Dual meets have not been the strength of the Garfield G-Men’s wrestling team this season as they have the lacked the ability to fill every weight class. Even with a short-handed squad, the G-Men spoiled Berkshire’s senior night by edging the Badgers 32-28 Wednesday evening in Burton.
“They wrestled well,” said Garfield Coach Dan Andel. “We paired up fairly well with our 10 wrestlers against Berkshire. It is in a rebuilding phase as well, it has a younger program but our guys head-to-head dominated and I could not be happier.”
With only a few weeks left in the regular season, the nine-year coach acknowledged that each match is all about making sure his wrestlers are dialing in at the right time for the grind that is the high school wrestling postseason. Although the G-Men only fielded 10 wrestlers in 14 weight classes, Berkshire was also short-handed, missing three wrestlers, which were all in weight classes where Garfield did not have an eligible wrestler, meaning the G-Men only forfeited six points.
Of the 10 weight classes that Garfield did qualify a wrestler in, the team went 6-4 to capture the victory.
After forfeiting the 106-pound weight class match, the G-Men rebounded with two consecutive victories as junior 113-pounder Camron Lewicki pinned sophomore Danny Auth with 6.5 seconds remaining in the first period, followed by sophomore 126-pound Luke Kaufman dominating sophomore Matt Fultz to win by an 18-0 technical fall to take an 11-6 advantage.
Badgers’ senior Charlie Prosser defeated sophomore Griffin Kline by a 10-2 major decision in the 132-pound match, trimming Garfield’s lead to 11-10.
Sophomore 138-pound Landon Andel ignited a string of three consecutive victories when he pinned sophomore Caden Klingman with 37.4 seconds remaining the first period, then sophomore 144-pound Logan Sell pinned freshman Parker Dixon with 51.1 seconds left in the first period and sophomore Keaton Ellison defeated freshman Estevon Huesca 3-1 in the 150-pound bout, extending the G-Men’s lead to 26-10.
According to Badgers’ assistant coach Jesse DeWeese, who filled in for Coach Dave Malkus on Wednesday night, while both programs have relied heavily on their youth this year, the G-Men’s underclassmen had more experience wrestling at higher levels than the Berkshire wrestlers.
Senior Dan Novak snapped the Badgers’ scoring drought when he pinned senior Kaleb Lewicki at the 1:12 mark of the second period in the 157-pound match.
Freshman 165-pound Ryder Cain overpowered freshman Van Rice and pinned him with 5.9 seconds left in the first period, increasing the G-Men’s lead to 32-20.
“I just felt I had to go into it aggressive,” Cain said. “I could not be lazy out there. Go as hard as you can.”
As the only freshman in the line-up this year, Cain acknowledged it has been a big adjustment wrestling in a weight class that is usually dominated by upperclassmen, considering he wrestled in the 144-pound bracket last year in junior high.
Despite the massive jump he has had to make in his freshman season, Coach Andel noted that the Garfield freshman has been a diamond in the rough for a relatively young Garfield squad.
“He is one that I have high hopes for,” he added. “He is doing well. He has stepped up as a freshman in a bigger weight class which is tough and he has not disappointed. What he is able to do and translate the moves and the techniques that we practice onto the mat and he stays in good position so out all of the wrestlers on Wednesday night, he was hitting moves and retaining technique that others weren’t.”
Berkshire won the final two matches of the evening as junior 175-pound Preston Garling overpowered junior Alex White and pinned him with 1:10 left in the first period and junior Danny Tiller pinned senior Harper Troyer with 47.6 seconds remaining in the first period of the 190-pound match.
Although the Badgers’ comeback fell short, DeWeese said he was happy to see all three seniors that competed earn a win on a special night.
“All three seniors that wrestled won so that is a plus,” he said. “They all wrestled hard and put effort forward and got the win, so I am glad for our seniors. As a team we were one match away from winning the dual.”
After a tri-match against Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier foes Ravenna Southeast and Brookfield on Tuesday evening and a home dual match against Pymatuning Valley on Thursday evening, the G-Men will compete in the MVAC tournament on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
Meanwhile, the Badgers will return to the mats and compete in the Independence Duals at the Independence Field House on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
