High school wrestling: Black River heavyweight Cooper McKean wins LCL title

SHEFFIELD — Black River senior Cooper McKean felt the joy of winning a Lorain County League championship during his sophomore season. He felt the agony of not being able to compete last year when he was injured during the event and couldn't take the mat for the final. McKean knew which feeling he preferred Saturday, shaking off an early takedown by Keystone's Justin Rounds, quickly taking the lead and pinning the Wildcats heavyweight in under a minute. "I just took a bad shot and he countered off that," McKean said. "There's definitely (a rivalry) with Keystone because we've been wrestling a lot. We faced each other last year, too, and we've wrestled several times since then. I just wanted to make sure I stay undefeated against him." Pirates coach Blake Owen liked the way McKean kept his composure after going down by two points early in the match. "I was real proud of how he handled the early setback," Owen said. "Early in the year, he got down on himself if someone got a takedown on him. But he stayed with it, came right back and ended up getting the win." Black River had three other wrestlers advance to the finals. Tristyn Herrick was pinned with eight seconds left in the 132-pound final, Mason Koberna lost 10-6 at 150 and Colton Moskal was pinned late in the first period at 215. "(Herrick and Koberna) are both sophomores, and they've been solid ever since they came up from junior high," Owen said. "I'm really looking for big things from them and I think going into sectionals, the way they're wrestling right now, I think they could advance to the district tournament for sure." Moskal is just a freshman, while sophomore Maddox Mitchell (third at 126), freshman Kayden Hendershot (fourth at 157) and sophomore Dozier Hendershot (fourth at 175) all ended up on the podium as well. "Definitely our whole program is young except for (McKean) and one other junior," Owen said. "We have a lot of talented young kids, and I'm really excited for the next couple of years." While McKean lamented the missed opportunity to be a three-time LCL champion, he believes the conference has provided the level of competition that will help him return to the Division III state tournament for the second straight season. "I think (the LCL) helps me a lot because there are some heavyweights that have state potential," he said. Contact Shaun Bennett at (440) 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on X. Results Standings: 1. Keystone 204, 2. Columbia 131, 3. Firelands 124.5, 4. Clearview 117.5, 5. Black River 108, 6. Brookside 74, 7. Wellington 67, 8. Oberlin 31.5. 106 — Michael Frye (Col) p. Ian Sippos-Sutton (W), 3:07. THIRD: Nazir Omer (Brooks) d. Anaiyah Campbell (F), 16-14 (SV). 113 — Rushi Patel (Col) p. Sylvester Montanez (Clear), 5:04. THIRD: Trevor Taylor (Brooks) m.d. Alex Lewis (W), 11-0. 120 — Andrew Sorenson (Col) p. Owen Jerkins (K), 1:08. THIRD: Isaiah Gonzalez (W) p. Dane Vanderpool (F), 4:45. 126 — D'Mari Campbell (F) def. Isaiah Garcia (Clear) by inj. default. THIRD: Maddox Mitchell (BR) p. Luke Walls (Brooks), 2:40. 132 — Daren Aslaksen (F) p. Tristyn Herrick (BR), 5:52. THIRD: Domonik Warner (K) p. Tommy Boyer (O), 4:55. 138 — Shawn Moore (Brooks) d. Dominic Rodriguez (Clear), 6-5. THIRD: Micah Comito (K) p. Quinn Jackson (O), :55. 144 — Paul Horten (K) p. Shea Fuller (Col), :44. THIRD: Austin Sutherland (W) p. Israel Viera (Clear), 5:51. 150 — Kase Rogers (F) d. Mason Koberna (BR), 10-6. THIRD: Jameson Bryant (K) p. Jon McDonald (Clear), 4:49. 157 — Tristin Greene (K) p. Josiah Longo (Clear), 3:24. THIRD: Baron Turner (W) p. Kayden Hendershot (BR), 4:41. 165 — Bryan Jones (Col) p. Leland Colon (K), 1:35. THIRD: Ethan Gifford (Clear) p. Emanuel Mitchell (W), 8-1. 175 — Dante Ortiz (K) d. Connor McConeghy (O), 14-7. THIRD: Liam Varndell (F) d. Dozier Hendershot (BR), 11-4. 190 — Jonathan Gould (K) d. Greg O'Hern (Clear), 4-0. THIRD: Clifford Stull (F) p. Leeland Zeiger (Col), 4:30. 215 — Jordan Folmer (K) p. Colton Moskal (BR), 1:57. THIRD: Jaxon Llado (Brooks) p. Alex Andrews (Col), 1:00. 285 — Cooper McKean (BR) p. Justin Rounds (K), :59. THIRD: Patrick Geist (F) p. Braden Bowen (Brooks), 1:32.