High school wrestling: Elyria comes close again but falls to old nemesis St. Edward in Division I dual team state tournament

COLUMBUS — With the golden Division I state championship trophy resting on a table just a few feet from the mat, Elyria was denied its ultimate goal once again as it fell 36-30 in the dual team state final to St. Edward on Sunday night. The Pioneers took an early lead before the Eagles battled back to tie the match at 30 after 13 weight classes at St. John Arena. In a winner-take-all heavyweight match, St. Edward's Zakary Taylor was able to score a second-period pin on Elyria's Alexander Lowery. It was the fifth time Elyria finished second to St. Edward — also in the dual team state final in 2016, and in the individual state tournament in 2015-17. Pioneers senior Mick Burnett said it shouldn't have come down to the final match, as Elyria wrestlers didn't secure enough bonus points in wins and gave up too many bonus points in losses. "It's never fully on one guy," he said. "It's a team thing. It's the team duals, so it's kind of a team effort to get as far as we did and it was a team effort that left us a little short in the final." While the finish was disappointing for Elyria, the rest of the ride Sunday was thrilling. The Pioneers opened with a dominating 62-12 win over Upper Arlington in the quarterfinals, then pulled out a 33-29 win over Brecksville, which is ranked No. 12 in the nation, in the semifinals. The victory over the Bees was highlighted by Elyria junior Enrique Munguia's 8-6 victory over projected state champion Victor Voinovich at 152 pounds. Munguia, who defeated Voinovich twice in three meetings last season, put the nationally ranked wrestler on his back twice after Brecksville decided to bump Voinovich from 145 to 152. "I felt I had to come strong, especially since I had beaten him in the last meeting (in the state semifinals last season), and I had to keep going and that win definitely gave us some momentum," Munguia said. "I knew they thought he was going to beat me and that was going to be huge, but I knew I had to keep it going and fight for my team." The win helped propel Elyria's Brandy Crawford and JoJo Norwood, who followed Munguia's big win with their own victories, and it deflated the Brecksville lineup. "I think it was a win-win," Elyria coach Erik Burnett said. "We think the world of Enrique. It was a move on Brecksville's part that we thought they might make and we were like, 'Hey, we just need to stand our ground, throw it out there and let Enrique do what he does.' Fortunately for us it kind of worked out there and down the line as well." Elyria, ranked No. 11 in the nation, got off to a strong start against St. Edward, ranked No. 9, in the final. Colin Noel earned a major decision at 106 and Peyton Fenton, who defeated St. Edward's Sean Seefeldt in the state final last season, dominated Seefeldt at 113 pounds to give Elyria a quick 7-0 lead. Bryce Allison, who nearly earned a pin against St. Edward's Richard Delsanter, ended up losing 6-4 before Dylan Shawver pinned at 126, Nate Burnett won a close decision at 132 and Mick Burnett won a major decision at 138, giving Elyria a commanding 20-3 lead. From there, things began to go south for Elyria. St. Edward earned pins at 145, 160 and 170 to take its first lead. Elyria's Jake Evans pinned at 182 and Ben Doehr won by major decision at 195 to make it 30-24 for the Pioneers. Nickolas Lisko pinned at 220 to tie the match before Taylor's big win at 285 gave St. Edward its second straight and fifth dual team state title. "They did a better job of getting bonus. That's it in a nutshell," Erik Burnett said. "It's one of