Orange’s Yury Pozdneev and Grant Bell both earned a spot on the podium at the 2018 Solon Comet Classic on Saturday.
The Lions finished in 25th place overall with 46 points.
“Overall, the boys wrestled tough,” Orange assistant coach Cody Kovach said. “This is a great assessment for what we need to improve upon. We have a lot of high character wrestlers in our lineup this year, so our coaching staff is excited for all the events we have scheduled this year. As a team, there were some bright spots but we are going to focus on everything we need to get us to the next level.”
Pozdneev, a junior 120-pounder, recorded three pins and a 7-0 decision to reach Saturday night’s championship round.
He dropped an 8-2 decision to Solon’s Jake Canitano, a returning state place winner and Ohio State recruit.
Bell, a 285-pound freshman, drew a first-round bye then pinned his quarterfinals opponent in the first period. Ashtabula St. John’s Ryan Elrod pinned Bell in the semifinals on his way to a runner-up finish. Bell responded with a pin in the consolation quarterfinals but fell to Chardon’s Dylan Friend in the consolation semifinals, 5-1. He bounced back with a pin over Barberton’s Zackary Jackson in the seventh-place match.
“Yury Pozdneev made quite a name for himself making his way into the finals and a high caliber Ohio State recruit Jake Canitano to a decision loss,” Kovach said. “Grant Bell also placing seventh is huge as a freshman at such a tough tournament.”
