The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Elyria sends nine to state tournament
PERRYSBURG » For most of the season, it’s seemed like Elyria and St. Edward have been battling against each other for Division I wrestling superiority.
The Division I district tournament at Perrysburg High School on March 7 was no exception.
The Pioneers finished in second place with a team score of 215.5 while sending nine wrestlers to the state tournament. The Eagles totaled a team score of 269 while advancing 12 to state.
The nine Elyria wrestlers headed to the state tournament are Colin Noel (106), Peyton Fenton (113), Bryce Allison (120), Dylan Shawver (126), Nate Burnett (132), Mick Burnett (138), Enrique Munguia (145), Jake Evans (182) and Ben Doehr (192). Shawver, Mick Burnett and Jake Evans finished in first place Noel while Fenton, Nate Burnett, Allison and Doehr finished in second and Munguia finished in third.
While Elyria’s divisional showing was another dominant performance, things weren’t always going well for the Pioneers, as they opened the final round with three straight losses from Noel, Fenton and Allison. Both Fenton and Allison lost their matches by one point.
“Colin knows his match was winnable. He beat that kid earlier in the year. Fenton was right there with his match and we all know Bryce is there, he’s beaten that kid before,” Mick Burnett said. “We just need to go back to the drawing board. We’ll figure it out.”
Oregon Clay (150.5) and Perrysburg (139.5) came in third and fourth, respectively, while Avon finished with fifth with 81 points. The Eagles finished with three qualifiers — Cael Saxton (113), Jordan Greer (191) and Mason Bingham (285) — and a state alternate in Ty Daugherty (106).
“We had a really good week of preparation,” Greer said. “I was more excited about my teammates matches than mine. We have a super young team,
so it’s amazing to get that many guys out there.”
Last year, Avon sent four wrestlers to the state tournament with Greer being one of them. While the Eagles might only be sending three this year, coach Jeremy Johnson is happy with his team’s performance.
“This is a tough district tournament,” he said. “I thought we preformed pretty well, sending three guys out of this tournament is a good thing. I think we wrestled well.”
For Elyria’s Shawver and Mick Burnett their final state berth might be the sweetest. Shawver beat St. Ed’s Kayden Kralik on an 11-3 major decision while Burnett beat Anthony Wayne’s Zack Snyder on a 17-3 tech fall.
“I came out that first period and tried to get that pin, but it’s still big to be able to get those bonus points,” Mick Burnett said of his match. “Our coaches
keep talking about us getting bonus points, so we’ve been working on turning guys and pinning guys and I think it’s starting to pay off. We’re wrestling pretty good right now.”
Shawver was one of four Pioneers to go against a St. Edward wrestler in the finals, with him and Evans picking up wins.
Evans picked up a 7-0 win over St. Ed’s Michael Garcar. While Evans might not have won by pin, he’s still happy with how he controlled the match.
“I haven’t had a full match in a month or two, so this put some fuel in the tank,” Evans said. “At some point during the state tournament you’re going to find a guy that’s going to take you the full match.”
One wrestler who’s having trouble finding a full match is Midview’s Daniel Bucknavich. Bucknavich — who finished in first at 285 pounds — won all three of
his matches by first period pins. Bucknavich is 39-0 on the season with almost every one of his wins coming by pin.
“I’m always thinking about how to try to get a guy on his back,” Bucknavich said. “I’m always thinking about ending it.”
While St. Edward might have more wrestlers headed to the state tournament, Evans has the utmost confidence that Elyria will be able to match the Eagles’ production.
“Most of our guys are elite wrestlers and some of the St. Ed’s guys are barely making it in and that’s not what we want,” Evans said. “We want a solid team. Somebody that will go down to state and not only with the first match and the match after that and we won’t have to worry about it. We definitely have a good chance.”