The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Riverside ends an 11-year drought
Beavers capture WRC title; race went to final match
Somehow, deep down, Riverside wrestling coach Mike Richner knew it wouldn’t be easy for his program to snap its 11year conference championship drought.
But after a rough final round and a recount of points between coaches and tournament officials that kept fans and wrestlers alike on the edge of their seats on Feb. 9, a conference championship banner will again be hoisted at Riverside.
Buoyed by first-place finishes from Oscar Rocha (126) and Danny Martich (145), Riverside survived a late push by host Madison to clinch its first league title since 2008 with a 188 to 184.5 advantage over the Blue Streaks.
Mayfield (166), Chardon (142), Kenston (134), North (124), South (61) and Brush (52) rounded out the league race.
The last time Riverside won a wrestling title, current assistant Justin Toth was wrestling for the Beavers in the now-defunct Premier Athletic Conference.
“I don’t think these guys truly comprehend how special this is,” said Richner of his team. “But the people who have been around the program a long time do. I know the bus ride home is going to be a heck of a lot more fun.”
Riverside entered the final round with a large lead over the rest of the field. But the Beavers went 2-5 in championship matches and 1-2 in third-place matches.
Conversely, Madison went 4-1 in its title bouts and had four third-place finishers.
Heading into the heavyweight bout, tournament
officials indicated that if Madison’s heavyweight Dominick Zirkle won by a technical fall or pin in the third-place match, that the Blue Streaks would win the league title. So when Zirkle pinned Mayfield’s Antonio Mangelluzzi, it set off a raucous celebration.
Nearly 20 minutes later, after coaches and tournament officials crunched the numbers, it was revealed that Riverside had indeed held onto its lead.
“We were all rooting for Mayfield,” Richner said. “I’m glad we went back and re-validated everything line by line. It was frustrating. But I’m glad we did it.”
When the final results were announced, the Riverside wrestlers flocked to the podium for a championship photo that the program
hasn’t taken in more than a decade.
“It really shows how much hard work we put into this program,” said senior Oscar Rocha. “It shows all the effort we put in individually and as a team.”
While Riverside did get championships from Oscar Rocha and Martich, the Beavers lost in four other title bouts. Jared Farenchak (106), Chris Rocha (113), Tyler Wittreich (120), Tyler Longstaff (138) and Markie McElroy (152) all finished second.
Gabe Richner (132) and Noah Kneier (220) finished third. It was Kneier’s pin in the 220 third-place match that ended up clinching the title for the Beavers.
“Gabe was upset in the semis, but he fought his way back for third,” Richner
said of his son. “And Kneier came through big for us. Those were two big ones for us.”
Madison had a superb final round. Shayne Magda posted a hard-fought 1-0 win over McElroy for the 152-pound title, David Thompson took a 5-2 win over Kenston’s Michael Thompson at 160, Logan Blough win by pin at 182 and Derek Zirkle won, 2-1, at 220 on a late penalty point.
That, along with four third-place finishes, gave the Blue Streaks a slew of points in the final round.
“The ferocity, the fight everyone had, our closeness,” Derek Zirkle said, “we showed it. It came down to just a few points.”
Said his brother Dominick of his team: “We’re going to fight until the
bitter end, no matter what.”
Mayfield’s third-place finish was anchored by Carlo Santoro’s pin for the 106-pound title and a pin by freshman Dom Tudini at 138 for the title.
Tudini, the fifth seed, beat the top two seeds en route to the championship.
“I had beaten the first seed (Madison’s Brad McKeon) in the beginning of the year. So I was confident I was going to win,” Tudini said.
Chardon crowned champions in Jake Hamulak (113), Jaden Farris (120) and Jaret Hall (heavyweight). Farris and Hall won by pin, while Hamulak took a 7-0 win over Riverside’s Chris Rocha in a battle between returning state-qualifiers.
“I had the flu and missed two weeks, so I wasn’t at full strength (for a while),” Hamulak said after winning his third WRC title. “It’s good to see the improvement.”
Kenston’s lone champion was Seth Samidan at 132. A year ago, Samidan was a junior varsity wrestler. He is now a league champ after his third-period pin.
“Talking to my coaches, they told me to keep my head up and work hard in the room,” Samidan said. “They said if i kept going that I would get on the podium.”
Other champions were South’s Josh Hendershot, a 6-5 winner over Kenston’s Joe Koplow at 170, and North’s Jonny Dotson, who won by pin at 195.