Boys wrestling: Black River's Maddox Mitchell, Jack Vancooney win titles at LCL meet

SHEFFIELD TWP. — The Black River wrestling team's dream season keeps getting better. Maddox Mitchell (132 pounds) and Jack Vancooney (175) won individual championships at the Lorain County League Tournament on Saturday as the Pirates finished fourth with 118 points. Host Clearview won the title with 170 points, Keystone's Jordan Folmer (215) was named Most Valuable Wrestler and Columbia brought home the most individual crowns with four. "I'm really excited about our team," said Black River coach Blake Owen, who was named LCL Coach of the Year after leading the team to the dual championship with a 6-1 record. "We were officially declared dual meet champions this week. "We were hoping to bring home this championship. We had a lot of high placers and I'm really proud of how everyone wrestled today. It's a good test to see where we're at for the postseason because we're going to see a lot of these teams in our sectional or district." Mitchell's final against Keystone's Dmitry Hruby was pretty straightforward, as he built a 5-2 lead early in the second period, then worked a takedown into a near fall to go up 13-2. He piled on two more takedowns in the third for a 19-3 technical fall. "It was great," Mitchell said. "I tried to wrestle smart. I beat him three times in a row, so I knew I had this match, just had to be smart about. I waited for my opportunities instead of going in there guns blazing and it came to me. I just need to keep training harder, getting stronger and better every day." Vancooney's bout against Clearview's Ethan Gifford was a little more dramatic. The pair wrestled to a stalemate after the first period, but Vancooney got an escape and a takedown, eventually leading 5-1 early in the third. He added one more takedown for some buffer in the final 45 seconds before closing a 9-3 decision. "It feels amazing," Vancooney said. "For me, personally, this is just my third year wrestling, so this is something that's very new to me. I've been putting in all kinds of work in the offseason, so it's nice to see it pay off. It's incredible, really, it's just incredible." Mason Koberna (157), Kayden Hendershot (165) and Colton Moskal (285) were runners-up at their respective weight classes. Moskal lost a tight 8-4 decision to Keystone's Justin Rounds, who secured a takedown in the final five seconds. Hendershot, the only wrestler to upset a No. 1 seed prior to a final, lost to Wellington's Baron Turner 12-2. Koberna, who dropped to 157, also faced a tall task in his final against Clearview's Josiah Longo, but the junior held his own for two periods as he built a 4-1 lead. Longo secured a takedown in the final five seconds to tie the match going into the third. The dynamic of the bout changed six seconds into the final period when Koberna was called for fleeing the mat. He elected to let up Longo, who then secured a takedown and had enough buffer to outlast Koberna 10-7. "He worked really hard to get down to 157 this week," Owen said. "We knew that was going to be a tough match going into the final. He was right there with some of the best kids in the state. I have a feeling if we had a call or two go our way or a takedown inbounds, that match would have had a different outcome." Contact Chris Sweeney at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Results Standings: 1. Clearview 170, 2. Columbia 155, 3. Keystone 128.5, 4. Black River 118, 5. Wellington 67, 6. Firelands 66, 7. Brookside 54, 8. Oberlin 11. 106 — Noah Huston (Cl) p. Nazir Omer (Brooks), 1:56. 113 — Bodey Gibbs (Col) d. Sylvester Montanez (Cl), 7-6. THIRD: Brayten DuRell (BR) no contest. 120 — Tanner Cochrane (Col) d. Collin Eckman (Cl), 2-0. THIRD: Alex Lewis (W) p. Lincoln Szojka (BR), 2:04. 126 — Brent Friscone (Col) p. T.J. Sumpter (W), 0:59. 132 — Maddox Mitchell (BR) t.f. Dmitry Hruby (K), 19-3. 138 — Isaiah Garcia (Cl) d. Andrew Sorensen (Col), 10-5. THIRD: Elijah Lopez (Brooks) p. Tristyn Herrick (BR), 2:43. 144 — D'Mari Campbell (F) p. Kameron Williams (Cl), 4:23. 150 — Xavier Hendon (Col) p. Dominic Rodriguez (Cl), 3:19. 157 — Josiah Longo (Cl) d. Mason Koberna (BR), 10-7. 165 — Baron Turner (W) m.d. Kayden Hendershot (BR), 12-2. 175 — Jack Vancooney (BR) d. Ethan Gifford (Cl), 9-3. 190 — Jonathan Gould (K) p. Alex Andrews (Col), 1:42. THIRD: Collin Patton (Brooks) p. Jaxson Brewer (BR), 4:05. 215 — Jordan Folmer (K) p. Nathan Chapman (Col), 2:47. 285 — Justin Rounds (K) d. Colton Moskal (BR), 8-4.