The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rangers, Longhorns impress
North Ridgeville takes second with shorthanded lineup, Lutheran West places fourth
SULLIVAN >> Coming off a tournament title at the Mike Lewis Invitational, North Ridgeville’s mojo continued with another strong performance at the J.B. Firestone Invitational on Dec. 15 at Black River High School.
The Rangers placed second (188) behind winner Lakewood (255.5) and crowned three champions.
Twin brothers Michael Caraszi (113) and Matt Caraszi (120) along with Jacob Dunstan (132) picked up titles.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” Matt Caraszi said. “Especially having a few holes because we were missing three of our best senior wrestlers. So to finish second with three holes missing is big.”
Matt Caraszi pinned Clearview’s Myles Huff in 21 seconds, while his brother pinned Oberlin’s Fallon Cook in 20 seconds.
“I have a love-hate relationship with my brother so it helps us in the room when we get mad at each other and bring the best out of each other,” Matt Caraszi said.
“I have a love-hate relationship with my brother so it helps us in the room when we get mad at each other .... ” – North Ridgeville’s Matt Caraszi
“I wanted a first-place medal, so I accomplished my goal. I want to continue to better my record. I’m 11-4 right now and I want to get better.”
Dunstan won a 9-0 major decision over Oberlin’s Robert Bouchonville, despite Bouchonville being the No. 1 seed and he the No. 2.
“I was pretty confident coming in,” he said. “Even not being a first seed, I was confident. I started off really slow but I knew I needed to keep getting to my attacks. I just tried to score as many points as possible.”
Lutheran West placed fourth with 145 points and was led by individual champions senior Parker Watson (138) and sophomore Donovan Palmer (160).
Watson, an Ohio State commit, was tested against No. 14-ranked Jacob Martz of Western Reserve, winning an 11-6 decision.
Watson viewed the early season test as a positive thing before the Medina Invitational Tournament.
“It kind of psyched me out early when I couldn’t get my stuff,” Parker said. “I knew how good he was coming in and he gave me a good match. I wish I had more matches like that. It’s what you have to do to get better. I want to get tested because when you get thrown into the state pit you’ve got to really go. You can’t just go the whole season without strong matches. It gives me a good confidence boost.”
His teammate, Palmer, pinned Northwestern’s Hal Huber in 3:08.
“I attacked whenever I could attack and defended shots,” Palmer said. “If I wrestle my match, I believe there are a lot of good things I can do. We all feed off of Parker Watson and he brings so much life to our practice. I just hope I can do the same for other people.”
Clearview finished sixth (121.5) and Oberlin was 11th (54) out of 12 teams.