Wrestling: Avon Lake stays perfect in dual matches with lopsided victory over North Ridgeville

AVON LAKE — Any training hurdles presented by the harsh winter weather that disrupted school schedules this past week didn't appear to impact Avon Lake. The Shoremen rolled over North Ridgeville, 68-3, Wednesday night in a Southwestern Conference dual meet. The victory improved Avon Lake's dual record to 14-0, 5-0 in the SWC. North Ridgeville's record fell to 7-2 overall, 2-2 in the conference. Avon Lake made quick work of North Ridgeville, as only three out of 14 matches went the full six minutes. The Shoremen amassed seven pins, four which came in the first period. Three of Avon Lake's pins came in under a minute. The featured match between state-ranked juniors Kaeden Lademann of Avon Lake and Pierre Greenhill of North Ridgeville at 138 pounds didn't disappoint. Training partners in the offseason, both brought their best. Greenhill scored the first takedown in the opening 17 seconds. Lademann rallied with an escape and takedown to close out the first period, then added an escape and another takedown for an 8-3 lead heading into the final period. Greenhill cut Lademann's lead to 8-6 with a takedown from the neutral position 39 seconds into the third period. Lademann got an escape with 1:02 left, then thwarted Greenhill's attacks the rest of the way for a 9-6 win. "The key for me was not to take the match so seriously," said Lademann. "I think, in the past, I would be too hyperfocused, like I have to hit a few moves. Tonight, I just went out there with guns ablazing. I think it kind of worked for me. I know my skills and I know what I can do. He's come to my practices and we've been to his. I think it came down to who wants it more. I think I wanted it more. It was a good match. "Our team is tough. We work day-in-and-day-out. We're ready to wrestle anyone and everyone that comes our way." Lademann and Greenhill train together in freestyle during the offseason at Elyria, but had never squared off in a match prior to Wednesday. "I need to do a better job pushing the pace," said Greenhill. "I really just need to keep working. I shouldn't be losing those matches, honestly. Those should be easy matches. After my first takedown, I kind of hurt my lower back, but that's really no excuse. I just have to keep going." "Pierre's a tough wrestler," said Avon Lake coach Scott Sedlick. "He's tough and Kaeden's tough. We knew it was going to be a good match and Kaeden came out on top. Now is what's important. We could wrestle him again, probably up to four more times. We'll see where it ends up in the end, but that's wrestling. That's what we want, competition." Avon Lake senior Aide Omoijuanfo (175) returned to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 18 after a knee injury. He jumped out to a 9-1 lead through two periods, but had to hang for an 11-8 win over sophomore Brian Taylor. "It's good to be back, definitely out of shape," said Omoijuanfo, a 2025 district qualifier. "I couldn't do much. My knee was hurt so I couldn't do much running until last week. We've got a great team thanks to coach. He really works us through it. He's great." Freshman Henry Valerino (103), senior Nate Grieger (120), junior Caden Bristow (132), senior Abe Gill (144), senior Brayden Patterson (150), junior Luke Peace (165) and senior Pablo Secin (215) had pins for Avon Lake. "It was a good night for us. We wrestled well," said Sedlick. "We definitely had some lapses. They have some tough kids on that team. They wrestled tough matches. Some kids have to get in shape, still coming back off some injuries. Little mistakes here and there that I'm seeing cost us some situations early in the match, but for the most part I'm proud of the guys." North Ridgeville's lone win came at 113 pounds, where sophomore Owen Blakemore won a 12-7 decision over junior Blake Elton. "They are a solid team. They have a good program going, very respectable," said North Ridgeville coach Dustan Fair. "We've got work to do. We can all make excuses regarding snow days, this that and the other. At the end of the day, wrestling is about repetition, building up that stamina, and that doesn't disappear over a couple days off from school. "All in all, they have to do better. We have to be able to stop a cradle. We know what they're going to do, they're going to throw boots, bars, tilts and cradles. You've got to know how to stop them. Our kids know how to stop them. They weren't doing it tonight." In the lone girls varsity match, sophomore Bianca Craig (120) of Avon Lake beat senior Gianna Sanfilippo, 2-0. A second-period reversal was the difference. Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 at ctsports@chroniclet.com. Avon Lake 68, North Ridgeville 3 106: Henry Valerino (AL) pinned Elijah Bowling (NR), 1:55113: Owen Bockmore (NR) dec. Blake Elton (AL), 12-7120: Nate Grieger (AL) pinned Connor Wilson (NR), 0:48 126: Connall Gannon (AL) dec. Jaylen Darden (NR), 7-0132: Caden Bristow (AL) pinned Blake McHale (NR), 0:41138: Kaeden Lademann (AL) dec. Pierre Greenhill (NR), 9-6144: Abe Gill (AL) pinned Easton Michelich (NR), 2:57150: Brayden Patterson (AL) pinned Jon Florczyk (NR), 2:53157: Ambrose Ieropoli (AL) technical fall Cohen Riviotta (NR), 15-0 at 1:57 165: Luke Peace (AL) pinned Julian Riviotta (NR), 1:28175: Aide Omoijuanfo (AL) dec. Brian Taylor (NR), 11-8190: Landen Kunzelman (AL) by forfeit215: Pablo Secin (AL) pinned Tim Cehelnik (NR), 0:57285: Noah Amsden (AL) by forfeit