Geneva won two individual championships and had eight other wrestlers finish among the top four on the way to winning the team title at the 2018 Rebel Invitational at Willoughby South High School on Saturday.
Sophomore Jesse McElroy (132) and senior Braden Bilicic (152) won their respective weight classes for the Eagles while senior Devin Cerjan (138), sophomore Caleb Selman (160) and sophomore Alex Krieg (195) all finished second.
“I’m proud of the team,” Geneva coach Chris Stamper said. “They just came off a tough dual on Thursday and they still hit the mat today giving 100-percent. We hit a few bumps along the way but they kept battling back and were able to hold the lead to win the championship.”
Also placing for the Eagles were junior Johnny Wayslaw (126) and sophomore Charles Taylor (220), who were third, and sophomore Jayden Sabol (106), freshman Josh Cupp (120) and senior Justin Berg (182), who all finished fourth.
Geneva finished the tournament with 221.5 points while Crestwood was second with 212.
Perry finished seventh overall with 99 points.
Junior Kyle Rowan, who finished second at state last winter and is fresh off an Ironman Tournament title, cruised to the 113-pound championship for the Pirates. Sophomore Colin Koenig also took home a tournament title at 126 pounds.
Freshman Calvin Rowan placed third at 113, sophomore Jimmy Thomas was fourth at 132 and freshman Ethan Hicks finished third at 145 for the Pirates.
“It’s early in the season, but our wrestlers are improving,” Perry coach Dave Rowan said. “Every wrestler that competed took something away that they did well. Consequently, each wrestler identified some things they need to work on at practice. These early season tournaments are ideal in the development process and it’s important not to take the wins and losses as paramount, but rather a gauge of progress.”
Kyle Rowan pinned all three of his pool opponents in a total of 2 minutes, 41 seconds then won by default in the semifinals. He closed out the tournament with a 20-8 major decision of Crestwood senior Dominic Savoca. Koenig finished the day 5-0 with four pins and a major decision.
“They won because they are certainly talented, but more importantly, they are doing the work and wrestling how we train during the week,” Rowan said of Kyle Rowan and Koenig. “The style of wrestling we work on is successful; it works and they do a great job of implementing that style. I’m so proud of the work they are doing, but there is also much more that needs to be done and they know that.”
Kirtland finished in eighth place with 75 points.
Senior Konnor Duncan (126) and sophomore Aidan Marsh (152) both finished second for the Hornets while freshman Will Davidson (106) and junior Brayden Adkins (170) were third and freshman Korey Dages placed fourth at 195 pounds.
“We had a sluggish first round start but wrestled better as the day went on,” Kirtland coach Scott Francis said. “Marsh taking second was big. Dages taking fourth as a freshman was good to see and Adkins is still wrestling up one weight class and will look even better after he drops to 160. Duncan and Davidson won some tough matches in which they were down and came back to win in the third period.”
Wickliffe finished ninth with just one entry.
Freshman Matthew Diaz went 1-2 on the day with a pin.
Rebel Invitational – Willoughby South
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1. Geneva 221.5
2. Crestwood 212.0
3. Keystone 153.0
4. No. Olmsted 150.5
5. North 144.0
6. Will. South 103.5
7. Perry 99.0
8. Kirtland 75.0
9. Wickliffe 4.0.
Finals
106: Brett Szuhay (Crestwood) tech. fall Jeffrey Kennedy (No. Olmsted) tf16-0; Will Davidson (Kirtland) pin Jayden Sabol (Geneva) 5:39.
113: Kyle Rowan (Perry) maj. dec. Dominic Savoca (Crestwood) md20-8; Calvin Rowan*PER (X1) maj. dec. Justice Gluck (North) md8-0.
120: Josh Ondash (Crestwood) pin Alexander Reagon (No. Olmsted) 1:34; Joseph Davis (North) maj. dec. Josh Cupp (Geneva) md16-3.
126: Colin Koenig (Perry) maj. dec. Johnny Wayslaw (Geneva) md9-0; Jared Kaczur (North) dec. Jacob Ober (Crestwood) 13-10; Konnor Duncan (Kirtland) pin Logan Roberts*NOR (X1) 0:33.
132: Jesse McElroy (Geneva) maj. dec. Nick Beriswill (Keystone) md9-1; Ethan Strahan (Crestwood) dec. Jimmy Thomas (Perry) 7-4.
138: Aiden Morgenstern (Crestwood) pin Devin Cerjan (Geneva) 2:33; Cody Greene (Keystone) maj. dec. Dylan Young (North) md9-1.
145: Ryan Healy (Keystone) pin Joey Nowosielshi (North) 2:35; Ethan Hicks (Perry) dec. Alex Gutowski (Crestwood) 8-3.
152: Braden Bilicic (Geneva) pin Aidan Marsh (Kirtland) 0:42; Connor Keck (North) dec. Aslan Kazim (No. Olmsted) 10-3.
160: Avery Jones (No. Olmsted) pin Patrick Murtha (Keystone) 0:36; Andrew Osagie-Erese (Will. South) tech. fall Eli Funk (North) tf19-4; Dalton Tyrrell (Crestwood) pin Caleb Selman (Geneva) 3:22.
170: Dalton Diaz (No. Olmsted) dec. Justin Hendershot (Will. South) 11-7; Brayden Adkins (Kirtland) dec. Taylor Valletto (North) 10-6.
182: Sam Loechtenfeldt (Will. South) dec. Jose Moralez (Keystone) 10-7; Devin Oborn (Crestwood) pin Justin Berg (Geneva) 2:56.
195: Michael Porter (Will. South) pin Kory Dages*KIR (X1) 3:02; Brandon Wirscham (Keystone) Default Brennon Braud (Kirtland) Default; Alex Krieg (Geneva) dec. Nick Beck (North) 8-7.
220: Nick Hickman (Keystone) pin Jonny Dotson (North) 1:58; Charles Taylor (Geneva) pin Cameron Langford (Crestwood) 0:56.
285: Tyler Jones (No. Olmsted) pin Luke Moore*KEY (X2) 2:20; Brandon Smith (Keystone) pin Josh Bramley (Will. South) 1:08.
