By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

The High School Wrestling Report is a weekly feature that will catch up with all of the noteworthy performances throughout Portage County from the last week.

WATERLOO

Waterloo freshman Kayne Smith had quite a day in his first high school wrestling match on Dec. 7 in a tournament at Malvern High School. He won the title in the 106-pound weight class.

“Especially for being his first time out, Kayne was pretty dominant in every match he wrestled. I believe he either won by pin or tech fall every single match,” head coach John Foster said. “He was a kid who was kind of a three-sport kid, but his committment to wrestling year-round is the big difference. He’s got that commitment to just get better. I think he developed a passion for the sport in general. When he made that decision is where he really started to separate himself.”

Also taking home a title was senior Dublin Porter at 113.

“Dublin won all three of his matches,” said Foster. “He was pretty dominant as well.”

Overall, Waterloo finished eighth out of 15 teams. Salineville Southern Local won the competition.

“I was happy with the effort. We’re young,” the coach said. “I have a few seniors who have been with me for a long time, but we’re a small number, so kids who are freshmen or kids who are first year just get thrown into the lineup due to low numbers. I had a couple kids who were in the starting lineup who had never wrestled a match before, and I had several who were in the starting lineup who were freshmen having never wrestled a varsity match. I think fundamentally there were things that were lacking, but the kids battled all day. They were aggressive and they were responsive to coaching.”

Finishing third was sophomore Hayden Mays at 120, and taking fourth was junior Jack White at 126.

The Vikings will host the Waterloo D3 Tournament Dec. 20-21.

FIELD BOYS

Field senior Joe D’Amico captured the championship in going 7-0 in the 144-pound weight division in the Falcons’ boys season opener in the Hillsdale Austin Smiley Tournament on Dec. 7 at Hillsdale High School.

“Joe wrestled really well,” head coach Dave Tenney said. “He put a lot of time in in the off-season, and it showed at this tournament. He won decisively in all of his matches.”

Field finished eighth out of 12 teams with 124 points in the pool format competition. Grafton Midview was the champion with 236 points, West Lafayette Ridgewood finished second with 189.5 points and Canton South was third with 186.5 points.

“We had a real good performance,” said Tenney. “The way the pool format works, I had several young men who finished fifth but lost only one match because they lost to the guy who would go on to win that weight class. The best they could do was fifth place.

“These were schools we don’t see very often. It’s kind of nice to get away from teams that you see in Northeast Ohio all the time. We go down to Hillsdale to see some different teams, different competition.”

Freshman A.J. Freudeman finished second in the 106-pound weight division. Taking fifth were senior Carter White at 165, senior Drexal McAines at heavyweight and junior Daniel Hudson at 190.

“A.J. had a real successful middle-school season and opened his varsity career with only one loss,” the coach said. “Carter had only one loss. He had a real good day. Unfortunately in the finals, he just didn’t have his best. He was winning but ended up getting caught. Drexal also had just one loss. He came out for wrestling for the first time this season. I think, for a young man who hadn’t really been on the mat before, he had an outstanding opening weekend. Daniel also had only one loss.”

FIELD GIRLS

The Falcons’ girls team, it finished a respectable 29th out of 48 teams in the program’s first-ever girls wrestling competition at the Michael Fording Invitational Dec. 8 at Brush High School in Lyndhurst.

“I think the team, overall, did well,” head coach Mason Brainard said. “For being their first tournament of the season, and a lot of them it being their first-ever match, the girls went out there and did a lot of the moves we’d been working on in practice, so that was encouraging and good to see that they were going out there and trying the things we’d been working on.

“I think everyone had a positive day. Even in the matches that didn’t go their way, the girls were able to learn something and make some adjustments for their next matches. Overall, I think it was a positive day for the team. We didn’t have anyone who placed, but almost everyone got their first win. It was a good learning experience because the girls had been wrestling for just a couple weeks. It was nice for them to wrestle against opponents other than their own teammates.”

The Falcons will travel to Rootstown on Dec. 12.

ROOTSTOWN

Three individual first-place finishes led to a third-place standing for Rootstown in its season opener in the 14-team Ashland Sarver Paving Invitational on Dec. 7 at Ashland High School.

The Rovers tallied 176.5 points. Ashland won the title with 362.5 points, and Massillon Jackson was second with 201.5 points.

The three individual titlists were seniors Nick Malek in the 150-pound weight class, Tristan McKibben at 175 and Brian Youngblood at 190.

