The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake sends eight to state tournament
Perry’s Rowan wins district title at 106
ALLIANCE >> The Lake Catholic wrestling team collectively felt it didn’t perform well on Day 1 of the Alliance District tournament on March 1.
Come Day 2, the Cougars made up for it.
Propelled by a stellar consolation semifinal round in which seven of the eight Cougars who wrestled won, Lake Catholic advanced eight wrestlers to the Division II state tournament next weekend in Columbus.
Leading the pack sophomore Cole Hivnor. The projected state champion at 170 pounds, Hivnor lost, 3-1 in the championship match, but will still enter the state tournament as a No. 2 seed.
Hivnor will be joined in Value City Arena by Brendan McCrone (fourth at 106), Anthony Trivisonno (fourth at 120), Conor McCrone (third at 126), Nick Coreno (third at 132), Dakota Ryan (third at 152), Sean O’Dwyer (fourth) and Dorian Gridiron (third at 182).
The eight state qualifiers are the most since the 2015-16 Cougars, led by then-coach Eric Lakia, sent eight to the Division II state tournament.
“I believe Tim Armelli got nine one time in the ‘90s,” firstyear Lake coach Scott Hivnor said. “But this today is the best match I’ve ever been part of.”
With eight wrestlers placing in the top four, Lake Catholic finished fourth in the team standings with 141 points.
It trailed champion Aurora (181.5), Canfield (158) and Louisville (145.5).
Aside from the Lake Eight, also making the grade on Day 2 of the Alliance District were Perry’s Kyle Rowan (first at 106), Chardon’s Jake Hamulak (second at 113) and Geneva’s Charlie Taylor (fourth at 220).
Lake Catholic’s consolation semifinal round was packed with emotion from beginning to end, starting with Brendan McCrone bouncing back from a disappointing overtime loss in his 106-pound semifinal to Trivisonno rebounding from a first-round loss to win in the “blood round”
to the emotional win at 182 for Gridiron, who missed 2 1/2 years of wrestling recovering from injuries sustained in a 100foot fall off a cliff while hiking.
“We felt we didn’t have a good day (Friday),” Hivnor said. “We told them it’s a new day, to not worry about it. Just stay focused, stay in the moment and focus on your wrestling.
“I’m sure proud of what they did today.”
Conor McCrone was a wrecking ball in the consolation bracket after losing a tight second-round match on March 1. He scored 35 points in three matches to clinch a fourth straight trip to Columbus.
Moments before, his brother Brendan, pinned Ravenna Southeast’s Mason Amodio for the second time in the tournament to
clinch a state berth.
“It’s going to be one of the coolest feelings ever being with my brother down there,” the younger McCrone said. “It’s a oncein-a-lifetime thing that I’ll remember the rest of my life.”
Trivisonno lost his tournament opener March 1, but won four in a row in the consolation bracket to punch a state ticket. He got a reversal on the edge of the mat with less than 30 seconds remaining to win his consolation semifinal.
“I had faced him this year, so I knew how he wrestled,” Trivisonno said of his consolation semifinal bout. “I knew what he was going for. I capitalized and got the reversal for the lead, and ended up winning.”
Coreno, who missed weight last year and didn’t wrestle at districts, lost his
semifinal match, but battled back to win in the consolation semis to earn a trip to Columbus.
Ryan and O’Dwyer, who transferred from University last spring, won their consolation semifinals within minutes of each other. Ryan got an escape, takedown and two near-fall points for an 8-4 win over Alliance’s Zach Rogers. Then O’Dwyer built a big lead early and held on for an 8-7 win over Streetsboro’s Chris Anderson.
Ryan defeated O’Dwyer for fifth place last year. Now they’re teammates and drill partners.
“We pushed each other all year and got it done,” O’Dwyer said. “It was awesome.”
Capping the thrilling blood round for Lake Catholic was Gridiron’s 6-2 win over Tallmadge’s Nate Amato. “It’s more than gratifying,” Gridiron said, thinking back to his near-death experience in a hiking accident. “Me being off 2 1/2 years and being able to do this? Now I’m going to state? Not many people thought I could do it.”
Aside from the Lake Catholic contingent, Rowan, Hamulak and Taylor all advanced to the state tournament.
Rowan won his consolation semifinal over Canfield’s Nick Barber, 10-5, then kept his record undefeated at 37-0 with an 8-3 decision over over Akron SVSM’s Kenneth Crosby in the 106-pound championship match.
Hamulak finished second at 113 after a 3-2 loss to projected state champion Jacob Decatur of CVCA. Even so, Hamulak was on Cloud 9 after placing third in the district last year.
“This was the first goal,” Hamulak said of qualifying for state. “The second goal is to place higher (eighth) than last year.”
Taylor finished fourth at 220, becoming the first state qualifier at Geneva for fourth-year coach Chris Stamper.
“It feels great,” Taylor said.
When asked the difference this year and last year, when he went 0-2 at the Alliance District, Taylor said, “My heart. My coaches helped me a lot. My teammates helped me a lot. Everything was great.”
One additional wrestler kept his state hopes alive by placing fifth. Junior Jaret Hall of Chardon won by pin in the consolation final and will be a state alternate.