Sweet Revenge: Ohio’s Top Juniors Prove Their Mettle in Columbus

“When it’s all said and done, you won’t remember the titles you won, but the great wrestlers you defeated….. and the great battles you won.”

Those were the words of a very influential coach of mine, himself one of the great Ohio middleweights of the early 90’s.  Those words stuck with me at the time, and have proven to be more accurate over the years.

I’m not certain if Tony Jameson could have made 130 lbs (he looks lighter than the other 130 lb. wrestlers but that can be deceptive).  With all due respect to Josh Palivoda- I’m not sure that any Tony Jameson match goes the distance if he were at 130.  After Jameson lost to David Habat at the Massillon Perry District, many wondered whether the two-time state champion (a 119 last year) might have been better off at 130 lbs.  When they saw his draw was perhaps the toughest in the state- facing Ohio’s most dangerous wrestler, #5 Andrew Gasber, then #7 T.J. Rigel (who had beaten two-time champ Jordan a few weeks prior), then Habat, then 2005 state champ Richie Spicel- many would have thought that Jameson must have wished he were instead at 130- or at least anywhere else on the bracket.

This is a sport where we often ask at what weight wrestler has the best “chance” to win, state, or perhaps just qualify for state.  But the great ones don’t think like that.  Never has there been a better example of that than the state’s top senior, Colt Sponseller, and possibly the state’s top junior, Jameson (deciding between him and Brian Roddy- see below- is virtually impossible for me, but that’s another story).  Like Sponseller (see Article #52 ) avoiding tough competition is not even a consideration for Tony Jameson.  Like Sponseller, Jameson, it is clear, lives for the big showdown.  I spoke with Tony Jameson after the match, and asked him what motivated him more, winning titles or beating great wrestlers.  Without hesitation, he stated that it was beating great wrestlers (I then asked him who the one Ohio Wrestler he wanted to face was and without hesitation he answered “Jordan”, though he looked astonished when I told him Jordan had just lost to Pelton).   

An unexpected loss can have vastly different effects on a wrestler.  For some, it can destroy confidence.  For others, it brings them to a higher level of focus and intensity (see: Dan Gable after loss to Larry Owings).  For Jameson, the unexpected loss to David Habat was a springboard to one of the greatest runs in the history of the Ohio state tournament.  Jameson opened against double Cadet All-American Andrew Gasber of St. Edward.  The fact that Gasber may be the most dangerous wrestler in the state is well-documented and many thought this was a potential upset.

What followed, however, was mind-blowing.  I promised before this match there would be a lot of action and a lot of scoring.  There was- it was just all done by one wrestler.  Jameson scored a takedown in the first ten seconds followed by an almost immediate Gasber reversal.  The crowd roared as they knew it was “on.”  Jameson quickly escaped, shot, and took down Gasber.  He then went to a half and turned the St. Edward Eagle to take an 8-2 lead as the first period came to a close.

The second period saw Andrew Gasber attempt his first big move of the match, a headlock.  Jameson easily countered for the takedown, and immediately went to his cross-face cradle for the fall.  The score at that point would have been 14-2 if not for the fall. I talked Gasber’s father in the elevator after the match- he had a reaction to the match sort of like “what can you do?”  You know you have reached a level of greatness when wrestlers (or their supporters) sort of “shrug” after a loss to you, as opposed to being upset about it.

After following that up with a 16-6 win over #7 T.J. Rigel, the stage was set for the biggest match of the weekend.  One week ago, David Habat- arguably the greatest freshman middleweight Ohio has ever seen- took the fight to Jameson all six minutes in a 5-3 upset at the Perry District Article #63 ). If I  had a dollar for every person who came up to him, or emailed him afterward and said they saw this result coming (though nobody made the call to me beforehand) ……..Habat’s style, it seemed to many, including myself, could possibly be like “Kryptonite” to the junior from Austintown-Fitch.

