Ward was a top ’Cat on mat

Fourth in a series previewing the 2018 News-Herald High School Sports Hall of Fame. Mike Ward, a former standout wrestler at Mayfield, will be inducted June 15 during a ceremony at halftime of The N-H Senior Bowl at Mayfield High School.

Sometimes all it takes is for a light to go off — then great things can happen.

Mike Ward had always been good at wrestling. But when a light went off at the end of his sophomore season at Mayfield, everything changed.

Wrestling in the 152-pound championship match in the Division I state tournament, Ward was taken down on the edge of the mat in overtime, settling for second place with a 4-2 loss to Massillon Perry’s John Foster.

“Afterward, I was like, ‘Hey, I could have won,’ ” the 2005 Mayfield grad said. “That got me going. I really wanted to be a state champ, and I realized that could happen if I worked hard enough.”

Ward never lost a state tournament match again.

A two-time state champion — and a one-time state runner-up — Ward will be inducted into The News-Herald’s High School Sports Hall of Fame at halftime of the News-Herald Senior Bowl on June 15.

“It’s a real honor,” said Ward, who will be flying in from Texas for the presentation. “It’s humbling. I’m very grateful for it. It’s the first accomplishment I’ve had since I hung up my shoes, the first time I’ve been recognized. I’m very grateful for that.”

Ward’s ascension to greatness wasn’t a monumental surprise. He started wrestling at 6, and his father took him all over the state and the country to take part in tournaments.

And when he got a little older, his sister married former St. Edward state champion wrestler Yoshi Nakamura, who took his younger brother-in-law under his wing to further his tutelage.

But when Ward got to high school, that’s when his career skyrocketed.

After going 1-2 in the state tournament as a 152-pound freshman, Ward made it to the title bout a year later against Foster.

That loss produced so much ambition for the future.

“It was a good call,” he said of the overtime takedown by Foster. “He was a senior, I was a sophomore and he was better than me that night. But I know I could have won. That really fueled me.”

The next year, Ward beat Wadsworth’s Adam Melton, 4-3, for the 171-pound championship. As a senior, his dominating 13-6 win over Hilliard Darby’s Phil Hettlinger made him a two-time state champ.

“When I won my first one and beat Adam Melton, me and (Mayfield assistant Dan) Carcelli were ecstatic,” Ward said. “We couldn’t believe we had done it. Mayfield was on a little bit of a state-title drought then. A lot of good, good guys fell short. After Mike Ward, a two-time state champion wrestler from Mayfield, will be inducted into the News-Herald Sports Hall of Fame on June 15 at halftime of the N-H Senior Bowl. He is shown with his wife Andrea.

that first one — wow.”

It’s often said winning a second title is harder than winning the first. Ward said it wasn’t like that for him. In fact, he said with a wrestling scholarship to Penn State already locked up, he might have coasted a little bit as a senior.

It didn’t matter at the state tournament, as he ransacked Hettlinger, 13-6.

“I probably didn’t work as hard as a senior,” he admitted. “If I could go back. I’d do things differently and work harder. It was easy.”

Ward said finished his career with a 120-12 record. He headed off to Penn State, where he admitted things didn’t go exactly as planned.

He ended his college wrestling career at Rider University in New Jersey with no regrets.

He said he didn’t wrestle up to his potential at Penn State.

“It was just different,” he said. “I was distracted easily and made some poor decisions in those years. I had struggles, for sure, but wrestling was a big reason why I got through it.”

Ward indicated he wrestled to the level of his competition at times.

“I was that kid in college that if you put me in a room with a national champion, we’re scrappin’,” he said. “Put

me under the lights, and I couldn’t get it together. I was a headcase sometimes.”

Ward got his degree from Rider in sociology. He is now a project manager for Cornerstone Roofing in Texas, a job he said he thoroughly enjoys.

“When I graduated, the job market (in Ohio) was horrible,” he said. “I got motivated, learned my niche in this business and am in Texas. It’s a busy, year-round job.”

He and his wife, Andrea, are expecting their first child — daughter Scarlet — in the near future.

Ward looks back fondly on his days as a wrestler at Mayfield. Even prior to that, the memories flood back to him of his father James “Dubber” Ward and his mom Sally carting him all over the state and nation for wrestling events.

He said returning to his alma mater to be inducted into the Hall of Fame will be special to him.

“I mean, no, it doesn’t seem like it’s been 13 years already,” he said, harkening back to his high school graduation. “I worked really, really hard at wrestling — trained my butt off. I learned a lot from my coaches and teammates. The harder you work, the luckier you get.

“I’m so honored to be recognized for that.”

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