The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Firelands’ Lipscomb earns MVP at PAC meet
Firelands senior heavyweight Sean Lipscomb knew the opportunity that presented itself Feb. 10 at Brooklyn High School during the Patriot Athletic Conference championships.
Win and he could add a third conference medal to his hardware.
And that’s what he did. Lipscomb pinned Clearview senior J.D. McCardle (No. 14 state ranked) in 3:19 to clinch the title and earn tournament MVP.
Lipscomb is 41-1 overall. “If there’s one shot I always revert to in any situation, it’s always a double,” Lipscomb said. “I’ve been good at catching the arms when they throw me over if they try to wrap it around my waist and lift their shoulders over on a double. I knew he was going to be strong up top, so I was just trying to match his strength and not give him position where he can’t apply his strength.
“This is my third one (title). I got my first one my sophomore year. It’s amazing and this time I had more people come out to support my family, me and my team. It’s a great feeling each time.”
Buckeye captured the team title with 191 points followed by Keystone (104) and Firelands (90).
Keystone had a pair of champions with seniors David McCullough (182) and Justin Ocheltree (195). Ocheltree pinned Columbia’s Justin Bell in 1:04 for his first title, and McCullough made it two in a row with a pin over Fairview’s Colin Hayes in 36 seconds.
“It feels great,” McCullough said. “I wish I had a couple more matches
coming into it, but, overall, it feels great. One-ninetyfive PAC championship last year and 182 this year. It’s awesome getting it done back-to-back. Not a lot of guys on our conference championship board have done that. It’s nice to get my name on there twice. And at least I get to leave as the best 182 in the conference right now.”
The Falcons brought seven wrestlers to the tournament and six of them placed in the top four. Sophomore and returning state placer Payton Burgdorf won his second consecutive PAC title, topping Black River’s Zach LaHood in a 14-5 major decision. Burgdorf bumped up from his usual 106 weight class, and was in control. Toward the end, he hit LaHood with a oddlooking gator roll, trying to score more points.
“I keep up with Flo Wrestling a lot and sometimes I pull up some of the highlight reels and I saw one of those highlight reels that I tried to do but it didn’t work out,” Burgdorf chuckled. “Winning means there’s still a chance for doing it four times. No one at my school has ever been a fourtime PAC champ.”
Lutheran West had junior Parker Watson (132) capture a title in a 4-2 decision over Wellington’s Tyler Wilfong, and the Longhorns had a pair of thirdplace winners in Lachlan Thomas (126) and Donavan Palmer (138). Wellington’s Mason Wright’s (145) quest of becoming a fourtime conference champion fell short as he lost, 4-1, to Buckeye’s Jaret Lowry.
Fairview had a trio of champions: Matt Kaufmann (120), Ian McClintock (152) and Declan Jewitt (160). Jewitt, a freshman and seeded third, topped No. 1 Doug Brown (Buckeye) in a tight 8-7 decision. Brown nearly picked up a near fall at the end, but time ran out.
“Earlier in the year, he beat me by two,” Jewitt said. “I told my coach I’m not letting that happen. As soon as I got the lead and was getting my takedowns, I told my coach, ‘Let me go neutral, I can take him.’ My takedowns have worked for me and I’ve been able to get out and ride kids all year.
“This is nice, but the real goal is to place at state. That’s what I’m going to aim for every year. And team-wise, we all stick together and we’re going to be the ones taking home the PAC one day, guarantee you.”