Depth carries Monroeville to repeat FC title
Feb. 18—NORWALK — Having two projected state finalists is certainly a start.
But the Monroeville High School wrestling program is the perfect example of needing more than a few elite standouts to win a conference title.
"Wrestling gets a bad rap when people say it is an individual sport," Monroeville head coach Tylor Nester said. "You have to have those practice room guys. We have 18 kids out this year and they work hard and continue to grow.
"Those state level kids have pushed our younger and first-year kids, and obviously it showed today. It's a team effort all the way around."
Behind four individual champions and five other finalists, the Eagles held off runners-up Crestview by 15 points (170.5-to-155.5) to win their second consecutive FIrelands Conference championship on Saturday inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium at St. Paul High School in Norwalk.
It marked the second straight FC title for the Eagles, who had gone 21 years without one. That included the days when Monroeville had four different four-time individual state champions — who combined to win a Division III state title — from 2007-11 when the likes of Logan and Hunter Stieber, Cam Tessari and Chris Phillips dominated the scene.
"It's awesome," junior standout Ashton Homan said. "Last year we did it for the first time in 21 years, so doing it two years in a row is huge for our program. Hopefully we can keep it going for next year and go for three."
Vogus wins huge match
One man's loss is another man's gain.
The anticipated state-ranked showdown between Mapleton's unbeaten Brock Durbin and St. Paul defending state champion Casper Caizzo never materialized on Saturday.
Instead, Durbin found himself up one weight class in an equally big-time match when he drew Monroeville senior Hunter Vogus — the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 132 pounds according to the Feb. 8 borofanohio.net rankings.
"I was just glad to get a really strong test before the postseason to see where I was at," Vogus said.
The senior didn't disappoint, making an early takedown stand in the 3-1 decision to hand Durbin (30-1) — ranked No. 4 at 126 pounds — his first loss. Vogus, who placed seventh at state a year ago, improved to 35-7.
"I need to get to my offense more and move my hands and feet more," Vogus said. "Get more fakes fakes, get going earlier instead of waiting ... just so I could get a chance to wrestle on top. It's my best position, and I didn't even get to wrestle from it."
Nester agreed with his state placer's assessment of the match.
"A win is a win, but we'd like to be a little more aggressive in there," he said. "But we came out on top, and that's what we want to do at this point of the season. That match itself is probably a state semifinals or finals-caliber match, so it's where we want to be and the competition we want to see."
Vogus said going out with another FC title as a senior was one of several goals this season.
"A pretty good day," he said. "This was a goal at the beginning of the year and we accomplished that. Now it's time to go after our postseason team and individual goals, and make a run for a state title."
Homan embraces target
After placing third at the state championships as a freshman and sophomore, Homan has been the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 138 pounds for much of the season.
"We're at the final stretch," Homan said. "This is what we've trained for all year. It's time to lock in and get the job done now."
On Saturday, Homan improved to 32-5 with a pair of pins to claim the FC title for a third straight season. He pinned Plymouth's Cayle Pope in 3:18 and Crestview's Liam Kuhn in 1:05.
After competing at high-profile tournaments at Brecksville, Edison, Oregon Clay and Ahtnoy Wayne among others, Homan believes he is prepared for the road to state more than any other year.
"Getting those tougher matches in during the season is definitely helpful," he said. "It's a build-up for the end of the year, and it helps us kind of be ready for it.
"Toward the end of the season, we've had these tough matches in already. We're ready to go, and that matters in the big matches."
Other placers
Sophomore Brencyn Evans and senior Peyton Barnhart also stood atop the podium for the Eagles on Saturday.
Ranked No. 21 at 157, Evans had three pins over Plymouth's Jackson Dennison (3:55), Western Reserve's Levi Podraski (2:18) and Crestview's Brandt Goon (2:49) to win the weight and improve to 33-7.
Barnhart (22-13) had just one match at heavyweight (285)pinning Crestview's Josiah Freewalt in 57 seconds.
Ian Patchen lost a heartbreaker, 6-5, on an escape point in the final second in the finals at 165 to South Central's Hayden Berry. He is now 28-12 after placing second.
At 144, state-ranked No. 27 Landen Roeder had the tall task of facing Crestview's No. 3-ranked Hayden Kuhn (32-2). The NCAA Div. II Ashland University commit — who was the MVP of the lower weights on Saturday — became the 14th four-time FC champion with a 9-1 major decision over Roeder, who is now 30-10.
Ranked 25th at 150, Ben Seitz (27-9) reached the final and was pinned in five minutes by Crestview's Jaden Hedrick.
At 175, Landin Hershiser (24-16) fell by a 17-10 score in the finals to South Central's Brandon Smith. Levi Beard also had a tough task in a 10-1 major decision loss in the finals at 190, where he drew state No. 3 Colton Sparks (38-1) of Plymouth.
Earning third place for the Eagles was Brycen Dunlap at 215. Placing fourth was Cameron Blasetzky (106) and Braden Barman (113).
"A couple matches we hoped to swing the other way, but that is what this time of year is like," Nester said. "You have to be on top of your game, or stuff is going to happen. For the most part, I thought we wrestled to our ability, and we're really excited to see where we the kids are as we head into these next couple of weeks in the season."
In the latest rankings before the tournament edition, the Eagles are projected to finish fifth at the state championships in three weeks.
"We put not just those returning state guys, but our whole team in those challenging meets," Nester said. "And that's one of the toughest things for the kids and our parents ... we're facing that type of competition for a reason. It sets us up for success this week and next week, and down the road.
"There is always room for improvement, and we talk about that in the room all the time," he added. "We want to be greedy and to never be satisfied with where we're at. It's great we got a championship today, but come next week, we have to turn our attention towards the sectional tournament and see if we can advance as many kids as possible."
