TAYLOR ANSWERS:  Graham Ace Fights Off Challenge of Logan Stieber:

No 103 lb. match-up has ever been so anticipated as David Taylor versus Logan Stieber did this weekend.  David Taylor and Logan Stieber may be the two most dominant wrestlers to this point in their respective careers Ohio has ever seen.  They are two of the only three wrestlers (the other being Collin Palmer) to win three junior high state titles, and both pinned or technical falled nearly all of their opponents in doing so.   Neither has been remotely pushed in “Fargo” (with the exception that Taylor lost by a fluke “touch fall” in the 2005 Greco-Roman finals when he was just shy of a tech fall).  Taylor won the Ironman and Beast of the East last year, and dominated the state tournament despite being an extremely light 103.  Stieber, of course, outscored the competition 101-1 at Cadet National this year with only one period going the distance.  Stieber’s lifetime track record at national tournaments is equaled only by (maybe) Dustin Schlatter. Photo credit to Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

Despite Taylor proven track record, the majority of the “pundits” seemed to think the outstanding freshman from Monroeville might have the upper hand.   That was the indication I’d gotten from a slight majority of the most knowledgeable wrestling coaches in this state who had seen both wrestle a great deal.

I spoke with Jeff Jordan shortly before the match.  Jordan is, of course, Taylor’s coach at Graham, but ironically, has had somewhat of a role in Stieber’s development as well.  I asked Jordan what the key would be for his Taylor against Stieber.  “It’s a classic match-up of technique (Taylor) versus power (Stieber), though Logan Stieber has great technique as well. They both have won thousands of matches in their lives leading up to tonite’s match.  They know each other real well, they’ve wrestled in my room many times.  They are real good friends but when the match starts, they’ll put it on the line tonite.”  Jordan’s (himself a four-time state champion) facial expression, and careful choice of words, showed that despite all the big matches he had coached (as well as wrestled), clearly that this was not just another match for him either.

Being impressed with Stieber’s stunning Fargo dominance, and relying on the opinions who saw both wrestle many times, including wrestle each other in Fargo camps, I went with Stieber in my Ironman preview.  In the end, however, it was Taylor who gave the the pundits a reminder of the difference between folkstyle and freestyle- and the importance of mat wrestling.  In the early going, Stieber’s strength advantage was evident as he scored the first takedown.  Stieber was able to ride Taylor for a short time as he attempted to lock up one of his deadly near-side cradles.  However, Taylor finally broke free as Stieber’s failed cradle attempt left him in poor position.  After escaping, the savvy Taylor immediately struck with what might be termed a “schuck” or “throw-by” for a takedown with :20 seconds to go, and then rode Stieber out for the remainder of the period.  In essence, that brief sequence decided the match.  Against a wrestler as good on the mat and as well-conditioned as David Taylor-  he is second to none, nationally speaking, in both categories- Stieber simply had to have the lead at the end of the first period.  Eric Burnett had this to say about him the match- “Taylor was almost flawless.  If you take a break against David Taylor he’s going to score, every time, he’s got that much focus.”  Burnett is Stieber’s long-time youth coach and is what Stieber is almost certain to become- a four-time state champion, and one of Ohio’s all-time greatest lightweights.

It seemed that perhaps the freshman’s confidence may have been shook at that point.   Quite possibly, the fact that Stieber has been so dominant in nearly all of his previous matches worked against him.  When a wrestler is used to quickly tech falling every opponent and is never scored upon, even in national competition, perhaps they do not know how to respond (from a mental standpoint) to being behind for the first time.  Burnett seemed to have the same thought: “Logan is so good, he hasn’t had a lot of close matches yet, compared to David Taylor who has been through a year of tough high school competition.”

Early in the second period, Stieber was called for clasping, and a Taylor escape shortly thereafter gave him a 5-2 lead even though both had scored a single takedown.  Neither was able to score a takedown in the second period.  In the third period, Stieber made what was, in hindsight, a tactical error.  The penalty point, and inability to get an escape point at the end of the first period, really put Stieber in a tough position.  The last place any 103 in this country wants to be is underneath David Taylor.  However, if Stieber took neutral, he would have either needed a big move or three takedowns for the win (or two takedowns and a ride-out to force overtime).   Neither seemed likely against someone of Taylor’s caliber who merely needed to defend his lead.   Nonetheless- with 20/20 hindsight- I think a better option might have been to go that route (neutral).  From the position, David Taylor absolutely took over- completely dominating Stieber from that position.  Taylor’s looked simply unshakeable until Stieber finally broke free with about :15 to go.  With an awesome combination of legs and tilts, Taylor had Stieber in trouble a number of times before adding a two point tilt with about :30 to go that clinched the match. 