those things where you come in and you want the kids to put on a good show, and they did. We had some guys that had some great wins — all day — it was exciting and that's what you ask for. "It's easy to see, watching the video, why they won and why we didn't. Hopefully we'll have a captive audience tomorrow, because there were a lot of teary eyes, because if losing doesn't teach you in this sport, I don't know what does." Burnett said the painful finish to the dual team event could pay off in a month at the individual state tournament. "I don't like to see all the frowny faces on these guys," he said. "They work hard and they had a good day today. But if they're sad right now, they need to remember that when they come into the room and we have to remember what we need to work on." It was the final dual team competition for Elyria's four seniors — Allison, Shawver, Mick Burnett and Doehr. Burnett went 19-0 during his dual team career with 11 technical falls and five major decisions, earning Elyria 89 points. "It's been cool. This year we got to the finals and I've never wrestled in the final, so that was a really cool experience," he said. "It hurts a little bit, but I think it's good … we're going to get back after it. "There's three weeks left in my senior season — for Dylan, Ben and Bryce, too — so we've got to give it all we've got and hopefully we come out on top. If not, we know we gave it all we had." Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on Twitter. Elyria 62, Upper Arlington 12 106 – Colin Noel (E) pinned Frankie Mulligan, 2:54. 113 – Peyton Fenton (E) dec. Daniel Beam, 9-3. 120 – Bryce Allison (E) tech. fall Jake Thomas, 17-2. 126 – Dylan Shawver (E) pinned Ayden Boothby, :57. 132 – Nate Burnett (E) maj. dec. Jacob Shanklin, 16-4. 138 – Mick Burnett (E) tech. fall Jesse Bowers, 18-3. 145 – Mason McHugh (UA) pinned Izzak Pedraza, 3:51. 152 – Enrique Munguia (E) pinned Quentin Zimmer, 1:03. 160 – Brandy Crawford (E) dec. Miles Pearson, 13-7. 170 – JoJo Norwood (E) pinned Jed Fisher, :43. 182 – Jake Evans (E) pinned Collin Ansel, :29. 195 – Ben Doehr (E) pinned David Adams, 1:18. 220 – Jake Badgely (UA) pinned Gage Steffe, 2:21. 285 – Alexander Lowery (E) won by forfeit. Elyria 33, Brecksville 29 106 – Pito Castro (B) dec. Colin Noel, 4-2. 113 – Peyton Fenton (E) dec. Kaden Jett, 9-5 (TB). 120 – Bryce Allison (E) maj. dec. Manny Scordos, 9-1. 126 – Dylan Shawver (E) pinned Devin Miller, 2:13. 132 – Jimmy Carmany (B) dec. Nate Burnett, 4-0. 138 – Mick Burnett (E) tech. fall Grant Cozza, 20-4. 145 – James Bronstrop (B) tech. fall Izzak Pedraza, 18-3. 152 – Enrique Munguia (E) dec. Victor Voinovich, 8-6. 160 – Brandy Crawford (E) dec. Anthony Rizzo, 8-1. 170 – JoJo Norwood (E) dec. Carter Lloyd, 7-1. 182 – Jake Evans (E) pinned Shawn Earle, :26. 195 – Rajeev Rangaraju (B) won by forfeit. 220 – Ben Vanadia (B) won by forfeit. 285 – Ethan Hatcher (B) won by forfeit. St. Edward 36, Elyria 30 106 – Colin Noel (E) maj. dec. Nathan Tohati, 11-0. 113 – Peyton Fenton (E) dec. Sean Seefeldt, 9-4. 120 –Richard Delsanter (SE) dec. Bryce Allison, 6-4. 126 – Dylan Shawver (E) pinned Kayden Kralik, 3:34. 132 – Nate Burnett (E) dec. Scott Richter, 4-2. 138 – Mick Burnett (E) maj. dec. Scott Richter, 15-3. 145 – Luke Geog (SE) pinned Izzak Pedraza, 1:18. 152 – Bryce Hepner (SE) dec. Enrique Munguia, 6-0. 160 – Padraic Gallagher (SE) pinned Brandy Crawford, 3:11. 170 – Hudson Hightower (SE) pinned JoJo Norwood, 1:50. 182 – Jake Evans (E) pinned Michael Garcar, 3:05. 195 – Ben Doehr (E) maj. dec. Chance Robinson, 13-4. 220 – Nickolas Lisko (SE) pinned Gage Steffe, 1:51. 285 – Zakary Taylor (SE) pinned Alexander Lowery, 2:59.