High school wrestling: Brunswick beats Keystone in 'dual at the school'

BRUNSWICK — The Brunswick wrestling team rang in the dual portion of its schedule with a 45-31 non-league victory over defending Lorain County League champion Keystone on Wednesday afternoon. In a showcase dubbed the "Dual in the School," the Blue Devils dominated the early weights the event that took place during the school hours. The stands were filled with students coming to watch during lunch and study hall periods in a unique environment that included cheerleaders and one fan dressed up as Santa Claus. With more students on hand than usual, the crowd was into the event and added to the environment. "Not a lot of people know the craft of wrestling and the work that goes into it," Brunswick's Eddie Skiba said. "Brunswick High School's student section came out and really showed support today. I thought that meant a lot — not just for us but the coaches." It did not take long for Skiba to initiate a new tradition for coach Greg Seigler's bunch when he pinned Keystone freshman Owen Jerkins with 6 seconds left in the first period of the afternoon's first contested match. After Skiba returned to the bench, his teammates and coaches encouraged the 120-pound sophomore to run behind the chairs set up matside and ring a gong sitting in a corner of the gym. Skiba is one of three returning district qualifiers for the Blue Devils, coming up one match short of qualifying for the state tournament last season before placing sixth at 106 pounds of the Perrysburg Division I District. He came up in weight for the match against Jerkins. "Coming into today, I really wasn't expecting to wrestle," Skiba said. "I'm usually at 113 or 106 for the state or big tournaments. Other than that, I didn't really have an issue today." Older brother Vinny Skiba, a junior, did not wrestle Wednesday but is a returning district qualifier. Junior Dominic May is the final returning district qualifier and took the team's fourth and final forfeit victory at 215. Eddie Skiba was the first of three Blue Devils that got to ring the gong, the reward for picking up a pin. The last was 138-pound senior Owen Tarnai, who pinned freshman Jameson Bryant in 1:36. Tarnai's win gave Brunswick a 33-0 lead and guaranteed victory, as the Blue Devils still had two forfeits to come. "I went out there with a good mindset and confident I was going to win the match, but I didn't think I wrestled as good as I should have," Tarnai said. "I still went out there, got the win and got more points for the team. "The lighterweights fought hard, got almost all pins and really helped the team today." Between Skiba and Tarnai, Dante Mendise earned a 5-1 decision over Jonathan Tilley and freshman Brayden Miles pinned Cooper Graham at 126 and 132, respectively. "We did what we had to do to get the win," Eddie Skiba said. "We talked in the locker room about not getting content with a lead and that was a big focus for me. Against better kids, I need to keep scoring points and that was the mindset." The Blue Devils hope they can continue to build momentum as they head into a non-league double dual with host Highland and Midview on Dec. 22. "As a team, we still have some things to work on," Tarnai said. "It's a young team and we still have time to improve, but for right now we're pretty good." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Brunswick 45, Keystone 31 106 — Sean Gamer (B) ff. 113 — Nick Petrakos (B) ff. 120 — Eddie Skiba (B) p. Owen Jerkins, 1:54. 126 — Dante Mendise (B) d. Jonathan Tilley, 5-1. 132 — Brayden Miles (B) p. Cooper Graham, 1:57. 138 — Owen Tarnai (B) p. Jameson Bryant, 1:36. 144 — Diego Moralez (K) d. Trevor Austin, 5-0. 150 — Paul Horton (K) m.d. Devin McCartin, 11-3. 157 — Tristin Greene (K) p. Kyle Austin, 3:44. 165 — Jonathan Gould (K) p. Yuriy Borys, 2:45. 175 — Dante Ortiz (K) p. Zach McRea, 1:24. 190 — Devin Horay (B) ff. 215 — Dominic May (B) ff. 285 — Jordan Folmer (K) p. Dominic Jones, 3:59.