Boys sectional wrestling: Avon Lake advances whole team to district tournament

AVON LAKE — The journey is better when everyone tags along for the ride. Avon Lake advanced its entire wrestling team to the Division I Perrysburg district tournament Saturday. The Shoremen sent eight to the finals, produced one sectional champion and took second as a team at their host event. Medina Highland emphatically came away with the team title, winning 12 of the 14 weight classes and advancing 13 wrestlers. "The goal is to move on and we got everyone on the team moving on," Avon Lake coach Scott Sedlick said. "That's the first time we've ever done that here at this school, so that's a positive thing for the culture. It's going to be an exciting weekend next week that's for sure." Avon Lake's lone sectional champion came in an anti-climactic final. Ambrose Ieropoli took home the 157 championship, needing just 13 seconds on the mat because his opponent, Mentor freshman Corbin Bissett, had to default after a hard fall. Ieropoli turned out an impressive performance in his first postseason. The junior opened his day with a technical fall in the quarterfinals and a pin in the semifinals. He spent the first two seasons battling injuries and his way up the depth chart as the Shoremen have had some competitive teams in recent years. "A lot of this is just putting my head down," Ieropoli said. "I didn't get to wrestle freshman year or sophomore year because of injuries and better kids on the team. I've been working the entire summer up until now. It's been great. I'm really thankful I've been able to do this injury free as long as I have been." Avon Lake's other seven finalists all ran into the Medina Highland machine, which with the exception of one overtime bout, took care of business relatively decisively overall. That overtime win came at 138 when Highland's Hoyt Pylypiak secured a takedown 52 seconds into sudden death against Avon Lake's Kaden Lademan. The two had battled to a stalemate during the first six minutes with their only points coming on escapes because each elected to go down in the beginning of the second and third periods, respectively. Avon Lake's other finals results included Austin Bickerton securing a technical fall against Nate Grieger 18-2 at 120, Kyle Scavuzzo pinning Caden Bristow 1:48 into their bout at 132, Leonidas Giatis securing a technical fall against Abe Gill 15-0 at 144, Brennan Kicker with a major decision against Brayden Patterson 14-3 at 150, Niko Giatis with a technical fall against Luke Peace 18-2 at 165 and Lukas Grillis with a 9-2 decision against Landen Kunzelman at 190. The Shoremen also had five others place third at their respective weight classes — Henry Valerino (106), Conall Gannon (126), Aide Omoijuanfo (175), Pablo Secin (215) and Noah Amsden (285). Blake Elton took fourth at 113. "I think some of our guys need to come out a little more aggressive," Sedlick said. "We got behind early in some of our matches that we shouldn't have. And as the match went on we wrestled better, but at that point you're too far behind to make a comeback. I think we learned a little bit about that scenario, being a little more aggressive at the beginning, and making sure we're not giving up too many points in the first period so we can stay in the match." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Medina Highland 315, 2. Avon Lake 249, 3. Mentor 213, 4. Dover 121, 5. Boardman 74, 6. Cuyahoga Falls 72, 7. Sandusky 59, 8. John Marshall 41, 9. Firestone 31, 10. Ellet 29.