As young as the Garfield G-Men wrestling team is this season, they still were an experienced squad. That experience showed as the G-Men qualified two wrestlers to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III state tournament with sophomore 138-pound Landon Andel finishing as the runner-up and junior 113-pound Camron Lewicki capturing fourth place at the district tournament last weekend at the Independence Field House.
“We had a couple of others that were close and had some potential avenues out but it could go either way,” noted Coach Dan Andel. “It is just a tough tournament to make it down. It is a tough district so taking two out, that is an accomplishment for the team we have being so young.”
Landon and Lewicki’s final weekend of high school wrestling this year will start in the first round of the OHSAA Division III state tournament at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center in Columbus on Friday at 1 p.m.
For Landon, his resurgent season continued with a dominant showing, going 3-1 at the district tournament to net his first state berth.
“He is peaking at the right time and is finally gaining the confidence he needs to get to that next level and turning the corner, so it was a good weekend,” said the 10-year coach. “I think he went through both the sectional and district tournament by giving up only two offensive points and that was a reversal in the final match to the Chippewa kid. I think he really had a couple of fantastic weekends.”
On Friday, Landon was overpowering in his two matches, pinning sophomore Jaymier Jenkins from St. Thomas Aquinas with seven seconds remaining in the first period in his firstround match, then dominating Clearview junior Kameron Williams in the quarterfinal, winning by an 8-0 major decision to net a semifinal bid.
On Saturday, Landon earned his state berth when he defeated junior Ethan Haer from Tuslaw 3-1.
“We were winning on our feet and the majority of the match ended up being on the mat,” Coach Andel said. “We ended up getting another shot in the first period. Then we were on the mat for the rest of the match where it seemed that kid was stronger, but it could have been very easily a 6-1 match if we had scored that first takedown kick. It just ended up being pretty tight.”
Landon fell short of the district title when he was defeated by senior Alberto Moreno of Chippewa 2-0 in the championship.
The G-Men’s sophomore will face St. Paris Graham junior Colten Taylor in the first round of the state tournament on Friday.
Garfield’s other state qualifier, Lewicki, went 3-2 to earn his first state bid.
“He is an upperclassmen, wrestling in a lighter weight,” said Coach Andel. “He is a competitor and he needed that for his confidence to get down there. He is definitely a state-caliber wrestler, so I am glad to see things worked out for him and he was able to accompany Landon at the state tournament. That is going to give him a little bit of experience and hopefully he can make some noise down there this year.”
On Friday, Lewicki was dominant in his first two matches, winning his first-round bout against Loudonville freshman Wyatt Denslow by a 15-0 technical fall and then clinched a semifinal berth when he overpowered sophomore Kenneth Aguilar Reyes from St. Thomas Aquinas to win by a 19-3 technical fall.
On Saturday, Lewicki was ousted from the championship bracket when he fell to Independence sophomore Mitch Meyer by a 10-0 major decision.
Lewicki squared off against a familiar opponent in the consolation semifinal, sophomore Caleb Morrison from Pymatuning Valley, whom he had already beaten twice this year, and once again prevailed, winning by 3-0 decision to lock up a state bid.
“You are pushed up against the wall there,” Coach Andel added. “You have to do what you have to do to survive and the only person stopping you from going to Columbus is the guy lining up across from you. He got it done, he did not choke, he wrestled a smart match and made it through.”
Lewicki’s day ended when he lost to Portage County rival Rootstown junior Mason King in the consolation championship, getting pinned at the 1:15 mark of the first period.
Lewicki will take on reigning Division III state runner-up junior Scotty Fuller from Genoa Area in the first round of the state tournament.
