State Finals Preview? Thomas Straughn Defeats Germaine Lindsey at Mayfield: Frank Becker Knocks off State Champ Cameron Wade with Buzzer-Beating Reversal

        “It wasn’t as close the score.”
        This phrase applies well to the 135 lb. finals bout between Thomas Straughn and Germaine Lindsey at the Mayfield Big Eight.  These two wrestlers have taken the state by storm this season.  Straughn, a two-time state placer, dropped from 145 to 135 for the Medina Invitational Tournament and promptly pinned a state runner-up (Chris Andrews) and technical falled a state champion (Richie Spicel).  Lindsey has placed 4th at the Ironman and 3rd  at Powerade, both prestigious national-level events.  More recently, he thrashed Shawn Harris of St. Edward’s (a 2004 state champion and 2005 state runner-up) by a 12-6 score.  Their meeting Saturday night at the Mayfield Big Eight was one of the most anticipated bouts of the season and is a likely preview of the Division I state finals.    
         It had to be the most one-sided overtime bout this writer has ever seen.  The final score at the end of regulation was 5-5.  However, Lindsey’s points consisted of three escapes and two stalling points, whereas Straughn notched solid takedowns in the first and second periods (twice almost putting Lindsey to his back with a “knee-tap” from a front headlock), and then went into cruise control.  Lindsey did a nice job of getting in on a single-leg early in the second period and looked like he might get a takedown, but the highly energetic Straughn quickly scrambled and nearly converted the situation into his own takedown.  Lindsey’s stalling points, the second of which was given to him right at the buzzer, were questionable to say the least- there was nothing about Straughn’s performance that justified him being hit for stalling three times (a theme of the night seemed to be that any wrestler who was leading a close match would get called for stalling- see the Keyes-Koballa match below).  Once in overtime, Straughn almost immediately scored the winning takedown, and made it look easy.  At this point, it looks like Straughn is a pretty solid favorite for the Division I state title at 135.
       
Becker defeats Wade in Buzzer-Beater

        The last match of the Mayfield Big Eight, Frank Becker and Cameron Wade came down to a controversial reversal awarded to Becker at the buzzer (which was appropriate, with so many matches throughout the night coming down to controversial calls at the buzzer). The wrestlers traded reversals throughout the match, as the state champion Wade hit his slick switch but got into trouble riding legs.  Wade had defeated Becker 5-2 at Solon, but clearly a great deal of preparation had gone into countering his leg riding tactics for this rematch.  Frankly, Becker seemed hungrier for the win than Wade did.  Clinging to a 7-6 lead, Wade found himself in trouble as Becker neared yet another reversal, trying to go behind Wade as Wade desparately clung to a leg.  The winning points were awarded to Becker at the buzzer. 
        By far the toughest weight of the tournament was heavyweight (how often do you hear that phrase)!  The heavyweight field was so stacked that one of the state’s best heavyweights, John Hiles (a CIT Champ and Ironman 3rd place finisher) needed overtime to win his 5th place match.  That match was against Mayfield’s backup, Sam Fikaris. Mayfield has the luxury of having two heavyweights who could very likely place at state, Fikaris and starter Nick Piccirillo (winner of the Alliance Top Gun).  According to Assistant Coach Carl Dibernardo “in wrestle-offs, they usually go into double overtime.  Fikaris goes about 260 so he cannot make it down to 215.”  Piccirillo surprised some (though not Coach Dibernardo) with a win in his pool over Hiles, but could not solve Cameron Wade’s leg riding, losing by fall.  Meanwhile, Wade defeated Hiles 3-0, his second win over Hiles this year in three matches.  In summary, there were six heavyweights in this eight-team tournament who are good enough to potentially place at state this year!

Gardella Upsets Skonieczny

        In the biggest upset of the finals, Kyle Gardella of Bedford Chanel defeated Chase Skonieczny of Walsh Jesuit.  Skonieczny has won the Powerade and placed third at the Ironman this season.  In this match, he dominated for the first five minutes.  Holding a 4-1 lead in the third period, Skonieczny seemed to have a lapse in concentration as Gardella suddenly cranked him over with the legs for a three point nearfall.  Gardella quickly did it again to take a 6-4 lead.  The wrestlers then went out of bounds.  As they came back for the re-start, Skonieczny had a clear sense of urgency, but quickly found himself tied up in Gardella’s leg riding.  Flip and flopping desparately, Skonieczny scored a miraculous tying reversal, once again, as time expired.  In overtime, Skoniecny was cautioned for a false start- which cost him a point and the bout.  It was an unfortunate ending to a great match- both wrestlers showed a lot of heart.

Keyes overcomes Koballa, Officials

        An argument could be made that the marquee bout of the night was the 125 lb. final between Quinten Keyes of Walsh Jesuit and Adam Koballa of Bedford Chanel. Keyes is a 3x state placewinner, placing top four all three years.  Koballa was a 2004 state champion and finished 3rd last year.  The match did not disappoint!  
A beautiful second-period double leg gave Koballa the lead going into the third period.  Trailing 5-3 in the third, Keyes scored a takedown and immediately tilted Koballa to take a 7-5 lead, but Koballa reversed him almost immediately to tie it at 7-7 with about 40 seconds remaining.  Koballa then cut Keyes to try for the winning takedown.  Keyes had no stalling warnings, however, he was called for stalling twice in six seconds to send the match into overtime.  Simply put, this was a terrible call- there was nothing that Keyes had done that was nearly blatant enough for him to be hit for stalling twice in six seconds.  The Walsh Coaches were understandably livid and stormed the mat to protest. 
Keyes seemed unphased by the controversy, and shot a double leg off the whistle when action resumed.  Koballa, perhaps distracted by all of the commotion, seemed completely unprepared and had virtually no counter, as Keyes finished an almost clean takedown.  Keyes also scored a 10-1 major decision over state place-winner Eric Gobin in his pool.  Keyes appears to be very determined- after 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place state finishes- to stand on the top of the podium at the 2006 state tournament.

And Finally, the Dave Rella Show

        This will come as no surprise, but Dave Rella was by far the most impressive wrestler in a star-studded field.  In his final with Adam Bellflower of Strongsville, he looked like he was simply drilling, piling up six uncontested first-period takedowns, and then- seemingly bored with taking him down- pinning Bellflower.  Rella will not be challenged again until High School Nationals- the only questions that will remain to be answered at Schottenstein Arena in his weight are: who will finish second, and will they go they distance?  It would have been nice to see him wrestle state place-winner Dean Gaier, but Gaier scratched shortly before the tournament.  Cincinnati Moeller showed why they are Ohio’s 2nd best team, winning this stacked tournament without Gaier.

Conclusion

        The Mayfield Big Eight is easily the best little tournament in Ohio.  Much great action happened before the finals- with the already mentioned brutal heavyweight weight class, plus state placewinner Alex Weaver losing to Massillon Perry’s backup 103 in his pool.  Mike Mahon of Cincinnati Moeller was also upset in his pool by Adam Phillips of Massillon Perry.  Another key finals  matchup, although not the most exciting bout, had state 3rd placer Mike Haxton defeat state runner-up Derek Foore in a methodical bout. Coach Dibernardo had this to say about the tournament. “Seven of the eight teams in this tournament finished top five in the state last year.  What more could you want?” Well put.  Mayfield was one of the best finals I have seen this year- and the state picture became clearer than ever.  Stay tuned!

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OhioWrestlingSite.com 2005