“Nick’s finals match was really close,” head coach Anthony Anderson said. “It came down to him getting the last takedown to win it 3-2 (over Jackson’s Vann Riordan). He wrestled a really tough tournament. He wrestled really well. Tristan pretty much dominated all day. He didn’t really have anybody who really pushed him super hard [McKibben pinned Attica Seneca East’s Braylen Depinet in the finals]. Brian won a close match in the finals (eventually pinning Ashland’s Cooper Smith). He’s really hardnosed, is in constant motion, is just super tough. He has an in-your-face wrestling style. He’s always keeping the pressure on.”

Next up for Rootstown is a home match against Garfield on Dec. 12 at 6 p.m.

Two days later, on Dec. 14 at 10 a.m., the Rovers will compete at the Cardinal Tournament.

STREETSBORO

Streetsboro sophomore Jarreau Walker and senior Cohen Klimak captured individual championships in the Rockets’ season-opening competition Dec. 7-8 in the Independence Wrestling Tournament at Independence High School. Walker competed in the 113-pound weight division, while Klimak wrestled at 165.

“Jarreau was outstanding,” head coach Mark Skonieczny said. “All of last season, and this tournament, he’s yet to give up a takedown. At this tournament he was dominant on his feet, and he was dominant on top. His closest match was 5-1 or 6-1, and honestly that’s because that opponent stayed as far away as he could from Jarreau. Jarreau was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler for the Lower Weights. Cohen is a great athlete, is extremely tough on his feet. He was just dominant. He wrestled a fantastic tournament.”

Overall, Streetsboro placed eighth out of 34 teams.

“I was happy with certain individuals and not happy with other individuals,” said Skonieczny.

Taking fourth were junior Anthony Sindelar at 132 and senior Jayce Fedor at heavyweight.

“Anthony popped his shoulder out in the semifinals in the last seconds and defaulted,” the coach said. “Up to that point, he’d been wrestling an outstanding tournament. He was another kid who was extremely tough on his feet and was a monster on top. In Jayce’s first five matches he had pins. He mauled those opponents. He was dominant. He came into this tournament on fire. He just hit the ground running this season.”

The Rockets will compete in the Hudson Holiday tournament Dec. 20-21 at Hudson High School. The starting time both days is 5 p.m.

AURORA BOYS

Aurora junior Nick Turba utterly dominated the field in capturing the title in the 113-pound weight class in the Greenmens’ boys wrestling season opener Dec. 7 in the Cobos Insurance Classic at Avon Lake High School.

“Nick tech falled every opponent he faced,” head coach Jeremy Johnson said. “It was a great way to start off the season for him.”

Aurora finished second to Avon Lake out of 11 teams.

“We were really excited to compete at Avon Lake,” Johnson said.

Some wrestlers who would not normally see varsity action got to compete due to seniors Johnny Green and Cole Walton and junior Drake Brasiel competing that weekend in the invite- only Walsh Ironman on Dec. 6-7 at Walsh Jesuit.

“And they took advantage of it,” Johnson said.

Senior Cole Munn finished second in the 132-pound weight class. Taking third were senior Gio Kaplan at 150 and junior A.J. Bruno at 175.

“Cole wrestled a great tournament,” said the coach. “He fell short at the end, but we’re excited to see how he progresses as the season goes on. Gio has been a guy who put in a lot of work in the off-season. He put together a pretty solid tournament. He fell short in the semis to a pretty tough Strongsville competitor, but he was able to battle back to secure third place. We were really impressed with A.J. and how he was able to put together a solid tournament. This is his first time in the varsity lineup, and we’re excited to see how he progresses as the season goes on.”

At the Walsh Ironman, Walton finished 3-2 in the 165-pound weight division, Green finished 2-2 at 120 and Brasiel was 1-2 at 157.

“We were really happy with the way Cole competed,” said Johnson. “Johnny, unfortunately, had to injury default from the tournament. It’s an injury that we’re just keeping an eye on. It’s nothing too serious, but we were just being precautionary. Drake wrestled well. This is a competitive tournament. He opened up the tournament with a loss to the second seed, a very tough competitor. He ended up on the back side, beating a pretty tough Perrysburg wrestler.”

Next up for the Greenmen is the Liberty Classic on ec. 13-14 at Olentangy Liberty High School.

AURORA GIRLS

Giulia Zayas won the title in the 100-pound weight class in the Michael Fording Girls Invitational on Dec. 8 at Brush High School in Lyndhurst. Zayas is the Aurora program’s first-ever high school female wrestler to compete in an all-girls varsity tournament.

Aurora’s Giulia Zayas won the title in the 100-pound weight class in the Michael Fording Girls Invitational.

