Area athletes are ‘devastated’ »

Nick Nastasi was ready to go. A senior wrestler at Kenston, Nastasi was zipping up his suitcase on March 12, his last preparation before heading to Columbus for his final run at high school wrestling.

A phone call from his brother Anthony interrupted his packing process, telling him of the OHSAA’s announcement that all postseason tournaments were being indefinitely suspended because of concerns over the spreading of the novel coronavirus.

Nastasi didn’t believe his brother. He hung upon him.

Then curiosity got the better of the senior 145-pound wrestler and he looked for himself, logging on to The News-Herald’s twitter @NHPreps.

What he saw made him cry. Literally.

“I’m in tears,” Nastasi said.

“It’s terrible. I have no words to adequately describe how I feel right now. I put so much time, effort and dedication into this sport for one last year. For it to end this way is terrible.” In his announcement of suspending all tournaments indefinitely, OHSAA executive director Jerry Snodgrass left open the possibility of resuming tournaments at a later date.

“To say canceled? I don’t want to say that yet,” Snodgrass said in announcing the indefinite suspension of tournament games.

A short while later, Ohio governor Mike DeWine announced that all school in Ohio would go on a mandated three-week spring break beginning March 16, which might be a virtual death sentence to the remainder of the winter sports tournaments.

“My kids and staff are devastated. Simply devastated,” said Cornerstone Christian girls basketball coach Lisa Stopp.

Stopp and the Patriots were in the team hotel in Columbus, getting ready to drive over to St. John Arena for their Division IV state semifinal against Fort Loramie, slated for a 6:15 p.m. start, when rumors on social media started circling that the girls state tournament was in jeopardy.

Madison Cloonan, Michaela Cloonan and Riley Stopp were all in the hotel lobby watching film on Fort Loramie when their coach returned from a lunch run with food for the girls.

“We were all kind of joking that, ‘Naw, that’s not going to happen to us,’” Stopp said of the rumors of a tournament stoppage. “Five minutes later, it did.”

So many facets go into the measures the OHSAA took on March 12 in attempt to stop, or slow down, the spread of COVID-19. The directive from the OHSAA came on the heels of DeWine issuing recommendations of limiting mass gatherings. Hours later, DeWine’s recommendation became more of an order. So what’s next? Do basketball teams such as Stopp’s Patriots, Bob Krizancic’s Mentor boys basketball team and Quentin Rogers’ Richmond Heights boys basketball team continue practicing in case the OHSAA tournaments reconvene in the future?

If so, where do they practice if schools are closed down for three weeks starting next week?

Do wrestlers continue to work out on their own, keep their weight in check and hope that eventually they’ll get to wrestle for state titles they began chasing in November?

“We’re under the assumption that the tournament is postponed, as the OHSAA described it,” said Lake Catholic wrestling coach Scott Hivnor, who said his contingent of eight statequalifiers were “totally devastated” by the OHSAA’s announcement. “We’re going to train like there’s going to be a tournament. It’s the only choice we have.”

Ditto goes for the Patriots.

“We had a lot of tears today. A lot of us were sobbing,” said Cornerstone senior Michaela Cloonan. “It’s tough because we put so much time into this. I hope we do get to play this. I hope we eventually get these games in, but I don’t know.”

Stopp said that after informing her team that they would not be playing this weekend, they gathered and prayed.

“Not just for ourselves and our disappointment, but also for our country,” she said.

The Cornerstone girls basketball team, Nastasi, Hivnor and his squad all said emphatically they’ll be ready if — or when — the OHSAA says “game on.” If not?

It’s a reality most aren’t ready to embrace.

“If that’s the case, it’s really going to hit me hard,” said Mentor’s Nick Sabin, a Division I state-qualifier who has announced he will not wrestle in college and that the state meet would be his final run at competitive wrestling.

“This sport has found a place in my heart — in my life — and it would be hard to let go,” Sabin said. “It’s hard to imagine it might have ended like this, and I might have actually wrestled my last match.”