Wrestling: Dominant Columbia goes unbeaten to win LCL duals

WELLINGTON — If there was a doubt who was the dominant team in the Lorain County League is this season, Columbia put it to rest Saturday, going 6-0 at the Lorain County League tournament and winning all but one of its matches by at least 40 points. Despite their dominance, it wasn't completely smooth sailing for the Raiders, who made a few adjustments to their lineup to get some more favorable matchups. The first of the changes was bringing in freshman Rowyn Bem for his debut at 106 pounds. Bem rewarded the decision by winning all six of his bouts while setting the table for the rest of the lightweights. "Our goal was for every kid to go out and try to score as much as they could," said Columbia coach Chet Cochrane. "And our 106 pounder, this was his first time there and he went out and went 6-0. In these duals, you have to capitalize on the opportunities." "To be undefeated feels pretty good," Bem said. "This group means a lot to me, and I feel like we deserved the win we got." Bem was one of six Columbia wrestlers who went undefeated Saturday, a group that included reigning 113-pound state champion Bodey Gibbs at 113, 2024 106-pound state champion Michael Frye at 120, Tanner Cochrane at 126, Andrew Sorenson at 144, and Xavier Hendon. Hendon was the other tweak Columbia made, as the sophomore wrestled at 157 and 165 throughout the tournament to give his team the best possible matchups in each round. "It was just business," Hendon said. "It's all about chasing the hard matches, so I cut down to 157 so we could do either 157 or 165 because we knew those would be tough weight classes." Hendon's flexibility was particularly important when Columbia faced Black River in a match that decided the winner, as he wrestled at 165 to take on Black River's Kayden Hendershot and pick up a major win for Columbia. The 48-30 win over the Pirates was easily the closest match of the day for the Raiders, but they still came away with the win to stay undefeated and make a statement heading into the conference tournament in a few weeks. "We have a hole in our lineup, but our 13 is as good as anybody else's 14," Cochrane said. "We know our team is well-geared to be a tournament team, so our goal is for everybody to go out and capitalize, so that's what we're looking forward to." For Black River, who finished second and at 5-1 was the only team aside from Columbia with a winning record, Saturday was a missed opportunity to establish itself as the top team in the LCL. "I had mixed feelings about today," said Black River coach Blake Owen. "I really wanted to beat Columbia, and we had the opportunities in the matches we needed to win, and we just didn't take advantage of it." As usual, the Pirates were led by their senior class of Maddox Mitchell, Tristyn Herrick, Will Shearer, Mason Koberna, Dozier Hendershot and Jeremiah Otto. "They've turned into family," Herrick said. "I'm the closest I've ever been with them. Those are my guys and I'd do anything for them." Team Standings Columbia 6-0Black River 5-1Keystone 3-3Firelands 3-3Clearview 2-4Brookside 2-4Wellington/Oberlin 0-6 Round 1 Columbia 74, Wellington/Oberlin 0 Black River 59, Brookside 20 Keystone 41, Firelands 35 Round 2 Black River 66, Wellington/Oberlin 12 Columbia 59, Clearview 16 Firelands 39, Brookside 30 Round 3 Columbia 48, Black River 30 Brookside 48, Keystone 33 Firelands 42, Clearview 30 Round 4 Firelands 48, Wellington/Oberlin 12 Clearview 52, Brookside 23 Black River 60, Keystone 24 Round 5 Columbia 77, Brookside 6 Keystone 60, Wellington/Oberlin 18 Black River 50, Clearview 28 Round 6 Brookside 30, Wellington/Oberlin 24 Columbia 60, Firelands 24 Keystone 45, Clearview 36 Round 7 Black River 48, Firelands 33 Columbia 66, Keystone 15 Clearview defeats Wellington/Oberlin