The Berkshire Badgers’ wrestling team demonstrated not just the quality of talent but also depth at the Chagrin Valley Conference tournament last weekend at Hawken School in Chesterland, earning the CVC Valley Division title with a team score of 168.0 points, as two wrestlers won championships.
“We are definitely very proud,” said Coach Dave Malkus. “There are obviously matches you wish that some kids could get and there were a couple of matches that the kids were close to finishing out, but they did not just quite have it. It really was where we as a coaching staff expected to be.”
In addition to winning the CVC Valley Division championship, one of the three divisions in the tournament, the Badgers also finished in third place overall.
The Badgers reigned supreme atop the CVC Valley Division for the first time since the 2021-22 season. According to the third-year coach, Berkshire had never been devoid of talented wrestlers but had lacked the necessary numbers to field a complete team for either tournament or dual matches but last weekend, it had both the talent and the depth to capture the CVC Valley Division crown.
Senior 190-pounder Danny Tiller paced the Badgers, going 5-0 to win his first conference championship.
“Danny’s endurance was great,” noted Malkus. “Being in wrestling shape especially at this time of the season is great, now he can go a full six-minute match which is just fantastic to see but now it is about can he do potentially an 8½-minute match.”
On Friday, the Berkshire senior went 3-0 to advance to the semifinal round and netted a championship berth on Saturday when he pinned Geneva junior Angel Leggett with only 20 seconds remaining in the third period.
In the finals, Tiller competed in a high-intensity duel against Crestwood senior Michael Berquist, as the match verged on going to overtime with the score being knotted at 1-1.
Tiller defended against a shot by Berquist and turned his defense into offense, scoring a takedown in the final seconds to win 4-1 and capture his first conference crown.
“He was very active with his hand fighting and positioning but just had a couple of shots and a couple of attacks and couldn’t capitalize but I will say that when they wrestled two weeks ago, Berquist had a much better game plan and adjusted to take a full match with Danny,” Malkus added. “It is a match that Danny needed so it was very good.”
The win not only sealed the 190-pound title for Tiller but also wrapped up a third-place finish overall for Berkshire as a team, overtaking the Red Devils in the team standings.
In addition to enjoying a strong outing in his final CVC tournament, Malkus said that Tiller is in excellent wrestling shape as the final weeks of the regular season near before the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III tournament begins.
The Badgers’ other champion was junior Caden Klingman, who tallied a 5-0 record to win the 132-pound bracket, his first career championship.
“Caden’s had some ups and downs this year, and he keeps battling,” said Malkus. “I think it is Jacob Morris who we had to wrestle in the quarterfinal, he lost to him in a dual against Crestwood and was able to flip that to a 4-2 win and then he had to wrestle Stallings, the #1 seed and he was able to grind out a win there.”
On Friday, Klingman went 3-0 to qualify for the semifinal round on Saturday, and earned his first championship berth on Saturday when he edged sophomore James Stallings Jr. from Trinity by a 7-5 decision.
“That was a district go-to-state match whether it is a district semifinal match or that blood round match or go-to-state match,” said Malkus. “That was the type of atmosphere and feeling that we had for that match from both ends and Caden had a nice takedown, put himself up and then was able to get out.”
Malkus noted that Klingman showed he was ready for the moment as he enjoyed a strong start to defeat West Geauga freshman Nikita Vlasenko by a 10-1 major decision, wrapping up his first title.
The Badgers had four other placers, as freshman Alex Sustin went 4-2 to take fourth place in the 106-pound weight class, junior 113-pounder Danny Auth posted a 5-2 record to earn fourth place, sophomore Jacob Ulatowksi had a 4-2 record to capture fourth place in the 120-pound bracket, junior 126-pounder Matthew Fultz was 5-2 to place fifth, and sophomore Estevon Huesca posted a 5-2 record to earn fifth place in the 157-pound bracket.
The Badgers will return to action when they face Geauga County rival Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin in a dual match in Chardon on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.
