Cardinal’s wrestling team split a pair of dual matches at Western Reserve Academy on Thursday.
The Huskies defeated the host Pioneers, 31-30, but dropped a 36-30 decision to Malvern.
“It was a good, competitive set of duals,” Cardinal coach Jeff Zeigler said. “We matched up pretty good. Our young kids were aggressive, sometimes they were overly aggressive as we lost some matches we were winning, but we wrestled tough and we definitely were the aggressors on the mat. We showed improvement from last weekend at Hawken and cleaned up some mistakes.”
Trevor Bachna (138), Jerry Rose (170) and Tony Brezo (152) all went 2-0 on the day. Rose pinned both of his opponents.
“Trevor won a nice match and got a forfeit and Jerry looked really good,” Zeigler said. “He wrestled really well. He gets more and more confident and he’s running stuff you don’t usually see out of him. Tony pinned one kid and got a forfeit. He wrestled a solid kid from Malvern and beat him pretty handily.”
Ty Zeigler (106), Ryan Shanower (126), Austin Strever (132) and Chase Simak (160) all finished the night with a 1-1 record.
Zeigler was under the weather but managed to compete well in his loss and also earned a forfeit. Shanower pinned to win his match and Simak drew a forfeit.
Strever nearly finished 2-0 but ended up getting pinned in the third period leading 15-2.
“He made a mistake,” Zeigler said. “He got a little overly aggressive and got stuck in a cradle and got pinned.”
John Avalon went 0-2 at 220 but he was competitive in his matches.
“He wrestled well and battled but he’s another example of a kid who was winning and then making some mistakes and he ended up losing,” Zeigler said. “That’s tough to watch because he wrestled really well and has come a long way. From junior high to now, he’s a different kid. He’s much more competitive and aggressive. He’s going to be an asset for us this year and the future.”
The Huskies host the Russ Ward Memorial Tournament on Saturday with Aurora, Cleveland JFK, Garrettsville Garfield, Girard, Harvey, Madison, Newbury and Wickliffe.