In the end, round one (of what should be an incredible rivalry went) to David Taylor by a score of 7-3.  There really isn’t enough to say about Taylor.  As previously written, he was one of the top two 103 lb. wrestlers in the nation last year- despite being drastically outsized at 103.  Now he’s a full 103 and looks to be light-years ahead of all other competitors at this weight nationally (other than Stieber).  Taylor is the epitome of energy and intensity.  It struck me just how good Taylor is when Boris Novachkov, the 125 lb. champion, was named Most Outstanding Wrestler following pinning Colin Johnston in the finals.  Taylor beat Novachkov last year despite being drastically out-sized.  Last year’s Taylor paled in comparison to where he is at now.   As for Stieber, it is highly doubtful he will be pushed for the remainder of this season- and as Burnett put it “he will be back”.

Two other freshman 103’s came up with huge performances this weekend.  The first was Jamie Clark of St. Ed’s.   The talk at the press table was that the three best 103’s in the nation were right there in the Ironman gym.  I tend to agree.  Clark came in with very similar track record to where David Taylor came in last year- an extremely dominant, multiple-time junior high state champ who also won cadet nationals at 91 lbs the summer before his freshman season.  In fact, Clark, like Taylor before him, completely dominated the freestyle competition in Fargo and actually went unscored-upon.  However, there were questions as to whether he would be a decent-sized 103 or would be a year away.  Surprisingly, Clark looked considerably bigger than Taylor did last year, and in fact appears to have grown into the weight.  He put all questions to rest in the semifinal with Stieber, falling by a narrow 7-6 score.   Clark then handled the 2nd and 3rd best 103’s in Division I (Sam White and Jerome Robinson) by scores of 5-0 and 4-0.  Clark sets a fast pace and attacks constantly and is truly a treat to watch compete.   With White and Robinson both being huge 103’s, Clark should only widen the gap as he grows into the weight.  Mark this prediction down right now:  Barring injury, Taylor, Stieber, and Clark- competing in different divisions- will all become 4x state champions.

Finally, yet another outstanding freshman made a great showing for himself at this weight.  Despite being seeded only #13, Jerome Robinson of Cleveland St. Ignatius knocked off the #1 ranked 103 in Division I, Sam White of Massillon Perry in the quarterfinals.  Robinson scored a takedown and near fall in the first period of that bout to take a 4-0 lead, and held on for a 5-2 win.  Robinson even scored the first takedown against David Taylor in the semis and kept it relatively close for the first half of the match- until Taylor got on top and a repeat of their 2005 junior high state final ensued- with Taylor turning him with the legs and tilts numerous times for a 17-2 technical fall.  Robinson fell to Clark in the 3rd place match- but is easily worthy of a top 20 national ranking, as it 5th place Sam White of Massillon Perry.

Honeycutt Stuns Weakley

Conventional forum wisdom has held that Chris Honeycutt’s win against Weakley last year- while not necessarily a “fluke”- was unlikely to repeat itself.  Even in that match, Weakley scored three of the four takedown but was hampered by a series of mental errors which resulted in points for Honeycutt.  Furthermore, Weakley won the state title, won Ironman (compared to Honeycutt’s 5th place finish) and placed in Fargo whereas Honeycutt (though close), did not.  This time, however, Honeycutt left little doubt.  Like the Taylor/Stieber match, this match was decided, from my perspective, in one brief flurry of action.  The powerful Weakley went for the “jugular” early, going for an upper-body throw and very, very nearly converting it.  Somehow, the scrappy Honeycutt scrambled out of danger and came up with the takedown.  From my view at press row, you could see the doubt settle into Weakley’s face (Weakley is actually now 0-3 against Honeycutt, losing to him at junior high state as well).  Weakley did very little for the remainder of the period while Honeycutt rode him out.

Honeycutt then chose the down position in the 2nd period, and quickly extended his lead to 3-0 with an escape.  At this point the pressure was squarely upon Weakley to start making up points.  However, Honeycutt got in on a beautifully-executed single-leg, and finished for a 5-0 lead.  You knew the wheels had officially come off for Weakley when he got hit for stalling again, extending Honeycutt’s lead to 6-0.  In the third stanza, Weakley did try one nice ankle pick, which Honeycutt countered nicely for a stalemate.  A forced shot by Weakley was easily countered for another “deuce” by Honeycutt to extend the lead to 8-0.  I noted at this point you didn’t even hear a great deal of cheering from the St. Edward contingent- it seemed even they were stunned by the way the match was unfolding. Weakley was hit for stalling yet again in the third period as Honeycutt built his lead to 9-0.  A Weakley escape made it an unthinkable 9-1 final score.

The finals was more of the same, with Honeycutt dominating from his feet en route to an 8-1 triumph over a very solid David Marone of Colorado.  Honeycutt’s performance earned him a much deserved Most Outstanding Wrestler award.