Recognizing the significance of this state meeting of quite possibly two legends in the making, the crowd applauded as Habat and Jameson took the mat (only match of the tournament that I noticed the crowd applaud before the match began).  David Habat shot a low single in the first period- and appeared to be in good position to finish.   I think the entire match was decided in this (and perhaps one later) sequence.  

One week ago, David Habat showed the ability to ride Jameson, and wear him down (and eat up time off the clock) in the process.  Had he gotten this takedown early, we could have seen, possibly, a very similar match as last week (note that I say possibly- truth be told I don’t think anything was stopping Jameson on this weekend).  But it was clear that Tony Jameson had taken some lessons from last week’s match- and appreciated that this was a wrestler that he should not take as many chances against as he normally might.  It was at this point that Jameson- who views every situation as a scoring opportunity for himself- did a very un-Jameson-like thing: he clamped onto an ankle for a stalemate.  I almost fell out of my seat.

With a fresh start, a more-patient “Tony J.” found his opportunity, and struck with a brilliant slide-by late in the first.  What followed was the second pivotal sequence of the match:   

With about :20 to go in the first period, Jameson locked up a cross-face cradle.  I remember thinking that there was no way he could score with this cradle.  His lock was fairly loose and Habat had a strong base.  What I didn’t account for, was Tony Jameson’s incredible will to win.  With Habat’s base being two strong to either bump him over or roll the cradle through- Jameson took a chance, and took Habat straight back- a very risky maneuver given that Habat would be able to hook and elevate Jameson’s near leg on the way back, giving Habat a great opportunity to possibly break his lock and re-cradle Jameson.  Jameson surely knew this, but took it straight back anyway.  As Habat went back, he  elevated Jameson leg hard (the correct counter for this situation), and desparately sought to break Jameson’s lock and essentially re-cradle him.  Habat had a very good opportunity to do so- and potentially come away with a reversal and backpoints himself.  Really, the entire match was to be decided in these few seconds.  If Jameson holds the lock, he goes up 5-0 in the first.  If Habat breaks the lock, he potentially goes up 4-2 or 5-2 himself.  Despite what a difficult position he was in, Jameson showed the sold-out crowd at the Schott what “will to win” was, and held the lock for the remainder of the period. The period thus ended:

Jameson: 5  Habat: 0   Match: Over.

With a 5-0 lead in the biggest match of the year, 99.9% of wrestlers would slow the action down.  But you knew, there was a 0% chance that Jameson would be content to shut it down and play defense.  For someone who has his eye on greatness as Jameson clearly does, the loss had to be avenged in a big way.  From there, Jameson really got it rolling, and the most anticipated match of the tournament became a blowout.  A barrage of takedowns and cradles left the final score at 13-1.  Jameson had made his statement.

Jameson’s finals opponent, Richie Spicel, is a wrestler who I also came away very impressed with these past few weeks.  It’s easy to forget that Spicel was probably the favorite last year if not for being hobbled by an ankle injury- so this could have easily been a meeting of two-time state champions.  Spicel was unbeaten, and really only pushed once prior to the state finals.  Very strong and deceptively fast- Spicel has great “positioning” in his matches yet opened up his offense a lot more this season.  In my view he is an outstanding college prospect.

And yet, Jameson’s huge wins over Gasber and Habat almost seemed to take the suspense out of the final.  You almost forgot that he was to be facing an undefeated state champion who had just beaten a state runner-up easily for the second consecutive week.  Jameson’s earlier performances were so dominating, you just see him losing unless they brought Alan Fried back in a time machine to face him. 

In first period and early in the second, Jameson was close on a number of early attempts, but Spicel held him off.  Jameson finally connected on a low single late in the second period, and from there you knew he would be claiming his third title- once he gets the lead, he just seems to get better and better.  In the third, Jameson added a lateral drop for a takedown and his trademark “rolling half” for a nearfall- he would make Cael Sanderson proud with his execution of this technique.  Spicel scored a reversal off Jameson’s rolling half, for an 8-4 final score. 

