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Prepper wrestler repeats at state champ
(by Steve Novak - March 12, 2009)
Prepper wrestler repeats at state champ
By STEVE NOVAK
Starting with Harrison Hightower and progressing down to Nick Mills, James Inghram and Brad Wukie, this year's University School wrestling team has a first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finisher.
Hightower, a junior, won the championship of the Division II 140-pound weight class Saturday at Ohio State University with a 5-2 decision over Matt Stephens, of St. Paris Graham. This is the second state championship for the Hightower, who won the championship last year in the 130-pound weight category.
"Harrison just wrestled a perfect match," University School coach Sean Grosz said. "He's the first two-time state champ in school history."
Second-place honors went to Mills in the 189-pound weight class. He finished third last year in the 171-pound weight class and fifth in the state as a sophomore.
Inghram, a senior, finished third last weekend in the 125-pound division. He was last season in the at state in the 112-pound class.
Wukie finished in fourth place this year in the 152-pound division. He lost by default because of a knee injury in the bout to determine third and fourth place. Last year, Wukie finished sixth in the 135-pound weight class.
In addition to the individual honors, University School finished third in the team standings. First place went to St. Paris Graham, the school which topped the weekly state rankings in Division II all season.
University School finished third in team points, but only by virtue of one-half of a team point. Urichsville Claymont had 81 team points to University's 80.5 points. Paris Graham finished with 282 points.
West Geauga's Adam Walters finished second in Division II in the 160-pound weight division. He lost his title bout to Kyle Ryan, of St. Paris Graham by a 5-2 decision.
Walters finished the season with 50 wins and two defeats. He had finished fourth in the state at 160 pounds last season and his career total of 150 wins is first in the West Geauga record book.
West Geauga coach Joe Marino said it was understandable that Walters was disappointed with his second-place finish, but said that there was nothing about the his performance that shouldn't cause him to feel proud.
"In my years of being head coach at West Geauga, Adam is the ninth kid to be a state placer, but he's the first runner-up I've ever had," he said. "He wanted to be a state champ, but there's nothing wrong with being second in the whole state. He did everything right. This was just a little bump in the road for him. Adam will go on to do fine things."
West Geauga sophomore Mike November also competed in the state competition in the 103-pound class. This was his first time to qualify and in his first match ever at state level, November lost to Andrew Berubin, of Cambridge, by a 1-0 decision. Berubin finished second in the state, and November said he took some consolation in this initial bout of his.
"I keep telling myself, 'Wow, I was so close,' you know?" November said. "But being there at state, and watching a guy that I drilled with (Adam Walters) going to the finals, it makes me think that me going there for West Geauga is a possible goal, and definitely reachable for me."
University's Grosz said the team's third-place finish in team rankings was the best showing of his career.
"I've been here five years, and we've finished in the top 10 each of the five years," he said. "But there's always upsets when you get to state. For our guys, they were all close matches, all the way down the line."
Grosz said that there is always disappointment for seniors who don't come from state finals with a championship. Wukie, Mills and Inghram are all seniors.
"For the seniors, it's a heartbreaker that they never achieved a state title," he said. "But I told them I was proud of them, and I told them that this is just a small chunk of life. For Nick, he's going on to Columbia College, and I told him that's a lot bigger and better things to take place for him."
Grosz said he will lose four of his starting 13 wrestlers to senior graduation, but he added that he was encouraged by the fact that two Prepper underclassmen also qualified for state finals for their first time this year. This should bode well, he said.
"I certainly hope so," he said. "We had a freshman (Michael Tassone) and a sophomore (Kyle Roddy) down there this year, too, even though they didn't place."
In the Division II 125-pound category, Kenston's Jake Kazimir finished eighth. An injury caused him to default out of competition during a match with Dilon VanDyne, of Cambridge. Kazimir, a junior, had a record of 24-4 going into the state tournament.
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