High school wrestling: Black River's Cooper McKean takes sectional crown

BEACHWOOD — Cooper McKean keeps piling up pins, and now he can add a sectional championship to his trophy case. The Black River senior brought home his first sectional title and secured his 90th career pin in the process, winning both his matches at the Beachwood Division III Sectional on Saturday. McKean will take a No. 1 seed into the Independence District, which begins Friday. "I felt I wrestled really good today," McKean said. "Knowing that if I made it to districts, I'd be a four-time district qualifier, I knew I had to place high so I can make it. It feels great. I've just got to get more confident on my shots, but all the work that I put in throughout the year is all coming together this season." McKean didn't need much time on the mat, winning his semifinal against St. John's Dalton Nellis with a pin in just 15 seconds. He needed 1:13 to pin Lorain County League-mate Ben Bowling of Columbia. McKean enters the district tournament with a 35-7 record, which matches his win total from last season, and is seeking his second straight bid to the state tournament. McKean also is three pins away from the school record of 92 held by Travis Owen. "Cooper is starting to peak at the end of the season," Black River coach Blake Owen said. "He only got to wrestle twice today, but he's wrestling solid and I love going into the district with a first-place seed. I just can't wait to see what happens next weekend." Black River had seven district qualifiers, which helped the Pirates to 125 points and a fourth-place finish among the 15 teams. The Pirates' six other qualifiers all wrestled for third, with Mason Koberna (150) bringing home the only win with a 10-9 decision against Mentor Lake Catholic's Michael Valentino. Landyn Herrick (106), Maddox Mitchell (126), Kayden Hendershot (157), Dozier Hendershot (175) and Colton Moskal (215) took fourth. Jackson Brewer wrestled for fifth at 165 but was pinned by Jake Vitron of Independence. "I'm really, really proud of the guys today," Blake Owen said. "Coming in early in the week, I thought we'd get six or seven out, but then the seedings came out and I was really second guessing myself. They showed up today. I was really impressed with how they wrestled today." Contact Chris Sweeney at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Results Standings: 1. Lake Catholic 203, 2. Manchester 183, 3. Trinity 133, 4. Black River 125, 5. Mogadore 123.5, 6. Cuyahoga Heights 113, 7. Chagrin Falls 100.5, 8. Rittman 98, 9. Columbia 92, 10. Independence 78, 11. Ashtabula St. John, 75, 12. Beachwood 46, 13. Oberlin 24, 13. Cleveland Central Catholic 24, 15. Columbiana 0. 106 — Derion Williams (T) d. Michael Frye (Columbia), 2-1, THIRD: Chance Wuhr (LC) p. Landyn Herrick (BR), 0:54, FIFTH: Mikael Edwards (Beach) d. Landen Morris (Man), 12-8. 113 — Ethan Ansel (Man) p. Hassaun Sibley (T), 1:41, THIRD: Mitch Meyer (I) ff. Rushi Patel (Columbia), FIFTH: Ethan Ansel (Man) p. Hassaun Sibley (T), 1:41. 120 — Parker Pikor (LC) ff. Xavier Pearson (T), THIRD: Andrew Sorensen (Col) p. Jakob Gibson (R), 2:05. 126 — Evan Kusmits (Man) d. Cooper Kucia (CH), 8-1, THIRD: Owen Roberts (Mog) t.f. Maddox Mitchell (BR), 17-1, FIFTH: Jay McGinnis (CF) p. Ethan Preseren (LC), 1:19. 132 — Joey Romano (LC) p. Trevor Kusmits (Man), 0:47, THIRD: Hunter Blair (CF) p. Charlie Meyer (I), 2:27, FIFTH: Brian Eddy (T) m.d. Travis Hummel (Mog), 11-2. 138 — Joey McGuire (R) d. (Man), 10-7, THIRD: Manoli Fourtounis (I) d. Jayden Huszczo (LC), 8-7, FIFTH: Match Hector Aboytes (CC) d. Owen Stull (CF), 10-4. 144 — Carter Moore (Man) m.d. Harrison Fritz (CF), 10-0, THIRD: Kasey Pruitt (Mog) p. Ryan Sharp (LC), 0:35, FIFTH: Shea Fuller (Columbia) p. Fletcher Sturgill (CH), 1:08. 150 — Caleb Greenwood (Beach) m.d. Reginald Banies (T), 11-2, THIRD: Mason Koberna (BR) d. Michael Valentino (LC), 10-9, FIFTH: Luke Masek (I) m.d. Dustin Kraemer (CH), 14-5. 157 — Matthew Plum (Mog) p. Joseph Piccirillo (SJ), 3:58, THIRD: Jake Livingston (Man) d. Kayden Hendershot (BR), 3-1 (SV), FIFTH: Logan Pelfrey (R) p. Ethan Nelson (CF), 3:00. 165 — Ayden Meade (Man) p. Jake McClintock (CF), 1:49, THIRD: Hunter Shreve (R) p. Luke Zwolinkski (LC), 1:17, FIFTH: Jake Vitron (I) p. Jackson Brewer (BR), 2:22. 175 — Brandon Bruce-Bey (T) d. Aiden Heath (SJ), 9-3, THIRD: Cole Reese (Mog) p. Dozier Hendershot (BR), 1:21, FIFTH: Conner McConrghy (O) d. Gabriel Whims (R), 8-3. 190 — Justin Metheney (R) d. Cameron Carter (T), 3-2, THIRD: Dylan Benedum (Mog) d. Francis Connors (CH), 8-2, FIFTH: Noah Heath (SJ) p. Tim Knapp (LC), 0:23. 215 — Danny Zmorowski (LC) p. Jeremiah Reed (CH), 0:43, THIRD: Brody Jackovitch (Man) d. Colton Moskal (BR), 9-2, FIFTH: Jeff Moore IV (T) p. Alex Andrews (Columbia), 0:36. 285 — Cooper McKean (BR) p. Ben Bowling (Columbia), 1:13, THIRD: Dalton Nellis (SJ) p. Aiden Flynn (CH), 0:59, FIFTH: Caiden Shaw (Mog) p. Matt Florence (LC), 0:23.