I think at the end of the day- Jameson’s great season can beat be put in perspective by taking a look at Ben Jordan’s.  Two-time state champion (three-time finalist) Jordan was beaten by four wrestlers this season: Pelton, Rigel, Clopton, and Gasber.  Tony Jameson major decisioned or pinned every one of those wrestlers that beat Jordan.  Throw in 13-1 over Habat, 8-4 over state champ Spicel, and 11-5 over brilliant 2x state runner-up Lybarger, and it can be said that no one has beaten as many outstanding Ohio wrestlers so convincingly in years.  Jameson was one of three wrestlers this year who seemed to steal the show with their incredible passion to compete at every meet they wrestled which I attended (the other two being Colt Sponseller and Brian Roddy).

Roddy’s Revenge

As great as the 135 final was, the marquee match of the night was at 171.  This was also the best bout of the evening, possibly the most exciting state final I have ever witnessed.  These wrestlers need no introduction- suffice it to say that both are among the top five wrestlers in the nation at their weight class.  As everyone knows, Kilgore handled Roddy in last year’s state finals, but Roddy stepped up his performances this year tremendously, completely dominating numerous great wrestlers.  Though it attracted less attention, Dustin Kilgore has also completely dominated, in fact at state, he never went the distance until the finals.  Kilgore is one of the most ‘slick” upperweights I have ever seen- the question to be decided was whether that slickness could get the best of Brian Roddy’s “brawler” style once again.

In the early going, the answer to that question appeared to be “Yes.”  This was a bout where you knew nobody would be doing much standing around.  Kilgore immediately went on the offensive, shooting a beautiful single for a takedown, followed by an ankle pick off a Brian Roddy shot, for a 4-1 lead.  The match looked like a repeat of history.  I contemplated that maybe Kilgore was just “in his head.”  However, Roddy quickly proved that was not the case with a big double leg on the edge of the mat.

A Roddy escape and takedown off a Kilgore shot extended his lead to 7-4.  Kilgore quickly reversed.  After a Roddy escape, Dustin Kilgore went back to his single, an absolute thing of beauty.  The single tied the score at 8-8.  Roddy reversed Kilgore with a headlock, immediately followed by a Kilgore switch which left the score at 10-10 as the second period came to a close.

The third period saw Dustin Kilgore score with his seemingly unstoppable single-leg to take a 12-10 lead.  It seemed like Roddy was tiring a bit, and Kilgore was picking up strength.  However, Roddy escaped, got a second wind, and proceeded to push the pace until Kilgore was called for stalling.  That left the bout tied at 12-12, as possibly the biggest bout of the year came down to a single overtime takedown.  Naturally, a great scramble ensued.  Dustin Kilgore had a whizzer at some point in that scramble, and suddenly Roddy was behind him (a “limp arm” perhaps?) for the winning takedown.  What was un-thinkable one year ago- Brian Roddy beating Dustin Kilgore- had just happened.

In my view, these two great warriors are right there with any 171’s that have ever taken the mat in this state- in my view, Marcus Mollica, Sam Neider, plus Mike Buddie and Hetag Pliev their junior years.  I would look for Dustin Kilgore to rebound in post-season competition, and at Kent State University- while Brian Roddy, should he continue to progress, will be untouchable in this state next year-  though he could have some great battles with Cody Magrum or Jeremy Foster.

Germaine Lindsey Prevails Over Outstanding Duo

Taking in account all three divisions, the toughest weight class state-wide seemed to be 140.  In Division II, you had unbeaten Matt Reedy become this year’s “feel good” story, with the outstandingand underrated Matt McGovern finishing third and two-time state runner-up Chris Andrews finishing just fifth.  In Division III, you had five wrestlers who might win a title many years- with brilliant sophomore Zach Toal beating former state champ Josh Falk for the third consecutive time.  And yet, nowhere was the competition fiercer than between an outstanding trio in Division I. 

