Perry-Mentor match truly an alumni night for the Cardinals

When Perr y t ravels t o Mentor on Feb. 12 for a nonconference dual, the Cardinals will celebrate senior night. They will also celebrate alumni night, which might be a bigger deal than any other time in program history. In nine of the 14 weight classes being wrestled, sons of for mer Mentor wrest ler s will t a ke t he mat. The unique situation was brought to light by former Mentor coach Joe Hada, who coached the fathers of those nine. The list of wrestlers who will take part in the dual, whose fathers wrestled for Hada, include: • Mentor’s 113-pounder Parker Brunkala, whose father Larr y (1987) and Uncle Tim (1990) wrestled at Mentor. • Perry 120 - p ou nder Zach Berdysz, whose father Pat (1989) and Uncle Jeff (1986) wrestled at Mentor. • Perry 126-pounder Zach Bubonic, whose father Brad (1989) wrestled at Mentor. • Mentor 138 -pounder Austin Victor, whose father Todd (1988) and Uncles Jim and Kim wrestled at Mentor Mentor 14 5 - pounder Kyle Hennig, whose father Paul (1984) and Uncle Rich wrestled at Mentor. • Perr y 160-pounder Bo Crop comments: Lake Catholic is firm at No. 1, but the rest could change seemingly on a weekly basis. ... Mentor stays at 2, and will face. No. 4 Perry on Feb. 12. ... Kenston lost to Perry in a dual last week, but then had a strong showing to win the WRC title. CVC champ Perry is at 4. ... Mayfield finished ahead of South in the WRC tournament, but don’t be surprised if South goes ahead of the Wildcats at the sectionals. Just a hunch. ... Geneva, Chardon and Cardinal remain unchanged. Bubonic, whose father Brad (1989) wrestled at Mentor. • Mentor 182-pounder Dominic Shelley, whose fa- ther Jerry (1984) wrestled at Mentor. • Mentor 195-pound Max Hill, whose father Tim (1986) wrestled at Mentor. • Mentor heav y weight Brian Ross, whose father Br i an (1 991) wrestled at Mentor. “Their fathers were teammates and all a major part of the success of the 1980s and 1990s at Mentor High School,” Hada said. “We all have fond memories of the old GCC when the gym would be packed and even sold out at near 4,000 people for a dual match, and one year oversold by 400 people. The legendary matches and stories of these contests have been passed on from fathers to sons — they were great moments and still great memories.”

Milestone watching

Chagrin Fallsseni or Ricky Renton will head into this weekend’s triangular against Newbury and Normandy with 114 wins, one win short of the school record of 115 wins shared by Eric Speed and Dave Roberts. A sweep in the triangular would give Renton the record. Renton is 38-3 this year with 18 pins as the Tigers’ 160-pounder. “I imagine this is special for his dad, too,” Chagrin head coach Victor Puskas said of Rick Renton. “He has coached his son since youth wrestling and is now my assistant.”

Exciting finish

Perry enjoyed a thrilling senior night recently with a come-from-behind 36-32 win over visiting Kenston. The Bombers led, 32- 9, at one point. But the Pirates rattled off 27 straight points, capping the night with a pin by Nick Mason at heavyweight. “I tip my hat to our seniors,” Coach Dave Rowan said. “Geoffrey Gedeon got us going down the right path. He a nd our ot her t wo seniors, John Miller and Connor VanDeweel, all came through. They scored 12 points for the team. “Af ter Vandy pinned, I turned t o my a ssist ants and said: “Wow, if we pull this off…” Rowan lauded Mason, a 15 -year- old heavy weight , for keeping his composure in the pressure-packed situation. Perr y then followed up that dual win with its fifth straight Chagrin Valley Conference championship over the weekend. “I know we might not be as talented as we have been in the past, but that doesn’t change the way we train,” Rowan said. “When we say, ‘It isn’t about winning,’ we really mean that. We really want boys to become young .• men, to go out and wrestle hard and not be afraid of losing. Sometimes you win those matches, sometimes you don’t.”