KENT ROOSEVELT BOYS

Kent Roosevelt junior Gavin Edwards won the championship in going 5-0 in the 165-pound weight class in the Kent Roosevelt boys wrestling season opener in the Cobos Insurance Classic on Dec. 7 at Avon Lake High School.

“Gavin showed up and rose to the occasion,” head coach Chris Dunfee said. “He has some things we need to work on and address but put together a complete match in the finals against a really good kid from Avon Lake. Gavin wrestled a clean match and, in the third period, caught him and pinned him. It was a close match until then.”

The Rough Riders finished seventh out of 11 teams.

“We walked out with eight placers with one champion,” said Dunfee. “It was a big improvement over last year when we had two placers there. It was a big step forward. We have a group of kids who have bought into what our philosophy is. They’re grinding, working hard and putting the work in.”

Freshman Jacob Dunfee finished third in the 113-pound weight class, senior Noah

Dunlap finished fourth at heavyweight and senior Jeremiah Brumfield took sixth at 138.

“Jacob wrestled, and lost to, a state-ranked kid, and he got welcomed to high school wrestling really quickly,” the elder Dunfee said. “But he made a good comeback after that match. He shook it off and battled really well. He wrestled a very good tournament. I was very pleased with the way he wrestled.

“Noah is a small heavyweight with a big heart. He fought and battled all the way through the day, giving up sometimes 60 pounds. He’ll be at 215 in a week or so. It was a big improvement for Jeremiah from last year when he didn’t place. He started off slow and didn’t look like he was in any kind of rhythm or anything. As the day went on, though, he started to see the cobwebs, and that rust started to wear off. He started to look like himself again. He’s taken some steps forward, and I’m looking forward to what he’s going to do this season.”

Kent Roosevelt will compete in a double-dual tournament Dec. 12 against Alliance,

Burton Berkshire and host Southeast.

KENT ROOSEVELT GIRLS

Freshman Penny Edwards (Gavin’s sister), the Rough Riders’ lone female wrestler, finished 4-1 and took third place in the 105-pound weight class Dec. 8 at the Michael Fording Girls Invitational at Brush High School in Lyndhurst.

“Penny wrestled really well,” Dunfee said. “She traveled with us last summer to wrestle, and her hard work is paying off. At the tournament Sunday, they were some of her best matches we’ve seen.”

Next up for Edwards is the Hubbard Girls Invitational on Dec. 22.

CRESTWOOD

The North Coast Classic on Dec. 6-7 at Independence High School was the ideal tournament to start the season for Crestwood, according to Red Devils head coach Dave Wrobel.

“Everybody gets matches,” he said of the competition that began with the pool format and ended with the regular format. “All of our wrestlers got six, seven or eight matches. It was a nice start because not only did we get matches but the level of competition was good, too. It’s probably one of the top tournaments in the area. We had some very, very solid teams from

Northeast Ohio and all around the state competing there.”

Crestwood finished 17th out of 33 teams.

Leading the way for the Red Devils was sophomore Tye Berquist, who went 5-2 in finishing third in the 165-pound weight class.

“The best part of it was in the third-fourth-place match, he ended up avenging a loss from the night before against a kid from (Rocky River) Lutheran West,” said Wrobel. “He lost to the kid pretty convincingly, and in a matter of 24 hours he turned around and ended up pinning him for third place. So it was a nice win for him.”

Freshman Levi Daniels finished fourth at 106 with a 3-3 record, sophomore Rocco Wrobel finished eighth with a 4-3 record at 113 and junior Nolan Huntington went 4-3 on the day at 150.

“Levi had some nice wins. For his first varsity experience, he handled himself very well,” said the coach. “Rocco started off 3-0 on Friday and was in the quarterfinals where he lost. He fought back and wrestled two tough matches, one of which he lost in overtime and another one by a point. He competed, he battled. He probably could’ve finished in the top five or six but came up a little bit short. It was good for him to get the cobwebs out. Noah ended up losing to two really tough kids on Friday. He wrestled his weight back, though, to finish strong. What I liked about Noah was, he had a year off because he had surgery on his shoulder, and he came back and wrestled extremely well. I was proud of him. He was able to get going again after a year off. He wrestled strong, he wrestled smart and he won some big matches along the way. I feel like that’s only going to energize him and motivate him even more.”

Next up for Crestwood is the Solon Comet Classic on Dec. 13-14 at Solon High School. The

starting times are 4:30 p.m. Dec. 13 and 9:30 a.m. Dec. 14.