The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cougars’ Freeman in rare role: Underdog
Kevon Freeman is the all-time winningest wrestler in Lake Catholic history with 166 career victories.
The senior 160-pounder is a three-time state-placer and has won individual state championships the past two years — the first being as a 132-pound sophomore and the second as a junior 145-pounder.
But when Freeman heads to the Division II state tournament on March 8, he will do so in an unfamiliar territory.
Freeman is going in as an underdog. No, really. Both borofan.net and Intermat — the foremost experts in Ohio wrestling — have predicted St. Paris Graham’s Ryan Thomas will defeat Freeman in the Division II, 160-pound championship bout March 10.
“Yeah, I saw that,” Freeman droned earlier this week during a practice session at Lake Catholic. “It definitely motivates me. But not even just rankings do that. I’m also motivated by the legacy I can leave behind here at Lake Catholic.”
No athlete in school history has won three state championships in wrestling. Freeman is aiming to accomplish that feat.
If the pundits are right, he’ll have to beat Thomas in the championship match to do that, as well as three other matches leading up to the championship bout.
Freeman (44-5) is in the bottom half of the bracket and will face Nick Jackson of Bowling Green (31-6) in the opening round.
Thomas (41-1) is in the top half of the bracket and has Vincent Warren’s Brady Oberdier (46-10) for an opener.
“People say I’m not the favorite, but in my mind,
I am,” Freeman said. “I beat the person who is supposed to win it my sophomore year. I’m comfortable with that.”
Freeman defeated Thomas, 8-4, in 2016 at the Division II state duals during St. Paris Graham’s 57-6 win over Lake Catholic in the semifinal round.
They haven’t faced each other since.
Because St. Paris Graham opted to bump up to Division I for this year’s state dual meet tournament, Freeman and Thomas didn’t wrestle each other. But it’s safe to say both kept an eye on the neighboring mat to see how the other was doing that day in St. John Arena.
“All year I’ve looked at his habits,” Freeman said. “But more importantly, I’ve worked hard to better myself.
I know what I have to do to win a third state title.”
To put himself in the best position to win another state title, Freeman entertained a difficult regimen this year, including appearances at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and the Beast of the East tournaments.
Graham faces an even stronger national-type of schedule, so Thomas is tested mightily as well.
Both Freeman and Thomas have plenty of state tournament experience and criteria heading into this week’s state tournament.
While Thomas was a third-place finisher as a freshman and sophomore, he won the state title at 160 pounds last year.
Freeman was a sixthplace finisher at 120 as a freshman, but then he won
consecutive championships at 132 and 145 his next two years.
If Freeman and Thomas do indeed meet for a state championship this year, it’ll be must-see wrestling: Two wrestlers who are four-time state-placers and returning state champions going against each other one last time before heading off to the college ranks.
Freeman quickly warned it is important not to look past any of the opponents between now and the championship match. But it’s a future he looks forward to meeting.
“I’m pretty confident in what I do,” Freeman said. “But I’ve got the first round, quarters, semis — I just want to do my best at state this year and hopefully win that third state championship.”