High school wrestling: Black River finishes second at Lorain County League tournament

COLUMBIA STATION — The Black River wrestling team's performance in the Lorain County League has steadily improved over the last few seasons under coach Blake Owen. The best came Saturday, when the Pirates finished second behind Columbia at the league tournament. Black River won three weight class titles and added three second-place finishes. "It's really exciting," Owen said. "I'm really proud of our team and the amount of hard work they put in and the friends that our veteran wrestlers have brought with them just to help out our program. I'm really proud of the community, the school and my team." The senior class has been a huge part of Black River's growth, and was is only appropriate that two members, Maddox Mitchell at 132 pounds and Mason Koberna at 190, took home titles. Junior Kayden Hendershot also won at 165. "It means a lot," Koberna said. "We started off really small my freshman year, and we all decided to go to travel and get better, and now look at us. We're top two in the conference, and we just keep on pushing." After winning his first two matches via pin, Mitchell made it through a grueling final against Firelands' Matthew Bednar in which he was forced to take multiple injury timeouts but came away with a 9-7 victory. "It was just mental toughness," Mitchell said. "I had no strength in my right arm for most of the second and third period, so I just had to keep going. I just had to stay low and rely on my head and hands defense." Koberna, on the other hand, dominated all the way through and was named tournament MVP. He started the day by pinning Firelands' Kane Meinke in just 29 seconds. In the final, he almost racked up enough points for a technical fall before pinning Brookside's Collin Patton less than 30 seconds into the second period. "I was just pushing the pace and working hard," Koberna said. "I haven't won a conference title in three years, and I really wanted it this year, so I pushed myself, and now I'm No. 1." "His ability to score in just about any position is unbelievable," Owen said of Koberna. "On his feet, on the top, on the bottom, he's just a dynamic, athletic wrestler that you just know is going to create some kind of action. He's come a long way this season, and I can't wait to see what happens the rest of the year." With sectionals coming up in just a couple weeks, the performance will give Black River the confidence it needs to do some damage. "We'll see a lot of the guys in our conference at our district tournament, so it's good to know where we stand and where we can improve," Owen said. "We're going to have confidence, and there's going to be some guys who are looking for redemption." Samuel Dilley (150) and Jack Vancooney (175) placed second, while Lincoln Szojka (126), Tristyn Herrick (138) and Dozier Hendershot (215) were third. Contact William Cunningham at sports@medina-gazette.com. Results Standings: 1. Columbia 188.5, 2. Black River 143.5, 3. Firelands 130, 4. Brookside 85, 5. Clearview 73.5, 6. Keystone 30.5, 7. Wellington 18, 8. Oberlin 12.106 — Rowyn Bem (Col) p. Hailey Grant (BR), 0:57.113 — Bodey Gibbs (Col) p. Noah Huston (BR), 5:25. THIRD: Nazir Omer (Bro) m.d. Kohl Henry (BR), 13-3.120 — Michael Frye (Col) p. Dane Vanderpool (F), 2:19. THIRD: Gabriel Hernandez (Bro) t.f. Brayten DuRell (BR), 17-1.126 — Tanner Cochrane (Col) p. Avery Wilson (F), 0:42. THIRD: Lincoln Szojka (BR) p. Nick Clifford (Bro), 1:52.132 — Maddox Mitchell (BR) d. Matthew Bednar (F), 9-7. THIRD: Tyler Helwig (Col) d. Xavier Garcia (Clear), 11-8.138 — Kam Williams (Clear) d. Brent Friscone (Col), 13-11. THIRD: Tristyn Herrick (BR) p. TJ Sumpter (W), 1:53.144 — Elijah Lopez (Bro) m.d. Colbey Wnoroski (O), 11-0. THIRD: Andrew Sorenson (Col) p. Cayden Farr (BR).150 — D'Mari Campbell (F) p. Samuel Dilley (BR), 0:47. THIRD: Brendan Leitch (Col) t.f. Tommy Jerore (W), 18-0.157 — Xavier Hendon (Col) p. Michael Wilson (F), 3:14. THIRD: Blake Murner (W) p. Logan Walls (K), 1:12.165 — Kayden Hendershot (BR) t.f. Kase Rogers (F), 17-2. THIRD: Ethan Gifford (Clear) t.f. Domenic Demagall (Col), 18-3.175 — Preston Nagy (Clear) t.f. Jack Vancooney (BR). THIRD: Kolton Higgs (Col) def. Joah Vale (F).190 — Mason Koberna (BR) p. Collin Patton (Bro), 2:25. THIRD: Chase Dennison (Col) p. Tristin Ientile (Clear), 1:51.215 — Jaxon Llado (Bro) t.f. Clifford Stull (F), 16-1. THIRD: Dozier Hendershot (BR) p. Lucas Jirousek (K), 3:32.285 — Justin Rounds (K) d. AJ Lamb (Col), 8-4. THIRD: Alejandro Flores (F) m.d. Braden Bowen (Bro), 17-3.