FAIRYTALE ENDING
Wrestler of the Year Weaver caps great career in grand fashion
Bradley Weaver felt the pressure. h The stands in the gym at Hilliard Darby weren’t at full capacity, but they might as well have been. The hopes and expectations of a community waiting for its first wrestling state champion took up plenty of space. h The state wrestling tournament moved from the Schottenstein
Center to campus sites in each of the three divisions due to the ongoing pandemic, which set Weaver, a senior heavyweight, up for the chance to do something no wrestler had done since at least 1958: win a state title on home turf. h “It really did feel kind of like a Hilliard Darby vs. the world in one final match situation,” Darby coach Brendan Moody said. “Knowing Bradley, being a senior in his home gym, it would’ve taken a colossal effort for somebody to beat him in that scenario. … The fact that it was
Weaver, who entered the title match with a 31-0 record, defeated freshman Aidan Fockler of Massillon Perry 7-1 to become Darby’s first wrestling state champion — something he had dreamed of since his freshman year.
In recognition of his title win and undefeated season, the Central District Wrestling Coaches Association named Weaver the wrestler of the year.
“The pressure was on,” Weaver said. “I was really nervous a lot of times, but it was very nice to have a lot of the guys there with me. … You don’t feel like you’re out there alone on the mat when you have all that extra support. I was like, I’m at home, I feel comfortable, I feel supported, so there’s really not anything to be nervous about when you have all that behind you.”
“I’ve been training what feels like years and years and years for this,” Weaver said. “Every time I go to the gym or every time I got that extra workout, I’m working for that state title. After you win, you reflect on all of that and you’re like, ‘That paid off.’ It’s just that great feeling that hard work will pay off in the future.”
Weaver, a three-sport athlete who will play football at Ohio University this fall, is known for being a fierce competitor to the point that Moody describes him as mean, maybe even edging into nasty. But off the field or the mat, Moody says Weaver is “as kind of a human being as you’ll ever seen.”
As proof, look no further than the handwritten thank-you letters Weaver wrote to his coaches, teammates and other supporters after he won.
“The day after states, I was just reflecting on everybody that had helped me,” Weaver said. “I hand-wrote letters to all my coaches and everybody that was in my (practice) pod, and then everybody else that was on the team I just sent them a message online thanking them. I just thought that was the right thing to do.”
Because Darby hosted the state tournament, many in attendance were longtime supporters of Darby wrestling, whether they were coaches, staff, volunteers or fans. For them, Weaver’s win meant more than just an individual wrestler winning a title. It was an achievement for the whole program that was a long time in the making.
“It was emotional because it finally happened,” Moody said. “That’s one of the things you’re constantly
working toward, and we’ve been close a few times. We’ve had some really, really good wrestlers that have been very, very close. To finally punch that ticket and have somebody navigate their way through the entire postseason and win a state title was special . ...
“He knows he won a state title, but there’s a lot of people that won a state title that day that had just a little tiny sliver to do with it. He put it all together and was not shy about thanking everybody.”
Van Gundy named coach of the year
Dublin Coffman’s Chance Van Gundy was named the Central District’s coach of the year for the second time in three years. He also earned coach of the year honors in 2019. The Shamrocks had six state placers, one state champion (Seth Shumate at 195) and finished tied for fourth as a team. bjohnson@dispatch.com @baileyajohnson_