Wildcats capture WRC title

Sometimes it’s better not to know the task that lies ahead.

That was the case for Mayfield’s sophomore heavyweight Marco Tramantano at the Western Reserve Conference wrestling tournament on Feb. 10 in Madison.

Heading into the final weight class of the tournament, Mayfield held a 192-191.5 lead over Madison.

With Tramantano set to go up against Madison’s Jacob Glass, the scenario was simple — whoever won gave his team the league championship.

Tramantano responded, pinning Glass in the battle of sophomore heavyweights, giving Mayfield a 198-191.5 advantage in the team standings.

It’s Mayfield’s first league title in wrestling since 2011.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Tramantano of clinching the championship for his team.”

Only he didn’t know what was riding on his match.

“I’m glad I didn’t,” he said with a laugh. “It would have made me more nervous.”

In a tight match, Tramantano chose the top position going into the second period. Giving up nearly 40 pounds to the larger counterpart from Madison, Tramantano knew if he chose the bottom position, Glass very well could have worn him down and zapped what energy he had left.

“He stumbled, a wrist-and-a-half (nelson) came open, and I got it,” he said. “I pinned him.”

Mayfield coach Dwight Fritz, an assistant on the Wildcats football team for which Tramantano is a standout defensive lineman, knew what his young heavyweight was capable of.

“He’s a busy heavyweight,” Fritz said. “He moves around, a lot of leftand-right action. He has good takedown moves ... and he’s very good on top.”

Tramantano wasn’t the only Wildcat to come through in the late stages of the tournament. At 220, Elijah Harrison won a 5-4 decision over Madison’s Dominick Zirkle in the ultimate tiebreaker, escaping from Zirkle 11 seconds into the final sudden-death period.

Harrison, unseeded at the tourney’s start, upended top-seeded Sean Turchon of North in the first match, then took down thirdseeded Zirkle for a title few saw coming.

“He wasn’t even seeded and he took first,” Fritz marveled. “You see the run he was on and you’re like,

“He’s a busy heavyweight. He moves around, a lot of left-and-right action. He has good takedown moves ... and he’s very good on top.” — Mayfield Dwight Fitz, on heavyweight Marco Tramantano

‘Holy mackerel!’”

Tramantano and Harrison were two of the four champions Mayfield crowned. The Wildcats had eight going for first place, with half of them taking the title.

Aside from Tramantano and Harrison, also placing first were Billy Fleming (152) and Josh Appling (160).

Runner-up finishes were recorded by Anthony White (106), Sonny Fontana (126), Mike Harden (138) and Evan Schmidt (195).

“This was a big performance for us today,” Tramantano said. “We know that through all the injuries we’ve had this year, we still have a fighting chance. We’re still a good team. We know we can win. I think this will help us as sectionals get here.”

Aside from Zirckle and Glass taking second place, the Blue Streaks got individual championships from Jeff Brichford (132) and Shayne Magda (145).

Riverside (187 points) was just 4.5 points behind Riverside, placing third.

The Beavers piled up five champions — Chris Rocha (106), Oscar Rocha (120), Danny Martich (126), Alex Farenchak (160) and Matt Lamos (195).

Others claiming individual championships were Chardon’s Jake Hamulak (113), South’s Gage Miller (138) and Chardon’s Sam Eldridge at 182.