Competing in the Chagrin Valley Conference has been a nice change of pace for the Crestwood Red Devils’ wrestling team. The Red Devils proved they are not too far off from some of top schools in the conference when they finished in fifth place overall and runners-up in the CVC Chagrin Division by scoring 110.5 points last weekend at the Independence Field House.
“It was nice,” said Coach Dave Wrobel. “As a coach you always hope for a little bit more so we would have liked a few more placers and maybe another champion or two but it is a tough tournament with 25 teams in it. It was nice to see teams trying to peak at the right time and the seniors are really stepping up and our freshmen really starting to step up as well.”
Despite having two champions and five placers, Crestwood’s depth was still thin compared to CVC Chagrin Division champion West Geauga, which scored 189 points.
Senior J.P. Wrobel was Crestwood’s first champion, winning the 126-pound bracket with a 4-0 record.
“He wrestled a solid tournament,” noted the Red Devils’ 24th-year coach. “He went 4-0 in his first three matches and ended up with pins and then he matched up with the third-ranked kid in the state that we knew we would see down the road a few times and he won a hard 1-0 battle. I was happy to see that. I like to see him win those tough grind-out matches.”
On Friday, J.P. dominated his competition beginning with a pin against Orange junior Gabriel Pfluam with 41 seconds remaining in the first period and then clinched a semifinal berth when he pinned freshman Justin Phillips from Madison with 1:24 left in the first period of his quarterfinal bout.
On Saturday, J.P. overpowered Jefferson sophomore Jacob Lewis by pinning him with 1:08 remaining in the second period to advance to the championship and survived a 1-0 bout against senior Riley Rowan from Perry to repeat as the 126-pound CVC champion.
According to Coach Wrobel, J.P. scored his only point when he pulled an escape in the second period then rode out Rowan in the third period to seal the victory.
“It was nice and definitely something to build upon,” he added. “You could see there were other areas that we needed to improve upon, and we are sure that his opponent is going to come out ready for the next time that they wrestle so we are going to have to keep improving.”
Senior Drake Rennecker also defended his CVC title, this time winning the 150-pound title with a 4-0 record after clinching the 132-pound championship last season.
“Drake had an impressive weekend,” Coach Wrobel said. “Drake has been wrestling tough all year long and J.P. and Drake have been a solid 1-2 punch. One is 30-3 and the other is 29-3, so they are both a good duo. Drake wrestled well and had an impressive weekend and a weekend to remember.”
On Friday, Rennecker won his first match by pinning Cardinal senior Benjamin Bolton at the 1:15 mark of the first period and then earned a semifinal berth when he defeated Perry senior Drew Smith 10-4 in the quarterfinal, marking his 100th varsity victory.
“It was a nice win and something he was looking forward to and his family was looking forward to,” noted Coach Wrobel. “Now that is over and done with, we are looking for bigger and better things now.”
On Saturday, the Red Devils’ senior earned a berth in the championship bout by pinning Lutheran West junior Cohen Thomas with 1:14 left in the first period and won his second straight CVC championship by defeating senior Ethan Bartlett from West Geauga 8-4.
Senior Gavin McIntyre took fourth place in the 215-pound bracket by posting a 2-2 record.
After receiving two byes on Friday, McIntyre earned a berth in the semifinal when he defeated Conneaut freshman Ben Griswold 3-2 in a tiebreaker overtime match.
On Saturday, McIntyre returned to the mat and was ousted from the championship bracket, losing 4-3 against Lakeside senior Abi Ortiz after surrendering a buzzer-beating takedown in the third period.
McIntyre advance to the third-place consolation match when he beat Cuyahoga Heights’ Jeremiah Reed 2-1 in another tiebreaking overtime bout, but fell to Blue Streaks’ sophomore Chase White in the consolation championship when he was pinned with 23 seconds remaining in the second period.
“It was a learning experience for Gavin just to wrestle until the final whistle and wait until the full six minutes is up before you rest,” said Coach Wrobel. “He came back and placed fourth, so I am proud of Gavin, but I definitely think he was capable of winning his bracket too.”
The Red Devils also received contributions from freshmen Rocco Wrobel, who earned sixth place in the 106-pound bracket with a 2-3 record and freshmen Tye Berquist, who went 4-2 over the weekend to place fourth in the 144-pound bracket.
“Rocco and Tye, we know they are going to battle,” Coach Wrobel said. “They are both battle-tested and they have wrestled high-intensity and high-level matches in the youth and middle school so the big show or the big stage does not really affect them.”
Following a double dual meet on Thursday night at North Olmsted High School, the Red Devils will compete in the Ohio Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Rootstown district state dual meet at Rootstown High School on Saturday morning beginning at 10 a.m.
