The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Schulke, Elmore advance in state tourney
Burnett, Evans and Munguia advance for Elyria; Saxton and Bingham for Avon
Columbia’s Cole Schulke stayed aggressive and Fairview’s Jack Elmore secured a place on the podium.
In the third period of Nate Burnett’s quarterfinals match against Highland James Scavuzzo, disaster nearly stuck for the Elyria junior.
With the match tied at one, Burnett let Scavuzzo break through to his legs.
With Scavuzzo grabbing on for dear life, Burnett hopped towards the end of the mat, getting out of bounds before Scavuzzo could bring him down.
Less than a minute later, Burnett brought Scavuzzo down, recording back points in the process to take a 5-1 lead — the margin he’d go on to win by. With his win, Burnett became the first area wrestler to clinch a spot in the second day of the state tournament.
By the time March 13 ended, Burnett was joined by two other teammates in the form of Enrique Munguia (160) and Jake Evans (182).
Avon’s Cael Saxton (132) and Mason Bingham (285) also advanced to the second day along with Olmsted Falls’ Nate Urry (160).
Burnett, Munguia, Evans and Urry are all still in the running for a state title.
After Burnett opened the tournament with a 14-4 major decision win over Northmont’s Miles Moyer, Burnett faced off against Scavuzzo in a matchup of the No. 1 and No. 3 wrestlers in the state.
“I kept trying to get to what I wanted and (Scavuzzo) did a great job of not letting me get it,” Burnett said.
Both wrestlers recorded escapes in the first two periods before Burnett’s aforementioned tie-breaking takedown.
“I finally got it there at the end so after that I was pretty comfortable,” Burnett said. “I don’t’ score a whole lot but I also don’t get scored on either, so I don’t have guys on my legs a lot. That’s respect to him that he was able to get past my hands and get down on my legs. That’s a mutual respect there. That’s two guys who want it.”
Evans did his best to help put the Elyria pin record out of reach, recording two pinfall wins en route to the state title.
Evans opened with a first period pin of Grove City’s Brayden Benson before pinning Wadsworth’s Jazz Jackson in the quarterfinals to bump his career pin total up to 120.
“It’s been my goal (since freshman year) to get 120 pins,” Evans said. “It’s been a long time coming. When you’re able to go out there and pin guys early in matches it helps you have more stamina later in the season.”
Evans’ road to a state title got a little easier as well, as St. Edward’s Hudson Hightower — the No. 1 wrestler in the state at 182 and presumed state champion — was upset in the quarterfinals by Mason’s Owen Amburgy.
Amburgy will face Nordonia’s Sal Perrine (the No. 2 wrestler at 182) while Evans will go against Teays Valleys’ Camden McDanel. Even with the shakeup at the top of the bracket, Evans isn’t looking ahead.
“I’m not the kind of guy who looks at brackets,” said Evans, who beat Hightower at the Perrysburg District a week ago. “I don’t care who I have, I’ll wrestle whoever and show them what I’ve got.”
Munguia and Urry make up half of the semifinal bracket, with Urry facing off against St. Edward’s Padric Gallagher (The No. 1 160-pouder in the state) and Munguia going against Brunswick’s Derek Fields. Munguia, Fields and Gallagher are all nationally ranked, setting up what should be an excellent finish at 160 pounds.
Munguia beat Marysville’s Jack Golla in the opening round (14-1 major decision) before beating Little Miami’s Alex Hobbs in the quarterfinals (pin in 4:38).
“I’m going out there just to have fun,” Munguia said of his matchup with Fields.
“It’s always fun to go out there and battle hard and hopefully make your opponent battle harder.”
Urry’s season will end with him being a state placer at worse, something he made his mission going into the year.
“After the state tournament got taken away last year I really wanted to get to the podium,” Urry said. “I’m not satisfied just being here.”
While Saxton’s dreams for a state title have been dashed, the three-time state qualifier (and now two-time placer) is eager to end his high school career on a good note.
