The Crestwood Red Devils’ wrestling team continued its ascent in the Chagrin Valley Conference, taking second place in the CVC Chagrin Division and fourth place overall by crowning one champion and having six other wrestlers place to score 167.0 points last weekend at Hawken School in Chesterland.
“I felt going in that we could finish between three and five if we wrestled well and we ended up finishing right smack in the middle for that,” said Coach Dave Wrobel. “It was a good weekend of wrestling. There were some good things that we did, there were some areas that we still need to improve on, but we expected to.”
Of Crestwood’s seven placers, four of them competed in the championship round of their respective brackets and junior 175-pounder Tye Berquist earned his first title, going 5-0 to win his weight class and fuel Crestwood to fourth place overall as a team.
“Tye has wrestled fairly solid the entire season, but he is really starting to come into his own,” noted the 24-year coach. “I was shocked that this is his first tournament which he has won at the high school level. He has been in the finals quite a bit but always seemed to come up short. I am happy with the way that Tye is wrestling.”
On Friday, Berquist went 3-0 to advance to the semifinals and continued to excel when he returned to the mat on Saturday by beating Jefferson senior Jeremy Shank by an 18-6 major decision to earn a championship berth.
The Red Devils’ junior finally captured his first championship when he triumphed 5-0 against junior Austin Wheatley from West Geauga.
“He wrestled that kid from West Geauga as a freshman and he beat him,” Wrobel added. “He could have probably had another takedown or two, but he really controlled the match. He is really looking good and is offensively minded and he has a motor. He goes hard for six minutes and that is what you want from your kids.”
Senior 190-pounder Michael Berquist also dazzled, posting a 4-1 record to finish as the runner-up in his bracket.
On Friday, Michael went 3-0 to earn a semifinal berth and defeated West Geauga junior Blake Welker by a 12-4 major decision on Saturday in the semifinal bout.
Michael dueled senior Danny Tiller from Berkshire in the finals and was deadlocked in a 1-1 tie throughout the match until Tiller scored a match-winning takedown with three seconds remaining to win the title.
“Michael is another one you can’t count out so if he is doing the right things and working hard and progressing, he should be able to throw his name in the hat in the last month,” Wrobel said.
The Red Devils also performed well in the lighter weights, as sophomore Levi Daniels went 4-1 to finish as the runner-up in the 113-pound weight class.
“Levi is a tall 113-pounder, he is long and lanky and has a unique style to him, but the kid is really dedicated. He really cares about the sport and really wants to get better,” Wrobel said. “He works hard at his craft and good things are happening for Levi,
On Friday, Daniels reached the semifinal bout by going 3-0 and returned to action on Saturday by defeating Geneva sophomore Max Galliazo by an 8-2 decision to advance to the championship.
In the finals, Daniels fell by a major decision of 11-0 against senior Jordan McCullough from Madison to end his tournament run.
Sophomore 120-pounder Tyler Devlin enjoyed a strong tournament by posting a 4-1 record to take second place.
After going 3-0 on Friday to qualify for the semifinal match, Devlin defeated Independence junior Mitch Meyer 10-4 to earn a championship berth.
“He wrestled well and the highlight match to me was his semifinal,” said Wrobel. “He dominated that match from start to finish and the kid that he wrestled from independence was a state qualifier, so he definitely was a solid wrestler and Tyler came out with a vengeance and looked good.”
Devlin faced West Geauga senior Caden Kaleal in the finals but lost by a 16-0 technical fall.
Crestwood’s other placers included junior 126-pounder Rocco Wrobel, who went 4-2 to finish in fourth place, freshman Jacob Morris who posted a 5-2 record to take fifth place in the 132-pound bracket, and junior 144-pounder Giovanni Brock who tallied a 3-2 record to take place fourth.
After a road dual match against Padua on Thursday evening, the Red Devils will compete in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division Regional Duals at Lake Catholic High School in Mentor on Saturday at noon.
