Red Devils field three champions, advance five district qualifiers
Wrestling at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III Rootstown sectional meet, the Crestwood Red Devils felt right at home competing in a meet just down the road. The Red Devils placed third as a team, scoring 141.5 points, crowned three champions and had five become district qualifiers and one finish as an alternate last Saturday at Rootstown High School.
“We know the format of the tournament and we know who is going to be there for the most part and it is a light travel for us too,” said Coach Dave Wrobel. “We are very familiar with the gym and the surroundings, so it is very good for us.”
Crestwood had four wrestlers advance to the championship bout and went three-of-four. The Red Devils will compete for berths to the Division III state tournament when they compete at the Division III Independence District Meet at Independence High School beginning on Friday at 4 p.m.
“I don’t care if you are a three-time state qualifier or have qualified before, you will have to come ready to wrestle and you need to make sure you are ready for each and every match and wrestle hard for a full six minutes plus and let the chips fall where they may,” said Coach Wrobel.
In his first sectional tournament, 106-pound freshman Rocco Wrobel dazzled by going 2-0 to earn a district bid.
The Red Devils’ freshman received byes in the first round and the quarterfinal match and clinched his district berth when he beat Rootstown sophomore Mason King by a 12-3 major decision.
“He has been around the sport his whole life so he knows what it is going to take to win big matches and he has wrestled on the big stage before so we knew coming in that we had a pretty sound wrestler in Rocco, but the big question was getting him up to weight,” said Coach Wrobel.
“He has actually hit a little bit of a growth spurt in season and has gained about ten pounds. He is able to wrestle kids that are of that weight and he is competing and doing well.”
Rocco captured the sectional title when he beat freshman Austin Harshbargar of Salem Southern by an 8-3 decision.
Crestwood’s second champion was senior 126-pounder J.P. Wrobel, who posted a 3-0 record to earn his third sectional title.
J.P. advanced to the quarterfinal match with a bye and won his first match when he pinned St. Thomas Aquinas freshman Kenneth Aguilar Keyes with 1:37 remaining in the first period and advanced to the championship by pinning junior Deinye Campbell from Elyria Catholic with 1:01 left in the first period in the semifinal.
J.P. captured his sectional championship when Clearview junior Isaiah Garcia withdrew from the match.
“He knows that this is his last go in the postseason so he came prepared and he is ready to go and we need to take it one match at a time and do not look too far and do not look at the district tournament or the state tournament or any of that,” noted the 24-year coach. “Let’s handle our business in not just one tournament but let’s take it slow and enjoy the process and take it one match at a time and he did just that.”
Crestwood’s final champion was 215-pound senior Gavin McIntyre, who recorded three victories to repeat as a sectional champion.
McIntyre advanced to the quarterfinal match after getting a bye in the first round then overpowered senior Mattai McKloskey to win by an 11-0 major decision in the quarterfinal and advanced to the championship when he pinned Berlin Center Western Reserve sophomore Hunter Taylor with 29 seconds remaining in the second period.
The Red Devils crowned another champion on a forfeit when junior Sam Petit from Chippewa withdrew from the final.
“Gavin has been very consistent and knows the type of match that he wrestles and pushes the pace, and his confidence has improved with every win and every tournament victory,” Wrobel said. “The kid just battles. He works hard and has a good frame of mind that will not look past the match ahead of him.”
150-pounder Drake Rennecker clinched a district berth by going 3-1 to finish as the runner-up. Rennecker cruised to the quarterfinal match when he pinned East Palestine sophomore Blaine Thompson with 1:32 left in the first period and earned a semifinal berth when he pinned junior Riley Barney of Wellsville at the 1:35 mark of the first period.
The Crestwood senior pinned sophomore Jacob Brunner from Norwayne with 1:30 left in the first period to qualify for the championship bout but lost to Rootstown junior Dominic Duvall by a 9-5 decision.
Crestwood’s final district qualifier was 285-pound senior Blake Baumgardner, who earned a district bid by going 2-1, including winning two consecutive matches in the consolation bracket to earn third place.
“He lost his very first match and he came back and ended up winning a couple of matches and ended up avenging his loss earlier in the day, so I was very happy,” noted Coach Wrobel.
