It was not ideal that the Garfield G-Men wrestling team could only fill eight weight classes at the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference tournament. Despite relinquishing the MVAC banner to Portage County rival Ravenna Southeast, the G-Men crowned two champions to finish second with a team score of 164 points last Saturday at Crestview High School.
“I think they would have loved to win the title but since it is tough,” said Coach Dan Andel. ‘We got some good matches in, and some kids had three or four or five matches so that was good pushing into the postseason.”
Despite being undermanned, Garfield still persevered and finished only 11 points behind the Pirates as six of its eight wrestlers finished in the top two. Instead of wrestling in a championship bracket format, the MVAC tournament was structured as a pool-style tournament, as each wrestler competed against the entire field in their respective weight class.
As far as the nine-year coach was concerned, the more matches the better for his team as they prepare for the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III tournament.
“You go on the mat and your goal is to first take down and keep scoring and win every position,” he added. “It does not change the approach, it just lends to more matches for certain kids which if you were not ready for that, then it can add to the day, so it was pretty quick and wasn’t taxing at all.”
Sophomore 138-pound Landon Andel was one of two G-Men champions, dominating his bracket by going 4-0 to repeat as an MVAC champion.
“That was pretty good for a sophomore,” said Coach Andel. “All four were pins and pretty fast. He definitely dominated and did not have anybody to compete at his level in the tournament. I think he is wrestling better than he was at the beginning of the season.”
Andel pinned Waterloo senior Brayden Robinson at the 1:07 mark in the first period, defeated sophomore Jack Corli from Ravenna Southeast by pinning him with 1:15 remaining in the first period, pinned Crestview freshman Levi Coppersmith at the 00:40 mark of the first period and concluded his day by pinning freshman Ethan Parise from Western Reserve with 1:17 remaining in the first period.
Senior Harper Troyer captured the 175-pound championship with a 3-0 record.
“Harper came out ready to go and did what he needed to do and again he went through the tournament pretty much uncontested,” noted Coach Andel. “I think that his success keeps compiling and it is lending him a favorable position moving into the postseason. I just think he has to grasp that concept and push through the next few weeks really hard.”
The G-Men senior overpowered Western Reserve junior Murphy Wills by a 15-0 technical fall, then pinned freshman Christian Colburn with only 9 seconds left in the first period and pinned Waterloo freshman Abby Roberts at the 00:53 mark of the first period.
Freshman Ryder Cain earned second place in the 165-pound bracket with a 2-1 record.
“He got more mat time,” Coach Andel noted. “That is why we are there, we are there to learn from those scenarios from those mistakes so to speak and he is another one who is a competitor and an athlete and is in an upper weight class and things are lining up for him to make a decent run.”
The Garfield freshman lost his first match by getting pinned by Western Reserve freshman Caleb Sinn with 47 seconds remaining in the first period, but bounced back by pinning sophomore Kooper Klassic from Mineral Ridge at the 1:31 mark of the first period and pinned Jackson-Milton freshman Leo Lipp with 1:38 remaining in the second period.
Sophomore 126-pound Luke Kaufman took second place with a 4-1 record.
The G-Men sophomore was overpowered by Ravenna Southeast junior Dominic Kemble, losing by a 12-0 major decision in his first match, then pinned Libery sophomore Kayleeni Dos Santos with 1:05 remaining in the first period, dominated Western Reserve sophomore Amelia Poracky by an 18-2 technical fall, pinned Mineral Ridge freshman James Jordan at the 1:27 mark of the first period and pinned freshman Dalton Braybon with 16 seconds left in the third period.
Junior 113-pound Camron Lewicki finished as the runner-up with a 2-1 record, followed by sophomore Logan Sell wrapping up second place in the 144-pound weight class with a 4-1 record, sophomore Griffin Kline earned third place at 132 pounds with a 1-2 record and sophomore Keaton Ellison captured third place in the 150-pound weight class with a 2-3 record.
The G-Men will begin postseason action when they wrestle at the Division III sectional at Berkshire High School in Burton on Feb. 22 at 10 a.m.
