Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Sends 10 Wrestlers To District Meet

Senior Marshal Willet will lead 10 wrestlers from into next week’s District Tournament at Lorain High School.

Willet was the only one of five Bees to win his Sectional championship match Saturday at Medina High School. Knowing that he was his team’s last chance at an individual title, Willet came out with passion in his 171-pound match against Isaiah Wheeler of Copley and earned a 21-5 major decision.

The Bees finished second overall with 222 points. Their inability to beat Wadsworth wrestlers kept them from challenging the defending state champion Grizzlies for the team title. Wadsworth finished with 281 points and will take 13 wrestlers into next week’s meet.

Willet and four others advanced by getting to the championship round. Five other Bees wrestled for third place and will also be going to Lorain.

"To get 10 out is really an accomplishment," Willet said. "It shows we can compete with the best. Now we have to take the next step. To do that, we have to keep working on conditioning, which has been a big factor in getting us this far.

"We also have to have confidence in ourselves."

Willet said that was a key to his title win. He admitted that he felt more pressure earlier in the day to win and gain a district berth. Being the last man standing for his team meant a lot to him, too.

"I’m going to compete until the last minute," Willet said. "I wanted to win to make a statement, to provide some leadership for our team."

Before Willet’s win, Tommy Pruchinski, Mitch Baran, Andrew Barr and Kyle Roddy finished second in their respective weight classes. Pruchinski at 119 pounds, Baran (130) and Roddy (160) all lost to Wadsworth wrestlers. Barr lost at 152 pounds to Teddy Hammer of host Medina, 6-1.

Baran couldn’t quite get past Alfredo Gray. The Bees junior won three straight matches to get a chance at Gray, who improved his overall record to 37-4 with a 5-3 triumph. Baran’s record dropped to 24-9.

Roddy battled unbeaten Sheldon Brandenburg on even terms for nearly three rounds. Wadsworth’s senior earned an escape point with 50 seconds left for a 1-0 win that gave him a 25-0 record. Roddy is 28-6 overall.

Pruchinski’s escape move in the final minute of the second round gave him a 2-0 lead over Aaron Warstler, who quickly tied it in the opening seconds of round three. Pruchinski earned another point, but Warstler reversed it in a split second, nearly pinning the Bees wrestler, who could not counter with an escape for the rest of the match and lost, 4-3.

Coming off another perfect dual meet season and one week after capturing their sixth straight Southwestern Conference team championship, the Bees showed they can be a force in tournaments, too.

The Bees have not lost a dual meet since 2005, beating 45 consecutive opponents. Tournament wrestling is a different story, and coach Todd Haverdill knows it.

"There are so many good teams here," said Haverdill, who is seeking a fifth top 10 finish in his upcoming 10th state tournament as Bees coach.

"Medina is a very tough sectional," Haverdill said of the tournament that also had powerful Cuyahoga Falls, Copley, Medina and Strongsville among its 12 teams.

"We can sit around and complain about it, or get prepared to go out and wrestle. That’s the way I look at it. To get 10 guys out of here is good. I think it is the most since I’ve been here. But I feel for the four kids left behind. You want to take them all with you. That’s always our goal.

"Anytime one of your kids loses, you feel it. Especially if it is a senior."

Haverdill believes they are wrestling their best at the right time of the year.

"The idea is to peak now," he said. "We wanted to wrestle well this week, a little better next week and even a little better two weeks from now.

"I’d like to think that down the line we will have some kids that cause people to say, ‘Where did this guy come from?’

"Who knows who it could be. It depends on who gets hot at the right time. It could be anybody."

It could be freshman Grayson Davis, one of five Bees who made his way through the wrestlebacks into a third-place match, though he was pinned in 17 seconds by Strongsville's Jake Demio.

Senior Anthony D’Amico at 125 pounds fell to eventual champion Kagan Squire of Wadsworth in the quarterfinals on a major decision, 17-4. He advanced to the third-place match, where he lost, 5-0, to Zach Walker of Copley. The loss put D’Amico’s individual record at 18-9 this season.

Dylan Good was pinned by Wadsworth’s Chris Baughman in 1:35 in the third-place match at 135 and Quinton Hiles (140) lost his consolation match to Nordonia's Mark Gupko, 11-7.

George Saridakis at 145 gained a third-place finish by beating Austyn Wilson of Cuyahoga Falls, 8-1.