Avon's Eian Englehart, Elyria Catholic's Grady Moos advance to the state finals and will compete for state championships tonight

COLUMBUS —There were highs and lows Saturday night at Value City Arena as two area boys earned spots in tonight's state championship finals and several other Lorain County wrestlers came up just short of realizing their dreams. Elyria Catholic freshman Grady Moos scored a reversal in the final seconds to edge Beaver freshman Jordan Bates 10-9 in the Division II 106-pound semifinals, while Avon senior Eian Englehart rallied from a 4-3 first-period deficit to defeat Brecksville senior E.J. German 11-5 in the Division I 215-pound semifinals. While the pair celebrated with coaches, family and friends, several others were suffering heartbreak. Columbia suffered back-to-back devastating losses in the Division III semifinals. Sophomore Bodey Gibbs, who won the 106-pound state championship last season, lost 7-4 in sudden victory overtime to St. Paris Graham freshman Cooper Breslin in a 113 semifinal, then senior Michael Frye, who won the 106 state title in 2024, lost 5-4 on a last-second takedown to Trinity junior Derion Williams in a 120 semifinal. Lorain's DJ Otero was also a semifinal casualty, losing an 8-0 major decision to Perrysburg's Collin Bagdonas in the Division I 106-pound bracket. The trio will attempt to bounce back in today's consolation semifinals. "It's not how I wanted it to go," Moos said. "I like dominating, but I got through it and stayed tough the whole time. I envisioned all week that I'm beating all these guys, all year really. I knew he wanted to duck, he wanted to wrestle upper body so I wrestled smart there. He's tough. He likes scrapping." Moos fell behind on a reversal with just over 20 seconds left, but managed to keep his poise. "All those drills that we did in practice paid off," he said. "I envisioned that moment so often, down in a huge match like that. You have to get it up. I did that. I stuck to what I knew and I was focused. I'm excited that I got that one out of the way. Whoever is in the finals with me I know that they're going to want it just as much, but I'm ready. I work very hard, 365 days a year so I'm ready." "It was kind of the ultimate competitor moment," EC coach Mick Burnett said. "Down late, back and forth. We go down by a point with 20 seconds left. We got to move on the bottom and that's what he did. He puts in one more situation, one more move and that's what Grady did. He was able to jump on the pocket and score. That's kind of what we've grown accustomed to with him in big matches, his pulling out something kind of late. That's just how he is. He's resilient and he's a competitor. He loves being here. He loves the crowd. It was a good moment for the program and it was a good moment for Grady and (his father) Mark (Moos, EC's assistant coach) and their family." Moos (43-4) faces Wapakoneta junior Zane Russell (42-4) in today's title match. He became the program's first state finalist since Stan Bleich in 2017 and now hopes to become its first state champion since Scott Burnett — Mick's uncle — won three straight from 1996-98. Englehart was dominant in his match, especially after taking control in the second half by scoring a takedown with two seconds left in the second period then adding another with 28 seconds left in the third. "All I thought was how I prepared for this," Englehart said. "Working with my coaches, my drill partner preparing for a match like that. They were right with everything and it worked out well. It's nice to get that distance (in the final score) so it's not a one-score match. I really try to emphasize that. I just try to keep my game plan in mind. It's my match. I try not to allow my opponent to set the pace, but just to push against myself." Englehart is Avon's fourth state finalist — joining Tommy LaRosa (2005), Zane Zeman (2011) and Jack Roesch (2019) — and he is attempting to become the Eagles' first state champion. "I've never faced (German) before," Englehart said. "We've always been on opposite sides of the bracket. He's a great wrestler and I have a great deal of respect for him." Englehart (45-1) will face St. Edward senior Aiden Peterson (36-6), the Perrysburg district champ who pinned all three opponents to get to the final. Peterson finished third at 215 at last year's state tournament. "Peterson's a great wrestler. I've seen him wrestle before but I've never wrestled him or got my hands on him before," Englehart said. "I'll have to watch some of his matches and drill some things into my game. I'm looking forward to the opportunity." "He wrestled the match to a T," Avon coach Mark Jayne said. "He picked out all the other guy's weaknesses and counters and kept on scoring, kept on grinding and came out on top." Losses don't get much tougher than the two the Raiders had to endure. "Just fell a little short this year," Gibbs (40-4) said. "I'm going to come back and get what's mine next year. Props to my opponent. He had a good plan. He came out and attacked. He's better than me today. I'll get him the next time we wrestle. I wrestled him one other time earlier at Ironman and got him then." After missing the postseason last year with an elbow injury, Frye (40-9) was focused on getting back to the top spot but lost a cliffhanger to Williams (42-2). It was a rematch of the 2024 state final that Frye won 1-0. "It was a heartbreaking way to lose," Frye said. "I lost to him in the district finals but have beaten him before. Words can't describe the disappointment. I put in the work and just came up short." "We put a ton of work in. These two boys worked their tales off," Columbia coach Chet Cochrane said. "The opportunities were there. We were in overtime, (Breslin) got into a shot on us deep. We fought back from an early takedown, tied it up, pushed it into overtime. I'm very proud with how (Gibbs) wrestled. State semifinals, you get into these situations where everybody is tight. These guys laid it out there, left it out there and came up a little bit short." Several Lorain County boys are still alive in the consolation brackets and will wrestle for third to eighth places this morning. Otero and Elyria junior Bennett Wachter will be in action in the Division I 106 weight class. Otero will start in the consolation semifinals and could finish between third and sixth, while Wachter will compete for seventh or eighth. Wachter dropped a 4-1 decision to Harrison sophomore Greyson Boner in the consolation quarterfinals. "I'm not too down about it," Otero said of his semifinal loss. "I just need to wrestle back and get the next best thing. That's the goal." "I just didn't wrestle well," Wachter said. "The outcome wasn't what I planned. I have nothing to lose now. I just need to wrestle and have fun." "I don't think we wrestled badly," Elyria coach Armando Torres said. "We had our opportunities. We were in deep on a couple of attacks. We just had some issues following through and finishing and transitioning to our takedowns. He's starting to open up and he has wrestled better in every single match this tournament. We're going to go out and try to win this last one and end the season with a W." Clearview sophomore Noah Huston (113) and Vermilion senior Ayden Kyser (157) wrestle for seventh place today, Huston in Division III and Kyser in Division II. Huston was pinned by Lake Catholic junior Chance Wuhr, while Kyser dropped a 9-3 decision to Mansfield Madison junior Aiden Proctor. "I'm very proud of him. He's been working hard all season long," Clearview coach David Cooper said of Huston. "He bounced back earlier in the tournament. He'll bounce back tomorrow and be ready to go." Black River senior Mason Koberna (190) was eliminated after a Division III consolation second-round loss to Huntington junior Carson McNeal. Koberna surrendered a takedown in the last five seconds of the 4-1 defeat.Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.