Northridge’s Reeves, Belli make historic run to finals
On a path that no Northridge wrestler has ever traveled, Klay Reeves brought along a companion.
Friday evening at Value City Arena, the junior won his Division III semifinal match over Devan Hendricks of Jamestown Greeneview 4-2 and advanced to the state final at 126 pounds. In the process, he became the first wrestler guaranteed to finish higher than third in the state in Vikings history. Roughly an hour later, teammate Forest Belli defeated Santino Kusic of Bridgeport 12-2 at 160 pounds to also reach the final.
It all happened in front of a sizeable cheering section featuring standout wrestlers from the program’s recent past.
“It’s a great feeling — not just one makes the finals, (but) two,” Belli said. “I’m excited. Last year, my goal was to place, and this year my goal is to win. I’d be disappointed if I didn’t.”
As a junior, Belli finished fifth at 152 pounds. He will get a rematch against Nelsonville-York’s Colt Yinger, who defeated him in the district final.
Reeves finished eighth in each of his first two seasons, first at 106 pounds and then at 113.
“Ever since I started wrestling, (Forest) has been my buddy,” Reeves said, fighting back tears. “Iron sharpens iron. You can’t just be great by yourself. You have to have a whole community around you and I’ve got the greatest support system in central Ohio.”
Keaton advances
Nate Keaton faced an unexpectedly tough challenge on the way to a second straight spot in the state final. The senior from Circleville narrow edged Davin Rhoads, a freshman from Louisville, 4-3 in the Division II quarterfinals at 120 pounds.
The close call served him well in the nightcap, when he defeated Streetsboro senior Dominic Carone 4-0.
“He’s a tough freshman for sure,” Keaton said of Rhoads. “He definitely caught me off guard. It just shows you not to look past anybody. I was kind of looking past him a little bit, but he’s a tough wrestler.”
Through both matches, Keaton dealt with cramping in his calves and forearms. As a junior, he won the state title at 113 pounds.
“I won last year, so definitely I came in expecting to repeat but I know I have a tough opponent (Saturday),” Keaton said. He'll face Alek Martin of St. Paris Graham in the final.
Sprinting on
It took Grandview’s Hudson Jump two minutes and 33 seconds to pin his Division III semifinal opponent, undefeated senior Nick Shephard from Navarre Fairless. It took even less time for Jump to find a sparsely populated hallway inside the arena and, alone, start sprinting on the whiteand-black-tiled floor.
At the direction of his coaches, Jump said, he puts in 10 sprints immediately after each match, win or lose. That this win sent him to the finals at 195 pounds didn’t change anything.
“(I do it) just to put some extra cardio in because I know other guys aren’t doing that,” he said. “It’s just a little extra, that overtime period and I feel like I want it more. I’m so excited.”
Wrapped up
Galion Northmor’s Conan Becker was loosening up to face his Division III semifinal opponent at 145 pounds when he noticed a spot of blood on his hand. It was the start of a nosebleed that, while it didn’t prevent him from advancing to the title match, did cause him some discomfort.
After multiple delays during the match, the senior was given a full face wrap of white medical tape to protect his nose.
“It was just tiring,” he said. “I couldn’t breathe out of my nose or anything. It was kind of frustrating, but after a while I felt just fine — especially being up four (at times).”
Becker beat Logan Kissell of Garrettsville Garfield 6-3.