Boys wrestling: Elyria Catholic's Grady Moos wins state title; Avon's Eian Englehart finishes second

COLUMBUS — There was ecstasy and heartache for Lorain County on Sunday night at the high school state wrestling tournament. The joy was reserved for Elyria Catholic freshman Grady Moos as he dominated his way to the Division II state championship at 106 pounds. The anguish belonged to Avon's Eian Englehart as the senior had to settle for state runner-up after being pinned in the Division I 215-pound state final. Moos maintained his poise throughout the weekend and cemented his legacy with a 14-7 win over Wapakoneta junior Zane Russell in the Division II title match. He is Elyria Catholic's first state champion since Scott Burnett won three straight Division III state titles from 1996-98. Moos and Russell stalked each other for the first minute of the match but Moos took over from there and did so in decisive fashion. The Panthers lightweight jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a takedown and nearfall combination with 52 seconds left in the first period. "I knew he was going to be a bigger guy compared to me for sure ... that's kind of how everyone is," Moos said. "I get to where I'm good at, believe in myself at all times and go out there and let it fly. That move really set the tone." Russell rallied with a late first-period reversal and second-period takedown to make it 8-5. "I just knew I wanted to keep scoring and just really make a statement on it and not just win close," Moos said. Moos answered with a reversal before the end of the second to push the lead back to 10-5, then put the match away with another takedown midway through the third period. Russell manager another reversal with 30 seconds left in the match and Moos scored the final point on an escape. "This means the world," Moos said. "It shows it doesn't matter that you don't have to go to a powerhouse (program) to win state titles. You're going to see Elyria Catholic on the top very soon." Moos (44-4) had the vision of winning his first state title long before Sunday. According to his dad and Elyria Catholic assistant coach Mark, Moos first began attending the state tournament at the age of 1 in 2011. "I knew before the season going into high school I was confident in myself. I was working very hard every day," Grady Moos said. "I have the best partners, the best coaches. It pushed me every single day to get where I was. There was no doubt, ever." "He's really grown up around this tournament," Mark Moos said. "He has seen behind the scenes. He's seen the ups. He's seen the downs. He's seen the underdog stories. He's kind of seen it all. He's been coming down here since he was 1. He was born during sectionals (in 2010). He's been a regular since. "It's a different ride home than we usually have. Usually we're talking about who got upset and his favorite matches. Now, its go get it and get ready for world team trials." Mark Moos was a four-time Division I state placer, three-time state finalist and two-time state champion for St. Edward, winning titles in 2001-02 after taking second in 2000 and fourth in 1999. All four of Mark's state appearances were at the Schottenstein Center. "My dad tells me the same thing before every match," Grady said. "To go out there and have fun and score a lot of points. That's kind of what I try to do every time I go out there. I just try to wrestle the same every time, but really this weekend I tried to put pinpoint focus on moving my hands and my feet, and like I said, score a lot of points. I think I had the upper hand in this match with things like scrambling. (Russell) was a strong guy. He pushed me and made the scores hard to do. I stayed focused." Moos already has the U17 world team trials in focus, but that doesn't mean he didn't soak in his big moment Sunday. "I had a school clap-out before coming down," he said. "I got teachers and administrators from my schools, plus I had five friends comes down for the finals. Our community is awesome. They've been showing me a lot of love. I'm very grateful for that." Mark couldn't have been a more proud father. "(Grady) and coach Mick (Burnett) and coach Erik (Burnett) they spend so much time together. It's really easy on me," he said. "I went the backseat route forever since the youth times. Coach Mick and Coach Erik coached him every year. I'm standing in the back. "This whole year I kind of got a little used to it and the nerves. I was actually very relaxed today for him. I'm always pretty confident in him. I know what he puts into it. Every Sunday the same three kids from Division I (Perrysburg's Collin Bagdonas), II and III (Edison's Cohen Reer) are always right there with him in the same practice room. Every Sunday. These same kids stick together and work together. They're all state champs tonight. The things that the Burnett family does for the community is under the radar, but it is so abundant." One decisive move by St. Edward senior Aiden Peterson was all it took to dash Englehart's state title hopes. The Avon wrestler was caught with a slide-by move and got pinned at 1:04, the fourth straight pin victim by Peterson at the state tournament. Only one of the four made it as far as the second period. "Things happen. It doesn't take away from the rest of the season," said Englehart, who was a prominent member of the Eagles' back-to-back state championship football teams. "Obviously I like to win. I wrestled as hard as I could. That's all I could do." Englehart was attempting to become Avon's first state champion. Avon has had three previous state runners-up — Jack Roesch in 2019, Zane Zeman in 2011 and Tommy LaRosa in 2005. "He's a tough competitor," Englehart (49-3) said. "I got caught. It happens." "The closer you get, the harder it is," Avon coach Mark Jayne said. "As a competitor it's going to sting. It's going to hurt for a while. I've still got my losses. I still feel those. Props to Peterson. He's legit. We scouted him out but he was able to hit his move. It was a slide-by and a prayer. "Eian put in a great postseason. He battled all these guys. He prepared perfectly. He had a great mindset. There's nothing more as a coach that you can ask for. He put in a career's worth of great work. He's been one of our hardest workers. Everything he has done has been an awesome accomplishment." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.