While the Garfield G-Men wrestling team may not have the quantity of wrestlers that other teams have, they still have plenty of quality wrestlers. The G-Men proved that when junior 113-pound Camron Lewicki and 138-pound sophomore Landon Andel each captured championships to lead the G-Men to take fifth place out of 15 teams with 165 points last Saturday at Cardinal’s Russ Ward Memorial Tournament in Middlefield.
“I think we wrestled fairly well when a couple of matches could have gone differently but all in all it was a good opening tournament to get back to the drawing board and work on some stuff, but I think everybody did well.,” said Coach Dan Andel.
Garfield only fielded wrestlers in 11 out of the 14 weight classes but still had seven who placed, including Lewicki and Andel who snagged championships.
Wrestling in a pool-style tournament, Lewicki went 4-0 in Pool A to earn a spot in the championship match, pinning three of his first four opponents in the first period. Lewicki ended his day with another dominant victory, pinning Berkshire sophomore Danny Auth at the 1:03 mark of the second period in the championship match.
“I’ve got high hopes for him as long as he puts the time and puts the energy in the room,” noted the nine-year coach. “He is going to be doing well this year. He wrested smart and wrestled well. He took the offense early on and scored points and shut them down.”
Garfield’s’ other champion, Landon Andel, captured a spot in the championship bracket by going undefeated in Pool A with a 3-0 record. The G-Men sophomore overpowered Benedictine sophomore Elijah Day to win by a 10-0 major decision in the semifinal and then dominated senior Daren Asiaksen from Firelands by an 11-2 major decision to win the 138-pound belt.
“I don’t think he gave up an offensive point unless he was kicking somebody out to take them back down,” said Coach Andel. “That is what we are there for to get those tight matches because it is not as much of a learning experience if you are racking them up and pinning them but getting those scrambles.”
Sophomore Luke Kaufman took third in the 126-pound bracket, freshman Ryder Cain snagged third in the 165-pound weight class and senior Harper Troyer earned third in the 175-pound bracket.
Kaufman advanced to the championship bracket by posting a 3-0 record in Pool A but was ousted in the semifinal when Portage County rival junior Alex Ely from Rootstown defeated him by a 12-6 decision, avenging a loss against Kaufman earlier in the week during a season-opening dual mach.
Kaufman rebounded with a decisive victory in the third-place match, pinning Berkshire sophomore Matthew Fultz at the 1:40 mark of the third period.
“Luke’s pace is a little different, he is a more methodical style so some of his style and pinning combination may be a quick pin but he controls the whole match. When you look at it, it is pretty dominant,” noted Coach Andel.
The freshman Cain impressed in his first varsity tournament, earning a berth in the championship bracket after going 2-0 in Pool B and advanced to the semifinal when he pinned freshman Miles Sullivan of Eastlake North with 18 seconds remaining in the first period.
Cain was ousted from the semifinal by Fairless senior Dean Pulley, losing on an offensive pin at the 1:04 mark of the second period when he tried pinning Pulley from the top position and his shoulder blades touched the mat.
The G-Men freshman ended his day by pinning freshman Luke Martin of Pymatuning Valley with 1:43 left in the second period for third place.
“He wrestled in all three positions very well as expected,” Coach Andel said. “He is an athlete, a competitor and he is in great shape so I think there is good to come from him, I think he will be one of our key wrestlers on the team as time progresses.”
Troyer advanced to the championship bracket by going undefeated in Pool B but lost in the semifinal against senior Tristen McKibben from Rootstown when he was pinned with 5 seconds remaining in the first period. The Garfield senior then overpowered Firelands’ junior Jimmy Berry to win by a 20-3 technical fall to finish in the third place.
Senior Kaleb Lewicki went 3-2 to take sixth place in the 144-pound weight class and sophomore Griffin Kline earned sixth place in the 132-bracket with a 3-2 record.
The G-Men will be back at it when they compete in the Waterloo Division III Invitational in Atwater beginning on Friday at 5 p.m.
