ethan Rivera (LHP) d. Billy Smith (Per), 5-3; Seventh: Matthew Botello (Hin) d. Wyatt Richter, 9-2. 120: Marc-Anthony McGowan (Bla) d. Ben Davino, 5-2; Third: Zan Fugitt (Nix) d. Dillon Campbell (LC), 3-0; Fifth: Brandon Cannon (Pon) d. Peyton Fenton (Ely), 1-0; Seventh: Brendan McCrone (LC) d. Jack Consiglio (MP), 3-0. 126: Vincent Robinson (HF) d. Kanon Webster (Was), 5-3; Third: Sergio Lemley (MC) d. Nick O'Neill (MP), 8-7; Fifth: Gabe Whisenhunt (CV) p. Dante Frinzi (BC), 3:33; Seventh: J.J. McComas (Sti) by ff. over Clay Giddens (Bix). 132: Nasir Bailey (HF) p. Mac Church (Way), 6:27; Third: Braden Basile (TJ) d. Spencer Barnhart (MP), 5-4; Fifth: Ty Wilson (DS) d. Chris Martino (BK), 4-2; Seventh: Pablo Castro (Lou) by inj. def. Joshua Neiwert (GSP). 138: Tyler Kasek (BC) by inj. def. P.J. Duke (MV); Third: Brennan Van Hoecke (PR) d. Nate Burnett (Ely), 3-2; Fifth: Paul Ognissanti (BA) d. Sam Cartella (WRA), 4-2; Seventh: Tom Crook (TJ) d. Dy'Vaire VanDyke (WJ), 3-2. 144: Ladarion Lockett (Sti) d. Kyle Dutton (Lib), 6-4; Third: Danny Nini (LHP) d. Kal Miller (PH), 1-0; Fifth: Joey Blaze (Per) d. Ethan Birden (DC), 5-1; Seventh: Colin Dupill (Gree) d. Weston Dalton (PE), 4-3. 150: Daniel Cardenas (Pom) m.d. Richard Fedalen (McD), 10-1; Third: Derek Raike (PP) d. Kael Voinovich (Sti), 11-5; Fifth: Braden Stauffenberg (AC) d. Carson Miller (PR), 3-0; Seventh: Chris Earnest (Wad) d. Gavin Brown (LC), 5-3. 157: Angelo Ferrari (Sti) d. Logan Ours (BL), 6-5, 3OT; Third: Zackary Ryder (MV) d. Murphy Menke (Pon), 3-1; Fifth: Connor Euton (WN) d. Nick Vafiadis (NK), 6-3; Seventh: Brendon Abdon (LG) d. Alex Poore, 5-4. 165: Rocco Welsh (Way) d. Lorenzo Norman (BA),1-0; Third: Dom Baker (NK) d. Tyler Lillard (Aur), 6-1; Fifth: Jonathan Ley (LHP) d. Evan Bennett (SE), 6-3; Seventh: Dez Gartrell (DC) d. Carter Schubert (WS), 2-1, UTB. 175: Brody Conley (TC) d. James Rowley (CV), 4-2; Third: Luke Geog (SE) d. Daniel Wask (BA), 5-2; Fifth: Gage Wright (PS) by ff. Gabe Arnold (WS); Seventh: Braden Welch (Ash) p. Daniel Williams (LHP), 4:04. 190: Dylan Fishback (Aur) d. Rylan Rogers (CA), 3-1; Third: Hayden Walters (CV) d. Seth Shumate (DC), 3-2, UTB; Fifth: Stephen Little (UC) d. Blake Schaffer (Lou), 11-4; Seventh: Jude Correa (WS) by inj. def. Andrew Donahue (Lib). 215: Thomas Stewart (BA) d. Logan Shepherd (Per), 7-3; Third: Jack Darrah (WS) d. Max Shulaw (SFD), 6-2, OT; Fifth: Carter Neves (Gra) d. Kyle Snider (CVCA), 5-2; Seventh: Parker Ferrell (Chri) p. Luke MacDonald (Ben), 2:01. 285: Nick Feldman (MP) m.d. Kolby Franklin (WS), 15-6; Third: Matthew Moore (MR) p. Nolan Neves (Gra), 4:40; Fifth: Ryan Boersma (MC) m.d. Noah Tustin (WC), 13-2; Seventh: Aiden Lacoma (Chr) d. Aidan Fockler (Per), 9-2.