The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake takes second in Division II state duals
Cougars cruise in early rounds, but Wauseon too much in championship
COLUMBUS » The Lake Catholic wrestling team went to Columbus searching for a gold rush.
The Cougars settled for silver.
After destroying Fairfield Union and Hamilton Ross in the first two rounds, secondseeded Lake Catholic lost to top-seeded Wauseon, 48-12, in the Division II state duals final on Feb. 11 at St. John Arena.
“I’m proud of the boys,” Coach Eric Lakia said. “Second in the state? This is my fourth year here and this is the farthest we’ve made it. We have nothing to hang our heads about.”
Lake Catholic dominated Fairfield Union, 63-15, and Hamilton Ross, 60-12, thanks in large part to their propensity to pile up wins and bonus points.
Through the first two rounds, the Cougars won 23 of 28 matchups, 20 of which included bonus points (major decisions, technical falls or pins). Specifically, 14 of those 20 wins came via pins.
Wauseon proved to be a much more formidable opponent.
“We fell short,” said Lake Catholic senior Hunter Ryan, who went 3-0 on the day. “Hat’s off to Wauseon. They have a great team from top to bottom.”
The only wins Lake Catholic managed were by Nick Coreno (10-2 major decision at 106), Hunter Ryan (7-1 decision at 120) and Kevon Freeman (by forfeit at 160).
The Cougars had a 7-3 lead through three weight classes. But once the Indians got rolling, there wasn’t much the Cougars could do to stop it.
After Ryan’s win over Alex Slattman, Wauseon won five in a row to turn a 7-3 deficit into a 21-6 lead.
Lake Catholic was penalized a team point for misconduct during the run. But it did not matter in the end team results.
There were some close ones during that fivematch run, such as Nolan Ray’s 10-8 decision over Conor McCrone on a late takedown or Gage Grunden’s 5-2 win over Dakota Ryan.
But while Lake dominated with bonus-point victories in the first two rounds, it was Wauseon piling up the bonus points in the final.
Of the Indians’ 10 headto-head wins, three came by pin and three by major decision.
Of the final 11 bouts, the only one that didn’t end in a Wauseon win was at 160, where the Indians forfeited to Lake’s two-time state champion Freeman.
“Yeah, that was disappointing,” Freeman said. “I wanted to wrestle in this state championship environment. But that’s part of the sport, I guess. I just have to deal with it.”
While the final match didn’t go as planned, the first two couldn’t have gone much better for the Cougars.
In a 63-15 romp over Fairfield Union in the opener, the Cougars rode the momentum of a 30-0 lead that came via pins by Coreno at 106, Ryan at 120, Tommy Frazier at 126 and McCrone at 132, sandwiched around a forfeit win at 113 by Anthony Trivisonno.
The Cougars them pummeled sixth-seeded Hamilton Ross, 60-12, in the semifinal round. Ross upset third-ranked Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, 37-36 in a semifinal match that went to the fifth criteria (most pins).
Of the 12 matches the Cougars won against the rams, 10 included bonus points — including seven pins.
Combine the effort Lake Catholic put forth in the win over Fairfield Union in the opening round, and the Cougars won 23 of 28 matches, with 20 garnering bonus points — and 14 total pins.
“It’s everything,” Lakia said of the bonus points, “especially in duals like this. When you can get a six-point win over a three-point win, that adds up. It keeps the team going, motivates them. There was no slowing us down there in that last match. That was exciting to watch.”
With the state duals in the rearview mirror, Lake Catholic headed back up Interstate 71 to prepare for the upcoming Division II sectional tournament, the first step in a path that the Cougars hope leads many of them to the Jerome Schottenstein Center — just a stone’s throw from St. John Arena — for the state individual tournament March 1-3.
“I think as a team, we really came together this week and had our best practices of the week,” McCrone said. “This wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but we showed what we are made of as a team and what we’re capable of.”
This was Lake Catholic’s third consecutive trip to the Division II state duals. The Cougars lost in the semifinal round in both 2016 and 2017 to St. Paris Graham.
Wauseon’s state title comes on the heels of two straight second-place finishes to St. Paris Graham, which moved up to Division I in this year’s duals. The Falcons faced St. Edward in the Division I state championship.
“This is a stepping stone,” he said. “A state tournament trophy hasn’t been brought back to Lake Catholic in a good amount of years. Nobody likes losing, but there’s nothing to hang your head about taking second in the state. I’m happy with it.”