Left to right: Deian Longgood, Gino Caponi, Steve Reedy, Ralph Graham, John Tompkins, Jack Lynch, Johnny Moore, Dan Paulus and Eric Kline.
Tom Nader/Portage Sports

By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The history of wrestling in Portage County includes some of the state’s most elite programs, athletes and coaches.

Across every category, a reputation was developed long ago that the county was filled with hard working, tough, strong, master technicians who were ready to compete against anyone and any time inside any circumstances.

And the coaches that continually pushed them to their highest potential also shared in all of those same traits.

Mostly because they had once been the same competitors on the mat ready to prove themselves. Their intensity never vanished — and some could say it was heightened once they became coaches.

It produced a Golden Era of wrestling across Portage County that ran for three decades throughout the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s.

On Saturday, June 22, 2024, a group of Portage County wrestling legends, whose fingerprints were primary contributors to building that Golden Era, shared an afternoon of laughter, storytelling and friendship inside Deez and Razorlined Barbershop in Rootstown.

The four-hour conversation danced all over the place, much like two wrestlers working the mat, but the arc of companionship and respect were evident and unforced.

Jack Lynch (Crestwood state champion wrestler).

Ralph Graham (Southeast state champion coach and two-time individual state champion at Kenston).

Gino Caponi (Field’s first Portage County League champion and longtime respected referee).

Steve Reedy (Ravenna state champion coach and individual state champion at Ravenna).

John Tompkins (Mogadore two-time individual state champion wrestler).

Names that echo unmatched history throughout Portage County’s athletic timeline and names secured as legends of wrestling.

All inside one room to talk about the history of Portage County wrestling, with Ravenna head coach Eric Kline, Rootstown wrestling assistant Dan Paulus, Crestwood wrestling alumni Johnny Moore and Field wrestling alumni Deian Longgood all also in attendance for the conversation.

Gino Caponi (second from left) tells a story during a conversation at Deez and Razorlined Barbershop in Rootstown, while Ralph Graham (center), Jack Lynch (right) and Portage Sports owner Tom Nader (far left) listen.
Deian Longgood/Special to Portage Sports

Stories opened with some personal anecdotes and reflection, weaved in and out of memorable matches and tournaments shared amongst the group, debated about what is right, wrong or missing from today’s wrestling scene and circled back around again.

Always with attentive ears, smiles ever-ready to turn into laughter, words of affirmation or to add layers to stories already filled with gripping detail.

Including Graham and Reedy volleying back and forth about their historic run of sold out dual meets between the Pirates and Ravens.

“The people, my goodness the people at those dual meets,” Reedy said. “I am not kidding, there were times when something would happen at one of our dual meets, I would feel the floor shake underneath me.”

“I know, I remember feeling the same thing,” said Graham, who said he dearly misses the dual meets.

“Not having dual meets is a terrible thing for the fans,” Graham said. “Fans are not going to go to a tournament, be there all day long. For us, we will because wrestling is in our blood. We can sit through a tournament for 10 or 12 hours no problem, but the casual fan is not going to do that, so the lack of dual meets has really disconnected the fans from the sport.”

Graham coached at Southeast from 1978 through 2002. In those 25 years, he won 18 Portage County League championships — and 11 straight to close out his career — and the Pirates won the Division II state championship in 1991, along with 10 individual state champions throughout Graham’s time as a mentor.

One person who was always watching closely was Reedy, who took over as Ravenna’s wrestling coach in 1985 and guided it to unprecedented statewide success before resigning in 2000.

“Ralph always made his wrestlers and his team tough. I wanted my wrestlers to be like that, and I thought I knew how to get them there, but I was also watching Ralph and learning from him,” Reedy said.

In Reedy’s 16 seasons as a head coach at Ravenna, he won 10 consecutive league championships (combined between the Metro League and the Western Reserve Conference) and the Ravens won the 1993 Division II state championship, and he also had three individual state champions.

Ravenna wrestling head coach Eric Kline (left), Rootstown youth wrestling coach Dan Paulus (center) and retired Ravenna wrestling coach Steve Reedy (right) listen to a story.
Deian Longgood/Special to Portage Sports

Reedy’s historic stamp was not limited to his time as coach, however. The Ravenna graduate won a state championship during his senior season, then went on to become a Division-I All-American at Kent State, becoming the first-ever Golden Flashes wrestler to ever win 100 matches.

Graham’s wrestling career also featured on-the-mat success, winning back-to-back state championships in 1971 and 1972 during his junior and senior seasons at Kenston High School in Chagrin Falls.

Other conversation snapshots included:

JACK LYNCH

Nicknamed “Flex” because of his muscular physique, told the story of how his Red Devils team came together to learn how to win and care for each other under the guidance of legendary head coach Frank DiNapoli, setting the stage for Crestwood to win the 1975-76 state championship.

Lynch later became the wrestling coach at Crestwood and has been an assistant at multiple other schools, including Rootstown, Kent Roosevelt and Streetsboro.

JOHN TOMPKINS

A two-time state champion at Mogadore in 1971 and 1973, Tompkins continued his career as a coach for the Wildcats, as well as time spent at St. Vincent-St. Mary, Walsh Jesuit and GlenOak.

One of the stories Tompkins told was about his senior year at the state championships. In the state semifinal, he suffered a significant elbow injury when he fell awkwardly during competition.

“It was so bad that I was about to pass out,” Tompkins said.

His coach, Tom Murphy, in a three-minute time span, popped Tompkins’ elbow back into place, then taped it to his body to immobilize it.

It was not enough to slow Tompkins down. He won the 1973 state championship by a 6-0 decision, fighting for his points with, essentially, one arm.

GINO CAPONI

Caponi became Field’s first-ever PCL champion, which was a prestigious feat.

“I wrestled in the absolute toughest league in the state,” Caponi said. “The PCL was known throughout the state for putting out the best wrestlers in the entire state. I didn’t have the same skill-set as others, but I was hungry. And if you are hungry and people believe in you, you can get better quickly.”

Caponi wrestled four years in college, and his sons had illustrious prep and Division-I college careers, while Caponi is also well known in local wrestling circles for his long career as an wrestling referee.

He spent 42 years as an official and oftentimes received the call to be the referee at the biggest matches in the county, including a series of Southeast-Ravenna showdowns.

“I was dedicated to being as good as I could be for every match, but there is no doubt that I knew I just had to always be on my game, my top game, for Southeast-Ravenna dual meets. Boy, they were intense. I miss those nights.”

•••••

All the history, all the memories, all the stories and all the smiles.

Built through friendships that have now spanned four decades.

Graham is ready to see it all come back full circle.

“If there was ever a time for a league made up mostly of Portage County schools to come back, the time would be right now,” Graham said. “Almost all of the schools are closer to the same size of each other now more than ever. There are a lot of leagues that have a lot of great things to offer, but I am sorry, there is nothing better than wrestling or competing against schools that are your neighbors and in your county.”