Although it was a small Garfield G-Men wrestling squad at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III sectional tournament last Saturday, the G-Men wrestlers who did compete made the most of their opportunities. Of its eight wrestlers, Garfield qualified five to the district tournament and had two become district alternates to take fifth place with a score of 126.0 points last Saturday at Berkshire High School.
“I think everybody did what we expected of them and wrestled and did what they needed to do and won the matches they needed to win, and things went as we had hoped,” said Coach Dan Andel. “There were no surprises or upsets.”
The G-Men will compete in the OHSAA Division III district tournament at the Independence Field House beginning on Friday at 5 p.m.
Garfield had four wrestlers compete in their championship matches and two earned sectional titles.
Junior 113-pound Camron Lewicki claimed a sectional championship by posting a 3-0 record.
Lewicki pinned South Range junior Gary Landsberger at the 1:38 mark of the second period in the quarterfinal, then triumphed against freshman Robert Wojtasik from Cardinal by pinning him with 15 seconds remaining in the first period of the semifinal.
Lewicki finished his day by defeating Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference rival senior Cameron Dye from Ravenna Southeast by an 8-0 major decision to earn the sectional title.
“It was a good match,” noted the 10-year coach. “Dye is a competitor; he has been in the mix for the last couple of years, so I think it was a good opportunity to I guess close the gap on that and seal the deal and then propel him into next weekend with the advantage.”
Sophomore 138-pound Landon Andel won his first sectional championship with a 2-0 record.
“I think it solidified his confidence and his ability and gave him the confidence that he needs,” said Coach Andel. “If he is on his “A” game and wrestling well and not overthinking things, overanalyzing things and just going out there and letting it rip, he is a tough competitor.”
Landon dominated Ravenna Southeast junior Jack Corll in the semifinal by pinning him with 36 seconds remaining in the first period, then conquered Lake Catholic junior Pedro Arapiraca by a 10-0 major decision in the championship bout.
Sophomore 144-pound Logan Sell went 2-1 to finish as the runner-up.
Sell advanced to the semifinal by pinning Girard freshman Ethan Ramsey with 10 seconds remaining in the second period of the quarterfinal bout, then qualified for the championship match by pinning freshman Parker Dixon from Berkshire at the 1:19 mark of the first period in the semifinal match.
Sell’s bid for the title ended when he was pinned by Jackson-Milton junior Jack McDevitt with two seconds remaining in the first period.
“Logan wrestled well,” said Coach Andel. “He had the McDevitt kid in the finals from Jackson-Milton. I think that was his third time seeing him this year and he has not been able to beat him. McDevitt is a little bit more physical and more mature so it was a tough match, but he made it to the finals. It started off as a different match than we would see from before. Hopefully Logan is closing that gap and puts him in a good spot in the bracket.”
Senior 175-pound Harper Troyer earned a district bid with a 2-1 record, taking second place.
The G-Men senior dominated MVAC foe Ravenna Southeast sophomore Bruce Nelson in the quarterfinal, winning by an 18-3 technical fall and overpowered sophomore Xavier Winner from South Range by 22-4 technical fall.
Troyer then fell in the championship match against Giarard senior Tucker Steiner, losing by a 16-0 technical fall.
“It was just a weird pairing,” Coach Andel acknowledged. “If the pace changed a little bit or if we got the tempo going, I think Harper could have changed that outcome. That kid was able to stop his shots and score from it and hopefully moving into the district tournament we can make a little bit more adjustments.”
The G-Men’s final district qualifier was sophomore 126-pound Luke Kaufman, who went 1-1 to snag third place.
Kaufman defeated freshman Santino Serran from Girard by pinning him at the 1:21 mark in the second period of the quarterfinal but was ousted from the championship bracket, losing to Lake Catholic freshman Tyler Ineman by a 17-2 technical fall.
Kaufman overpowered South Range freshman Sam Vivo by pinning him at the 1:59 mark of the second period in the consolation semifinal and defeated sophomore Caden Klingman by a 3-0 decision in the consolation championship.
Garfield’s two district alternates were 165-pound freshman Ryder Cain, who went 2-2 to take fifth place and senior 150-pound Kaleb Lewicki, who recorded a 3-2 record to earn fifth.
