DeBoe brothers of Mentor headed to Division I state wrestling tournament

Meals of pancakes, pizza and pasta are not going to be on the menu in the DeBoe household this week.

Twin brothers Nate DeBoe (132 pounds) and Connor DeBoe (138) have to be conscious of their weight because both Mentor seniors won their consolation semifinal matches in the rugged Mentor Division I District meet on March 2 to qualify for the state tournament beginning March 7 in Columbus. They are the only area Division I wrestlers to qualify for the state meet.

“I’m super excited,” Mentor wrestling coach Ray Lamanna said. “We have two kids that worked non-stop for four years and it’s paid off. You couldn’t ask for a better end to their high school careers. It’s awesome.”

Connor DeBoe beat Nate Barrett, 10-5, after losing to Jonah Smith by the same score in the semifinals. The victory that sent him to state ended about five minutes before Nate edged Jaden Johnson, 8-5. Connor jumped off the gym floor when the referee raised Nate’s arm and he knew his brother would be joining him in Columbus.

Nate DeBoe ended up fourth after losing the third place match to Blake Saito of Perrysburg in a major decision, 15-3. Connor DeBoe lost his third place match to Matt Zuckerman of Elyria, 9-5.

The top four finishers in each weight class advanced to the state meet.

The state berth for Nate DeBoe is proof persistence pays. He finished fifth at the Mentor District in 2017 and 2018. Connor qualified for Columbus last year at 132 pounds.

“In the wresting room, it’s aggressive, but in every one of Nate’s matches I’m on my feet jumpin’ and shouting’ and hootin’ and hollerin’, Connor DeBoe said. “Nate’s the same way with me. I get excited with all my teammates, but my brother especially.”

Instead of leaving him discouraged, finishing fifth as a sophomore and junior motivated Nate DeBoe to finish the mission. He and his brother hope to continue their wrestling careers at Baldwin Wallace or Lake Erie College, but first they plan to enter the Naval Reserves.

“The past two years I was the state alternate,” Nate DeBoe said. “I did not want that to happen again. “I worked really hard to get here. I was hoping to win the semis, but I just kept my head right. I was hoping to finish first, but I’m going to try to win my last match at Mentor.”

St. Edward cruised to the team title with 303.5 points. Elyria was second with 237 points. Mentor led area teams finishing ninth with 48.5 points.

It was a tough day for other wrestlers from The News-Herald area. Madison 170-pound wrestler Brody Arrundale won both his matches on March 1, but then was pinned in 55 seconds by Jake Evans of Elyria in the semifinals. He lost the Dalton Diaz of North Olmsted in the consolation semifinals.

Markie McElroy, the 152-pounder from Riverside, suffered a similar fate. He won his two matches March 1 and then ran into the Elyria buzzsaw. Pioneers sophomore Enrique Munguia pinned McElroy in 3:07 in a semifinal match and then McElroy fell to Noah Ewen of Massillon Perry in the consolation semis.

Sophomore Chris Rocha of Riverside pinned Ethan Sear of Avon in 2:52 in his final match of the night to finish fifth.

Arrundale won his fifthplace match, 17-3, over Johnny Black of John Adams and Freddy Lisy of Euclid finished fifth at 182 pounds by forfeit.

Finishing fifth is significant because if for some reason one of the state qualifiers cannot wrestle at the state meet the fifth place finisher would take that wrestler’s spot in Columbus.