High school wrestling: Elyria Catholic wins Columbia tournament

COLUMBIA — As the Jacob Wasko Memorial Tournament, which Elyria Catholic ended up winning with 148.5 points, headed into the final round, the Panthers were separated from Columbia by just half a point. The Panthers kicked things off by picking up a win at 106 pounds courtesy of freshman Grady Moos, who continued his impressive debut season by going 3-0 and finishing off his weight class championship with a major decision victory over the top seed, Northwestern's Reed Hamey. "It was how I was moving my feet, which is something I improved on from last week," Moos said. "I was able to get my attacks and score points, and I honestly feel like I just had a competitive edge today. I was feeling good." Columbia responded with a pair of wins at 120 and 126 from Michael Frye and Tanner Cochrane to temporarily take the lead back from Elyria Catholic. Frye won the 120 final via forfeit as he was matched up against teammate Bobby Gibbs, but in the previous round, he pinned Norwalk's Ben Russ in just 1:05. "I was just getting to my shots," Frye said. "I was getting to my double really well, and I was just able to keep myself in a good position. It always feels good to win in front of your home crowd, and this is my third time winning it, so it's just fun." Cochrane won the very next final at 126, pinning Beachwood's Solomon Miklowski in just 51 seconds to pick up a second straight weight class title for the Raiders. "When Michael won, he came over and told me I got it," Cochrane said. "It just made me feel better knowing that he just won before, so I can do it right after." Picking up the win Saturday was an important moment for Cochrane, who left this tournament a year ago with some regrets after failing to take first place. "I felt really good, because last year I fell short and I was really disappointed in myself," he said. "I had all these nerves before the match because I was excited to win in front of my home crowd, and I won. It's just the best feeling there is." After Columbia's back-to-back wins, Elyria Catholic came back with a vengeance, picking up a pair of titles at 144 and 157 to take a commanding lead in the standings. At 144, it was Juelz Martin for the Panthers pinning Raiders senior Andrew Sorenson in 5:06 that handed them a second weight class title. "I just let it fly," Martin said. "I trusted myself and trusted my coaches, and that's a big part of this sport, trusting your coaches." At 157, it was Jake Hill who bounced back from a disappointing performance at last week's Medina Invitational Tournament to pick up another weight class win for the Panthers and put them in firm control of the leaderboard. "Last week, I didn't have the results I wanted," Hill said. "It was the second year in a row I lost in the blood rounds, so that kind of sucked for me. But today I just had to go out and let it fly, and I was imposing my will on guys." The Panthers were led by the wins from Moos, Martin and Hill, but it was the contributions from the rest of the roster that solidified their win. "I'm proud of the way we fought," Elyria Catholic coach Mick Burnett said. "To win the title, we had to have some of our new guys step up, some guys that haven't won as many matches, and it takes having pride in your performance." While Moos, Martin and Hill have mostly had a strong start to the season, they have suffered some losses in recent weeks, but Burnett thinks it will only help in the long run. "It's good that they've been tested," Burnett said. "Last week at Medina, everybody took losses, and we needed that. We need those matches, but we also need days like this where we can go out, put points on the board and dominate. They do a really good job leading this group, they're focused and they want to win, and that's all you can ask for." TEAM SCORES: 1. Elyria Catholic 148.5, 2. Benedictine 141, 3. Columbia 134, 4. Northwestern 116, 5. Norwalk 102.5, 6. Western Reserve 100, 7. Huron 78.5, 8. Fairview 69, 9. Beachwood 53.5, 10. Eastlake North 49.5, 11. Liberty 46.5, 12. Cuyahoga Heights 14.5, 13. Garfield Heights 3, 13. Oberlin 3. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 106 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Grady Moos (Elyria Catholic) maj. dec. Reed Hamey (Northwestern), 17-3. THIRD: Colson Lutz (Western Reserve) dec. Landon Strandahl (Fairview), 7-5. 113 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Lucas Summerfield (Western Reserve) pinned Hassan Crutcher (Benedictine), 1:32. THIRD: Brendan Canfield (Fairview) dec. Colin Coughlin (Elyria Catholic), 8-5. 120 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Michael Frye (Columbia) def. Bobby Gibbs (Columbia) by forfeit. THIRD: Gabriel Cook (Elyria Catholic) pinned Chance Warthling (Western Reserve), 3:59. 126 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Tanner Cochrane (Columbia) pinned Solomon Miklowski (Beachwood), 0:51. THIRD: Jordan Huff (Benedictine) maj. dec. Angel Rodriguez (Elyria Catholic), 14-6. 132 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Devion Coffin (Benedictine) tech. fall Anthony Lierenz (Western Reserve), 17-2. THIRD: Hakeen Garcia (Elyria Catholic) pinned Aldynn Metzger (Norwalk), 4:52. 138 — CHAMPIONSHIP: JayZhan Jones (Benedictine) pinned Jack Morris (Northwestern), 2:38. THIRD: Shakir Thomas (Liberty) dec. Brent Friscone (Columbia), 4-1. 144 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Juelz Martin (Elyria Catholic) pinned Andrew Sorenson (Columbia), 5:06. THIRD: Talmage Bang (Beachwood) dec. Kohler Graves (Western Reserve), 8-6. 150 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Colton Morris (Northwestern) pinned Justin Elwell (Beachwood), 2:35. THIRD: Joey Paletta (Benedictine) dec. Landen Barnhart (Western Reserve), 8-4. 157 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Jacob Hill (Elyria Catholic) maj. dec. Ayden Brown (Norwalk), 16-5. THIRD: Gabriel Dolan (Benedictine) dec. Jesse Hanshaw (Northwestern), 4-1. 165 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Gavin Lepley (Norwalk) dec. Xavier Hendon (Columbia), 6-3 OT. THIRD: Sam Cox (Huron) dec. Yousef Hajjawi (Liberty), 9-7. 175 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Nico Helton (Norwalk) pinned Marco Scally (Huron), 0:47. THIRD: Timmy Jesenovec (Eastlake North) pinned Kolton Higgs (Columbia), 0:48. 190 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Henry McAleer (Fairview) dec. Blake Reyes (Huron), 4-3. THIRD: Gage Bias (Northwestern) pinned Terrill Blackshear (Liberty), 1:01. 215 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Maxwell Muise (Huron) pinned Dominique Worthy (Elyria Catholic), 0:54. THIRD: Russell Bumgardner (Fairview) dec. Gavin Giles (Benedictine), 4-1 OT. 285 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheppard Charlton (Benedictine) pinned Cooper Gee (Norwalk), 3:16. THIRD: Michael Belanich (Eastlake North) pinned Maddix May (Northwestern), 0:57.