College wrestling: Medina's Andrew Supers takes silver at D-III wrestling championships

Prior to his final match at the NCAA Division III National Championships, Baldwin Wallace junior wrestler Andrew Supers took a stroll around the mats on the floor of Alliant Energy PowerHouse Arena in Cedar Rapids, Ia. The former Medina standout wanted to see and feel the spot where he watched former Yellow Jackets greats Michael Petrella, Jaden Hinton and Jake Decatur wrestle in the finals. "Before we started, I went down and took a lap around the finals mat," Supers said. "I remember I was watching these guys before I even got into college. The atmosphere is just the best thing I've ever I've ever wrestled in, that's for sure." Supers became just the eighth wrestler in school history to wrestle in a championship match, falling to Wisconsin-La Crosse's Tanner Gerber 4-0 in 165-pound action to finish as a national runner-up and become one of four Baldwin Wallace wrestlers to earn All-America honors. "I can't even put it into words. It was awesome," Supers said. "Not only just for me, I'm so proud of the way we all just competed. Our coaches pour absolutely everything into us, and to end the season with four All-Americans, it was just the best."Supers won his three previous matches via an 11-3 major decision over Brian Petry of Cornell (Ia.), a pin in 2:28 against Aiden Smith of Adrian (Mich.) and a 6-0 decision over Clayton McDonough of Luther (Ia.). Despite making his third nationals appearance — he wrestled as a freshman and was All-America as a sophomore with a fifth-place finish — he fought through some nerves at the beginning, something he says will always be there."Having nerves means you care," Supers said. "But my coaches gave me the game plan, and I really just went out and followed it." The nerves were quickly pushed aside when Supers heard teammates and other fans cheering him on. "I think we were the loudest team in the arena," he said. "I even saw something online that some media team posted, and it was a video of us, and he said that that he was now a fan of Baldwin Wallace wrestling, and that's what we want to do. We want to get people excited about wrestling, and I think we did a great job of that. The energy was super high, and it was just like the most fun I've had, probably in a weekend of wrestling. It was awesome." While finishing as the national runner-up was a highlight for Supers, one of the best moments of the weekend had nothing to do with his matches. It was watching his teammates earn their All-America honors. "One of my favorite moments was where we had Tommy West, Joey Petrella and Andrew Vanscoy all wrestled back-to-back-to-back, with wins," Supers said. "I actually think for the the blood ground, Joey and Tommy were wrestling at the exact same time, which was pretty cool, both walking away with getting their All-American honors. It was just awesome to see." The season was about doing everything together, like Yellow Jackets did for the championship weekend, where they watched each other's matches either from the floor or in the back on a livestream as they were preparing for their own matches. "We were all super grateful to be there," Supers said. "I couldn't help but look up, see my teammates and just start smiling, whether it was in the warmup or right before my match." The next step for Supers is to stand atop the podium with the championship belt. He would be just the fifth wrestler to do so for the Yellow Jackets. Supers knows in order to do so, he has to just keep on doing what he has done for the first three seasons in Berea. That includes having fun with what he is doing, whether at an event, a meeting or even an early-morning workout. "It just goes back to the consistency aspect of it, just keep showing up," Supers said. "We had moments where either early morning workout, or maybe you don't feel like being at practice, but everybody always shows up, and everybody always shows up with a smile on their face, which is the best part. And even if you don't show up with a smile on your face, you always have the guys to cheer you up. "Our culture is just the best in the country. I feel like we always get excited for everything because we're doing it together." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com.