Boys Wrestling: Midview heavyweight Daniel Bucknavich secures 2nd straight SWC title

NORTH OLMSTED — Daniel Bucknavich isn't peaking at the right time heading into the Division I sectional tournament next week. He's been peaking all year. The Midview senior heavyweight remained perfect this season while winning his second consecutive Southwestern Conference title by pinning Avon junior Mason Bingham in 43 seconds at the SWC Tournament. In the semifinals, Bucknavich pinned Olmsted Falls junior Jerry White in 1:15. The Cleveland State recruit, who improved to 33-0 this season, was encouraging toward his opponents. "It's my senior year so I might as well get a SWC championship," Bucknavich said. "I faced two good, tough opponents who were younger like in the finals. I'm excited to see what they'll do in the future and I'm looking forward to the future at Cleveland State. "It's great seeing them test themselves and keeping this sport alive. I love to watch wrestling, watch people wrestle, especially the heavyweights. I see a lot of myself in some of my opponents. "My freshman year I got pinned by Max Whitman every time. Five times freshman year. It kind of reminds me of that." Avon's Jordan Greer also won a conference title for the second year in a row, pinning Berea-Midpark's Zach Porch in 3:04 at 195 pounds. Greer, a senior, improved to 30-2 this season, while Porch, a junior, fell to 31-8. "Earlier in the year I only beat him 7-0, so I wanted to show some growth," Greer said. "I wanted to get the fall, that was my goal for that match, so I got it." Greer pinned Westlake's Mo Zayed in the semifinals. He is looking forward to the sectional and district tournaments. "I'm feeling pretty good right now," Greer said. "I have a couple of small tweaks I'd like to make, especially for sectionals and districts. Obviously Elyria will be there, but I feel good. I'm well-conditioned and in a good place. I'm good." Avon junior Cael Sexton joined in as a two-time conference champion after winning a 5-3 decision over Berea-Midpark's Brian Kennedy at 113 pounds. Sexton won the title at 106 pounds last year. "The game plan was to go out and put up a lot of points," Sexton said. "It was my first time down at 113 in a little while and I wanted to prove to myself that I could last a whole match, have a full gas tank and be quick for the whole six minutes. "I went out and was successful with that." Sexton improved to 21-5 this season. Midview senior Zac Gill scored a reversal in the last 10 seconds of the third period to knock off Olmsted Falls junior Brandon Burkhart in the final at 152 pounds. Burkhart was the top seed and led third-seeded Gill 6-5 late in the match. "I was waiting. I was thinking in my head, as soon as the clock hit 20 seconds I was going crazy," Gill said. "I knew I had to try to get out, to do whatever I could do. It was amazing. I just love that feeling. I didn't have a certain move or anything I was going to do, I just knew I was going to try to get two points." Gill slipped under Burkhart's right arm and spun around him to secure the reversal with :07 showing on the clock. It was his 21st win of the season against five losses. Amherst junior Noah Mendez won his 30th match of the season, scoring a 5-4 decision over Avon's Joe Mrosko in the final at 132 pounds. Mendez missed last season's SWC championship meet with a knee injury. "It feels great and everyone I went against pushed me today," Mendez said. "Getting that one, finally, after being out a year feels great. I struggled early and had to get back into it, so to get this win really feels great." Berea-Midpark won the team title with 158.5 points. The Titans won four individual championships and had a pair of second-place finishes. Olmsted Falls finished second with 151 points while Avon placed third with 131. Contact Mike Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com. Team Standings 1. Berea-Midpark 158.5; 2. Olmsted Falls 151.0; 3. Avon 131.0; 4. Midview 101.0; 5. North Olmsted 87.0; 6. Lakewood 74.0; 7. Westlake 73.5; 8. Amherst 63.0; 9. North Ridgeville 44.5; 10. Avon Lake 38.5. First Place 106: Jeffrey Kennedy (North Olmsted) dec. Ty Daugherty (Avon) 2-1 TB. 113: Cael Saxton (Avon) dec. Brian Kennedy (Berea-Midpark) 5-3. 120: Pino Dipierro (Berea-Midpark) pinned Jameson Shenberger (Midview) 2:22. 126: Shane Heil (Berea-Midpark) pinned Cainan Comerford (Olmsted Falls) 1:48. 132: Noah Mendez (Amherst) dec. Joe Mrosko (Avon) 5-4. 138: Caden Wendling (Berea-Midpark) dec. Andrew Philion (Midview) 4-2. 145: Nate Urry (Olmsted Falls) dec. Aiden Ashburn (Westlake) 6-3. 152: Zac Gill (Midview) dec. Brandon Burkhart (Olmsted Falls) 7-6. 160: Milan Jackson (Lakewood) dec. Hunter Ashburn (Westlake) 7-4. 170: Jayden Jackson (Lakewood) dec. Taedon Beasley (North Olmsted) 8-6. 182: Jimmy Paletta (Berea-Midpark) dec. Moe Zayed (Westlake) 6-2 SV. 195: Jordan Greer (Avon) pinned Zach Porch (Berea-Midpark) 3:04. 220: Justin Jaeckin (Olmsted Falls) pinned Brandyn Bates (Lakewood) 0:35. 285: Daniel Bucknavich (Midview) pinned Mason Bingham (Avon) 0:43. Third Place 106: Zach Orseno (North Ridgeville) tech. fall Nathan Perry (Avon Lake) 19-3. 113: Tyler Dye (Midview) pinned Searlas Kean (North Olmsted) 4:39. 120: Brennan Stang (Olmsted Falls) pinned Mahdi Shoman (North Olmsted) 2:58. 126: Ethan Sear (Avon) dec. Cole Yuhas (Westlake) 10-3. 132: Carson Atkins (Olmsted Falls) pinned Spencer Ammons (North Olmsted) 0:35. 138: John Perry (Avon Lake) dec. Jacob Toth (Olmsted Falls) 3-0. 145: Preston Yates (Avon) dec. Japhet Gonzalez Ramos (Berea-Midpark) 5-3. 152: Brandon Bratovich (Amherst) dec. Shane Swindig (North Ridgeville) 7-6. 160: Ty Taggert (Avon Lake) dec. Avery Jones (North Olmsted) 7-4. 170: Joe Roesch (Avon) pinned Gavin Miner (Olmsted Falls) 2:45. 182: Chad Boskovitch (Olmsted Falls) pinned Chris Douglas (North Ridgeville) 3:53. 195: Clay Carpenter (Amherst) pinned Nistor Krizan (Lakewood) 3:26. 220: Salah Al-Najjar (North Olmsted) dec. Lavell Gibson (Amherst) 7-3. 285: Jerry White (Olmsted Falls) dec. Daniel Yu (Berea-Midpark) 6-3.