High school wrestling: Cleaview gets three champs, wins Lorain County League tournament

LORAIN — Clearview whipped up a championship with some home cooking. The host Clippers won the team title at the Lorain County League wrestling tournament Saturday, producing three individual champions and scoring 170 points for a 15-point margin over second-place Columbia. Noah Huston, Isaiah Garcia and Josiah Longo each won titles for Clearview. Hudson had an easy route to the 106-pound final as Brookside's Nazir Omer was the only other wrestler in the draw. Garcia and Longo won tight finals at 138 and 157, respectively. Garcia only led 8-5 in the final seconds of the third period against Columbia's Andrew Sorensen, but scored a takedown with 15 seconds left to seal the win. He celebrated his championship with a backflip. Longo was tied at 4 after two periods against Black River's Mason Koberna, but Koberna was called for fleeing the mat and that changed the dynamic of the final 1:54. He let Longo up, and Longo scored a reversal for some breathing room with 1:12 left. "It's my first time being first, so I'm hyped up," Garcia said. "That's why you saw me do a backflip. At the end of the day, I'm a senior. It's my last chance to do it and I took it all home. I knew he had to go for a pin, so anything that felt like was coming I made sure he wasn't getting any of that. He tried it one more time, I knew it was coming so I hit the reversal." While the Raiders had the most champions with four, they left wondering what could have been. Michael Frye, the defending state champion at 106, was unable to wrestle after injuring his left arm in practice. His status for the postseason is still being evaluated. Frye, a junior, has been wrestling predominately at 113 this year. The injury moved Bodey Gibbs up to 113 and Columbia was unable to field a wrestler at 106, leaving a number of points on the table. The Raiders and Clippers met in four finals with Columbia winning three. Gibbs held his own against Clearview's Sylvester Montanez, one of the top wrestlers in Division III. The pair battled for three periods until Gibbs won a 7-6 decision, highlighted by a gritty third period in which each player was called for two fouls. Tanner Cochrane (120), Brent Friscone (126) and Xavier Hendon (150) also brought home titles for Columbia. "I just wrestled my match and tried to get to my attacks," Gibbs said. "They weren't always there, but I went to the second one or whatever was open. I had to be patient. I couldn't force anything that wasn't there or else I could have ended up in a bad position." Keystone also had three champions, sweeping the heavyweight divisions. Jonathan Gould (190) and Jordan Folmer (215) each capped perfect LCL seasons with pins in their finals. Gould finished 11-0 and Folmer was named the league's most valuable wrestler at 10-0. Justin Rounds scored an 8-4 decision against Black River's Colton Moskal in the 285 final. "It feels pretty good," Gould said. "Us heavyweights all train together and push each other every day and then we mix in with the smaller guys some days to help them train." Black River's Blake Owen was named Lorain County League coach of the year. The Pirates captured the dual championship, tying Columbia with a 6-1 league record and winning the head-to-head. The team had two individual champions Saturday — Maddox Mitchell with a technical fall at 132 and Jack Vancooney with a 9-3 decision at 175. "It feels amazing," Vancooney said. "For me, personally, this is just my third year wrestling, so this is something that's very new to me. I've been putting in all kinds of work in the offseason, so it's nice to see it pay off. It's incredible, really, it's just incredible." Wellington and Firelands each had one champion. Wellington's Baron Turner scored a 12-2 major decision against Black River's Kayden Hendershot at 165 and Firelands' D'Mari Campbell pinned Clearview's Kameron Williams at 144. "I just wanted to get a win and focus on sectionals, districts and making it to state," Campbell said. "I bumped up to 144. I'm looking to go 138, but I felt good this tournament." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Clearview 170, 2. Columbia 155, 3. Keystone 128.5, 4. Black River 118, 5. Wellington 67, 6. Firelands 66, 7. Brookside 54, 8. Oberlin 11. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 106 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Noah Huston (Clearview) pin Nazir Omer (Brookside), 1:56. THIRD: No contest. 113 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Bodey Gibbs (Columbia) dec. Sylvester Montanez (Clearview), 7-6. THIRD: Brayten DuRell (Black River), no contest. 120 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Tanner Cochrane (Columbia) dec. Collin Eckman (Clearview), 2-0. THIRD: Alex Lewis (Wellington) pin Lincoln Szojka (Black River), 2:04. 126 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Brent Friscone (Columbia) pin T.J. Sumpter (Wellington), 0:59. THIRD: Xavier Garcia (Clearview) pin Caleb Comito (Keystone), 2:00. 132 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Maddox Mitchell (Black River) tech. fall Dmitry Hruby (Keystone), 19-3. THIRD: Chase Parker (Clearview) maj. dec. Tommy Boyer (Oberlin), 11-1. 138 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Isaiah Garcia (Clearview) dec. Andrew Sorensen (Columbia), 10-5. THIRD: Elijah Lopez (Brookside) pin Tristyn Herrick (Black River), 2:43. 144 — CHAMPIONSHIP: D'Mari Campbell (Firelands) pin Kameron Williams (Clearview), 4:23. THIRD: Andrew Schurdell (Keystone) dec. Blake Murner (Wellington), 11-8. 150 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Xavier Hendon (Columbia) pin Dominic Rodriguez (Clearview), 3:19. THIRD: Logan Walls (Keystone) pin Michael Wilson (Firelands), 2:48. 157 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Josiah Longo (Clearview) dec. Mason Koberna (Black River), 10-7. THIRD: Adam Wilmeth (Columbia) maj. dec. Ari Wreyford (Wellington), 9-1. 165 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Baron Turner (Wellington) maj. dec. Kayden Hendershot (Black River), 12-2. THIRD: Jimmy Berry (Firelands) dec. Leland Colon (Keystone), 7-3. 175 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Jack Vancooney (Black River) dec. Ethan Gifford (Clearview), 9-3. THIRD: Joah Vale (Firelands) pin Nicholas Linden (Keystone), 2:44. 190 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Jonathan Gould (Keystone) pin Alex Andrews (Columbia), 1:42. THIRD: Collin Patton (Brookside) pin Jaxson Brewer (Black River), 4:05. 215 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Jordan Folmer (Keystone) pin Nathan Chapman (Columbia), 2:47. THIRD: Zachary Young (Clearview) pin Jaxon Llado (Brookside), 4:44. 285 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Justin Rounds (Keystone) dec. Colton Moskal (Black River), 8-4. THIRD: Braden Bowen (Brookside) pin A.J. Lamb (Columbia), 2:17.