It is at that time of the high school wrestling season when it is time to get down to business. The Crestwood Red Devils’ wrestling received a nice boost of confidence when they finished in fourth place with a team score of 106.0 points at the Battle of the Belt Tournament last Saturday at Berkshire.
“It was nice to go in and have everybody contribute and really have the youngsters step up which was nice,” said Coach Dave Wrobel. “About three fourths of our line-up is made of either freshmen or sophomores We are very young and are very inexperienced, but they are starting to get it and starting to progress, and it is nice heading into the league tournament.”
Crestwood had 10 wrestlers place in the 13 weight classes, including three wrestlers finish in the top four and two advance to the championship bout.
Sophomore Rocco Wrobel was the Red Devils’ lone champion, capturing the 113-pound title for his second consecutive championship by posting a 5-0 record.
“I think he showed a little bit of everything in the pool play,” said the 25-year coach. “He has notoriously been a little bit of a slower starter and he usually gets it together by midseason and heading into the postseason which is exactly what you would want. If someone is going to get off to a rough patch, you want it to happen at the beginning of the year and not at the end of the year. He is doing alright and coming into his own and he is rounding into shape.”
Rocco advanced to the championship match after going 4-0 in Pool “B”. The 113-pound sophomore clinched the title when he defeated Kenston freshman Carter Baran 4-0.
According to Coach Wrobel, it was a lot closer than the score indicated.
“It was scoreless after one and Rocco got his escape in the second and in the third period, he ended up riding really tough and in the last 10 seconds, there was a bit of a scramble and Rocco came out on top and got some back points as well, so he won 4-0,” he added.
Sophomore Tye Berquist was the other Crestwood wrestler who advanced to the championship and ultimately finished in second place in the 157-pound weight class by posting a 5-1 record.
“Tye was pretty consistent,” noted Coach Wrobel. “I was proud of him with how he competes, he is never someone who is going to back down. He is in excellent condition, and he has got good workout partners too who are helping him along the way. He is in the right frame of mind. He needs to make some minor adjustments and he is going to be right there.”
Berquist advanced to the championship bracket after going 3-0 in Pool “C”. He earned a semifinal bid by beating West Holmes sophomore Jordan Gerber by a technical fall of 16-0 then overpowered senior Patrick Seibel from Orange, winning by a 13-3 major decision.
Despite holding an 8-3 lead in the third period of the finals, Berquist lost his positioning and was pinned by Lorain senior Tony Rosario with only 21 seconds remaining to settle for second place.
Junior 175-pounder Michael Berquist captured fourth place in his weight class with a 5-1 record.
“He is very solid on top so if he locks up his cradle, his opponent is in trouble,” said Coach Wrobel. “He is very good on top. He is probably one of our best cradle guys. He will fight to the finish but he was pretty consistent getting back points throughout the matches.”
After going 4-1 in Pool “A”, Michael was beaten 10-4 by Trinity freshman Teagan Barr in the consolation championship.
“He still needs to grow into his body a little bit and needs to get a little stronger, but he cares,” said Coach Wrobel. “He wants to help his team and wants to get better so I like to see him having some success because he has had some matches.”
Freshman 106-pounder Levi Daniels snagged fifth place by recording a 3-2 record. After going 2-2 in Pool “A”, Daniels qualified to wrestle for fifth place and pinned Kenston sophomore Kade Miller with 8 seconds left in the second period.
Other standout performances included Freshman Tyler Devlin taking sixth place in the 120-pound bracket with a 3-3 record, 132-pound Chris Mory coming in seventh place with a 3-3 record, senior Brenton Mason earning sixth place in the 190-pound weight class by compiling a 3-3 record, freshman Robby Georger earning eighth place in the 144-pound bracket by going 2-4, and sophomore 215-pounder Doug Sipes earning eighth place with a 2-4 record.
The Red Devils will compete in the Chagrin Valley Conference championships Friday at Berkshire High.