His state tournament was altered in his first match, as he suffered an ankle sprain in the closing seconds of his opening 5-3 win over Westerville South’s Fuanyi Fobellah. After limping off the mat, he came back out in the quarterfinals, suffering an 11-4 major decision loss to Walsh Jesuit’s Dyvaire VanDyke, the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the state.
(VanDyke) was really quick and took it to me,” Saxton said. “He wanted it more than me; that wasn’t because of my ankle, he just wanted it more.”
Saxton defeated Reynoldsburg’s Michael Dawkins 5-2 in the consolation second round to clinch a state placer spot. He’ll wrestle Moeller’s Brayden Zenni March 14 in the consolation semifinals.
“I’ll rest up and get some ice on this ankle and I won’t even feel it tomorrow,” Saxton said. “I’ve gotten eight before and I didn’t like it so I’m anything but satisfied right now.”
Like Saxton, the rest of Bingham’s tournament will come in the consolation bracket. After dropping his second round match to Dillard Darby’s Bradley Weaver (the No. 1 heavyweight in the state) Bingham beat Brunswick’s Evan Sevastos 5-1 to advance to the consolation quarterfinals.
“my goal coming in to was be a state placer, so it feels good to accomplish that,” Bingham said. He was a state qualifier last season. “I just made sure to wrestle my matches and not do anything that would put me in a dangerous situation.”
With the OHSAA unable to use the Schottenstein Center to host the state tournament, this year’s tournament is hosted at three different high schools across Ohio, with Hillard Darby hosting the Division I Tournament.
While it doesn’t hold the normal spectacle of the state tournament (in some ways it feels more like a midseason tournament than the big stage), area wrestlers had no trouble getting pumped up for matches.
“They have a tunnel (between gyms) so they’re trying to still give it that state feel,” Burnett said. “The amount of work that Ohio’s wrestling community has put in for this is sweet. They could have had in some gym or they could have not had it at all but they made it so this has that state tournament atmosphere.”
Elyria’s Colin Noel (113) and Erich Trinski (152) and North Olmsted’s Jeffrey Kennedy (120) all picked up one win over the course of the day.
Elyria’s Alex Green (106) and Conner Holm (126), North Ridgeville’s Zach Orseno (120), Olmsted Falls’ Carson Arkins (138) and RJ Simon (182) and Westlake’s Khaled Askar (132) all went 0-2.
The second day of the tournament starts at 10 a.m. on March 14. In the first session, all 14 weight classes will wrestle together (something that had yet to happen this postseason) and complete everything up until the 3rd / 5th / 7th matches. The second session will be championship matches only.
Former astronaut Frank Borman is 93. Actor Michael Caine is 88. Composerconductor Quincy Jones is 88. Actor Raymond J. Barry is 82. Movie director Wolfgang Petersen is
80. Country singer Michael Martin Murphey is 76. Rock musician Walt Parazaider (formerly with Chicago) is
76. Actor Steve Kanaly is
75. Comedian Billy Crystal is
73. Actor-writer-comedianradio personality Rick Dees is 70. Country singer Jann Browne is 67. Actor Adrian Zmed is 67. Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, is 63. Actor Laila Robins is 62. Actor Tamara Tunie is 62. Actor Penny Johnson Jerald is 61. Producer-directorwriter Kevin Williamson is
56. Actor Elise Neal is 55. Actor Gary Anthony Williams is 55. Actor Megan Follows is 53. Rock musician Michael Bland is 52. Country singer Kristian Bush is 51. Rock musician Derrick is 49. Actor Betsy Brandt is 48. Actor Grace Park is 47. Actor Daniel Gillies is 45. Actor Corey Stoll is
45. Actor Jake Fogelnest is 42. Actor Chris Klein is
42. Actor Ryan Cartwright (TV: “Kevin Can Wait”) is
40. Actor Kate Maberly is
39. Singer-musician Taylor Hanson (Hanson) is 38. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, is
37. Actor Jamie Bell is 35. Rock musician Este Haim (Haim) is 35. NBA star Stephen Curry is 33. Actor Ansel Elgort is 27. Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles is 24.