In a crowded field of some of the best high school wrestling programs in Northeast Ohio, the Crestwood Red Devils asserted themselves by finishing in 10th place as a team by scoring 357.5 points at the North Coast Classic last weekend at the Independence Fieldhouse.
“Usually, week one you are trying to ease your way into it but this year at the North Coast Classic, this was the toughest it has ever been,” noted Coach Dave Wrobel. “It is a nice tournament and to finish in the top 10, I was happy with it.”
Paving the way to success for the Red Devils was junior 126-pounder Rocco Wrobel, who went 6-1 to land second place.
“Rocco came out ready to wrestle,” said the 24-year coach. “He just looked really good. The highlight of his weekend was that he knocked off a state champion from two years ago and beat him 8-4. I am sure he felt good.”
As each weight class was divided into initial pools of four wrestlers, the top two wrestlers with the best records from each pool advanced to the championship bracket while the bottom two moved on the consolation bracket.
On Friday, Rocco went 3-0 in his pool to earn a berth in the championship bracket.
He advanced to the quarterfinals when he pinned Nordonia senior Graham Pohlmeyer at the 1:15 mark of the second period to round out the first day of matches.
On Saturday, Rocco commanded his quarterfinal bout, defeating sophomore Andrew Novak from St. Ignatius by aa technical fall of 20-4, then triumphed 8-4 against Columbia senior Michael Frye, the 2024 Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III 106-pound state champion.
“I think Rocco is the type of wrestler who has always been right there and really close,” said Coach Wrobel. “I think to get over the top by beating Frye and some of the other kids in his bracket is going to be something that we can build on.”
Rocco fell in in the championship match to West Geauga senior Caden Kaleal as he was pinned with 12 seconds remaining in the second period.
The Red Devils also had success in the upper weights, as junior 175-pounder Tye Berquist compiled a 5-2 record to take fourth place.
“He started off Friday with a bang. I think he had three pins and a tech fall and then he had a nice win to open up Saturday,” Coach Wrobel added “I think he was losing throughout the match and ended up getting a key takedown to win. Even though he came up with a fourth-place finish, that is not too shabby in this tournament.”
On Friday Berquist went 3-0 in his pool to qualify for the championship bracket and won his opening round match by decisively defeating Twinsburg junior Keegan Setree by a 12-4 major decision.
On Saturday, Berquist returned to the mat and mounted a third period rally to edge junior Omar Wahdan from Westlake 9-8 in his quarterfinal match.
“We were down maybe four points, so we ended up getting a takedown,” said Coach Wrobel. “We had to kick them out, so I think the kid from Westlake was up two and then we got a deciding takedown in the third period with 15 seconds left and he was able to ride him out the last part of the match.”
Berquist was ousted in the semifinal when he lost by a 14-1 major decision against Walsh Jesuit senior Luke Evansen-Hein and then fell to sophomore Tyler Soeder from Brecksville by a 17-1 technical fall in the consolation championship.
Senior 190-pounder Michael Berquist earned seventh place by amassing a 5-2 record.
“He still has to get himself in shape and he has to get himself able to go six minutes because if he is able to do that, he is going to be able to be someone to be reckoned with, Coach Wrobel said. “When he goes hard for six minutes, he has got a lot of good things that he can work on and score with.”
On Friday, Michael qualified for the championship bracket by dominating his pool with a 3-0 record and advanced to the quarterfinal by pinning junior Tyler Winczewski of Westlake at the 1:17 mark of the second period.
On Saturday, Michael was ousted from the championship bracket as Tri-Valley senior Aedin Seward pinned him at the 1:19 mark of the second period.
The Crestwood senior bounced back by dominating senior Logan Massei of Tallmadge to win by a 15-0 technical fall but was pinned by North Royalton junior Nik Kofinas with 10 seconds remaining in the first period in the consolation semifinal.
Michael concluded his weekend on a high note with a decisive 16-0 technical fall victory against junior Keegan Cole from Perry in the seventh-place championship match.
Other Crestwood wrestlers who posted winning records over the weekend were freshman 132-pounder Jacob Morris, who went 4-3, sophomore 113-pounder Levi Daniels who went 4-3, freshman 113-pounder James Georger who tallied a 5-3 record and junior 138-pounder Jakob Devlin who ended up with a 4-3 record.
Crestwood will compete in a dual match against Benedictine in Cleveland on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.
