By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Southeast produced two Division III state runners-up in senior Dominic Kemble at 138 and freshman Gavin Cantera at 144.

Kemble was the Pirates’ first state finalist since 2000.

DOMINIC KEMBLE

He also became a three-time state qualifier, having advanced to Columbus as a sophomore and again as a junior when he placed fifth.

Kemble, his team’s “Kardiac Kid,” trailed Mount Blanchard Riverdale’s Grady Phelps 2-0 with about 10 seconds to go in the third period in the semifinals before rallying in dramatic fashion in a nailbiter.

“The kid was very strong, held really good position, wrestled a super good match, but Dom just does what he does, and in those last couple seconds he found a way to break through,” head coach Shane Kuberry said. “He got a takedown pretty much as time expired to win 3-2.

“We’ve been through those last-second takedowns with Dom all season,” Kuberry added. “He’s faced a ton of adversity throughout his entire career. He’s just never out of it. He finds his way through tough positions. It’s just character, it’s personality, it’s perseverance, it’s all of those things wrapped into one.

“He is the most clutch wrestler who I’ve ever been around. Some people just have that ability to dig deep when they need it, and I think he’s one of those people.”

In the finals, Kemble lost 7-1 to Lima Central Catholic’s Antwain Adams.

Kuberry felt Kemble wrestled a good match in defeat.

“It really just came down to two different scoring exchanges, two takedowns,” he said. “I felt like Dom was in that match, that it probably could’ve gone either way. He wrestled super tough, he never gave up, wrestled hard all the way to the end. He just came up a little bit short.”

Kemble won his first-round match by tech fall 16-1 over Mechanicsburg’s Hayden Smith and defeated Baltimore Liberty Union’s Jimmy Landis 6-5 — yet another close encounter — in the quarterfinals.

GAVIN CANTERA

Like Kemble, Cantera rolled to the finals with wins, respectively, over Port Clinton’s Elliot Laird (second-period pin), Bidwell River Valley’s Phillip Hash (major decision 18-6) and Sycamore Mohawk’s Owen Patrizi (major decision 12-3).

And, like Kemble, Cantera fell to a Lima Central Catholic opponent, Jordan Neal, by a first-period pin.

“Gavin has the ability to kind of make it look easy,” said Kuberry. “He beat some very good kids on the way to the final. It just goes to show how special he is. The final was not really reflective of the type of kid that he is. In wrestling, we call it getting caught. Sometimes, you just get caught, and that’s pretty much what happened. I think, if they wrestle that match a bunch of times, I think there’s a different outcome in most of them. Gavin is a freshman, so he’s going to be back down there and see it a few more times for sure. I think he is a super talented kid. I think the world of him. There aren’t too many kids he’ll wrestle in his career where I won’t think that he’s the favorite.”

Freshman Damian Kemble, Dominic’s brother, finished fourth at 120, falling 7-3 in the third/fourth-place match to Barnesville’s Jaxon Aberegg, another freshman.

DAMIAN KEMBLE

“It was a one-takedown exchange sort of thing,” the coach said. “When you’re down there and you’re wrestling high-level kids, you’re splitting hairs. Damian is right there. He’s one of the best kids in the state clearly. I mean, a freshman getting fourth place is super impressive. Any one of those kids who placed in the top four could’ve probably won the tournament. They’re all very talented. It was razor thin.”

Kemble won by tech fall 21-5 in the first round over Rayland Buckeye Local’s Nathan Dentz. Then, in the quarterfinals, he won by default when, late in the third period, his opponent, defending state champion Spencer Shore from Casstown Miami East, hit his head on the mat, knocking him momentarily unconscious, following a competitive throw exchange.

“Damian was losing 10-1 at the time, so, had the injury not happened, it would’ve been a 10-1 major decision loss for him for sure,” Kuberry said. “Damian should be commended for the way he handled that situation. He didn’t want to win that way. He was extremely supportive of Shore in that moment. It’s wrestling, and things like that do happen, and when things like that happen and you take advantage of it, all of a sudden you find yourself in a really advantageous position at the state tournament, so … .”

So … it was on to the semifinals for Kemble where he lost 4-0 to Apple Creek Waynedale’s Brock Beckler.

“I thought Damian wrestled a super tough match,” said Kuberry. “I think it was probably one of the best matches he wrestled all season. Beckler just wrestled perfect.” Kemble then won by major decision 14-0 in the consolation semifinals over Galion Northmor’s Ethan Amens.

Overall, Southeast finished a respectable eighth in the team standings.