A third Ohio wrestler had a performance worth noting at this weight.  Division III champion Nick Perdue showed that he is the “real deal” so to speak.  Dominant at 171 in Division III last year, Perdue looked to be a very much a “tweener” (i.e. too big for 171 but a little light for 189), but that didn’t stop him from giving both Honeycutt and Weakley all they could handle.  In the quarterfinals against Honeycutt, Perdue got the first takedown was leading late in the 2nd period 2-1.  At this point my attention shifted, to the Roddy-Magrum bout and all I know is Honeycutt was the eventual winner 7-2- presumably Honeycutt scored a takedown and near-fall.  After defeating former Cadet National Champion Andy Thomas in the consolations, Perdue faced John Weakley in a match I watched with great interest.  While Weakley did simply overpower Perdue in getting two takedowns on his way to a 5-2 win, Perdue was close to scoring on him numerous times and made Weakley work for everything.   In my view, Ohio has three national-caliber 189’s in Honeycutt, Weakley, and Perdue- and all will butt heads once again at the Medina Invitational Tournament.

Shawn Harris:  Most Improved Wrestler in Ohio?

What a difference a year can make.  Last year, Shawn Harris finished 5th in the state and posted a double-digit loss total.  The move from 112 to 135 seemed to take its toll.  Right now, a strong argument can be made that Harris deserves to be ranked among the top three 140’s in the nation.  

His quarterfinals match with Germaine Lindsey looked to be one of the key quarterfinal bouts of the round.  Lindsey took two of three from Harris last year, with both wins being fairly convincing.  But Shawn Harris is a completely different wrestler this year.  Harris struck quickly with single-leg takedowns in both the first and second period and rode out each of these periods for a solid 4-0 lead heading into the third period.  Harris notched two escapes to while Lindsey had a takedown in the third for the 6-2 final. 

But it was his semifinal match with Zach Kemmerer that fans will be talking about for years.  This may have been the best high school wrestling match I have ever seen.  The intensity level was the highest of any match all weekend- as both wrestlers attacked constantly and would not concede an inch.  Kemmerer and Harris traded takedowns in the first two periods.  Though the score was tied 4-4, you had a feeling that order would be restored and Kemmerer (ranked #1 in the nation) would take control of the match.  But for Shawn Harris, wrestling the #1 ranked guy “tough” would not be enough. 

Harris struck with a lightning-fast “throw-by” for a takedown and a 6-4 lead early in the third.  However, Kemmerer quickly escaped and after a long flurry, converted a low single leg takedown for a 7-6 lead with about :45 seconds to go.  Kemmerer then applied a punishing ride and appeared to be on his way to victory.  However, once again, Shawn Harris refused to quit, digging deep and escaping with ten seconds left.  At this point, the entire gym was pure electricity- with a huge crowd gathered around the mat.   The announcer tried in vain repeatedly to get the crowd to disperse- but even the threat of a police escort would not make them leave this amazing bout. 

The bout then went to overtime.  In the first overtime period neither wrestler scored, Kemmerer had choice and escaped in the second.   Harris took a brilliant shot and was in great position to finish, but ever-so-slightly stepped on the line and it was called out of bounds.  The St. Edward crowd was livid- although in actuality, they were probably more frustrated with such a great shot being wasted than anything as it appeared to be the correct call.  Harris scored his own escape to knot the score at 8-8, sending the bout to a third overtime period.  For those who are not familiarized with the new rules yet, at this point, you have :30 to escape (i.e. the old “sudden death” double overtime).   In keeping with their match, the wrestlers got into a wild scramble, Kemmerer was going to his back in a “crab ride” type position, but to me it appeared that Harris had gotten the “separation” from this position necessary to score a quick escape.   Others (notably, Jason Bryant of Intermat) saw it differently, believing that Kemmerer was about to come out in control.   In any event- and perhaps this was the perfect ending to such a wild bout- Kemmerer forgot to think about where his shoulders were and a defensive fall was called.   Pandemonium ensued!

In the finals, Harris great run came to an end as the brilliant Mario Mason of Blair controlled the bout with Harris and won 5-3.  Mason is very good at setting the pace and making opponents wrestle his match.  He shutdown a very tough Nick Nelson in the semis in an almost identical bout.  I spoke with St. Edward Assistant Coach Jeff Leonard after the match and he concurred with this assessment of Mason’s style- though he was quick to point out that Lance Palmer was able to impose his style on Mason last year.  I also spoke with Harris about his superb tournament.  Though he was dissatisfied with his finals match, he offered that he had increased his intensity level for his senior year (an understatement) and had perhaps adjusted to the weight jump. Photo credit to Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

Stay Tuned for Part II of the Ironman Coverage; including discussion of St. Edward’s knocking off Blair Academy, the performances of Sean Nemec and Collin Palmer, the wild 112 lb. class., outstanding freshman middle/upperweight David Habat and Riley Kilroy, and all other Ohio finals.

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