There was no mistaking it- when I first saw Germaine Lindsey at state duals against Shawn Harris, it was evident that this was a wrestler who was on a mission to win state this year- after finishing third a year ago.  The thing that stands out about Lindsey is how hungry he is to win.  But the road was not to be an easy one- with a nationally ranked state champion (Shawn Harris) in his weight and a returning state runner-up (Lybarger) who defeated him 12-5 earlier in the year, Lindsey faced an uphill battle.  Any of these three wrestlers would be good enough to win state most years- but there could be only one state champ out of the group.

In a sport where many seem to wrestle “not to lose” at state, Lindsey laid it on the line every match.  Lindsey’s performance against Harris was one of the most impressive of the weekend.  The match went to overtime, but that was deceptive.  Germaine Lindsey scored the first three takedowns of the bout, two with bear hugs which were more a result of intensity than technique.  However, the resilient Harris was not going down without a fight, not in this great rivalry.  A Harris escape, and single leg where he “ducked the middle” tied the score at eight in the closing seconds. In overtime, Lindsey shot quickly and explosively, taking the St. Edward Senior to his back, as Shawn Harris became the best wrestler in Ohio to not reach the state finals this year.

The win over Harris set up a rematch with state runner-up Michael Lybarger.  Lindsey quickly converted a bad shot by Lybarger into a “deuce” and took a 2-0 lead. However, an immediate Lybarger reversal tied the score at 2-2, as well as establishing that neither was going to play it safe. 

After escaping, Lindsey wasted little time firing in on a single leg, which he quickly converted into a flawless crackdown. Nonetheless, Michael Lybarger- probably the best counter-wrestler in Ohio not named “Jameson”- somehow emerged with the takedown with a counter I don’t have a name for, to take a 4-3 lead.  At that point, it occurred to me that the aggressive style of Lindsey simply did not match up well with Lybarger’s brilliant counter-attacks and that he could be in serious trouble.  Yet, just like in his wins over Shawn Harris, it seemed to me that Lindsey was just a little “hungrier” to win. After escaping in the second, Lindsey immediately shot a single off of Lybarger’s shot, scoring the takedown to take a 6-4 lead.  Lindsey immediately “cut” Lybarger, and did so again in the third period, to tie the score at 6-6 with a period of wrestling to go.  That completed the scoring in regulation- but hardly the action, as both wrestlers had several great attempts- but could not quite convert- sending the match into overtime.

As they headed to overtime, the challenge facing Germaine Lindsey was quite clear.  Michael Lybarger is without question a superior mat wrestler to takedown artist Lindsey- meaning if Lindsey wanted to “seize the golden chalice”, he was going to have to get it done quickly.  And that is exactly what he did.  Lindsey fired in on a beautiful shot almost immediately in overtime.  Lybarger appeared to search for several different funk possibilities without committing to one in particular- nonetheless, Lindsey’s shot appeared to have stalled out.  And then, with an incredible second effort, after six minutes of wrestling, the Moeller Senior popped his hips into his shot, lifting Michael Lybarger high into the air- where the “funk” possibilities were drastically reduced.  Lindsey brought Lybarger down to his back (though Lybarger did not give up a near fall), putting an exclamation put on yet another dramatic win. 

Clark Falls to White

One of the biggest surprises of the weekend was, without question, Jamie Clark losing.  Clark had beaten #1 ranked in the nation David Taylor previously, in a match that saw him score four out of the five takedowns.  I didn’t see that match, but came away enormously impressed with Clark’s performances in close losses to Taylor (Super Eight) and Logan Stieber (Division III champ ranked #2 in the nation).  In fact, the consensus among many “rankers” was that Ohio had the top three 103’s in the nation in Taylor, Stieber, and Clark. And yet, as readers by now know, Clark lost for the second time in three meetings to White in overtime.

Yes, the fact that weigh-outs were almost 24 hours before the match was a big advantage for White, a much larger 103.  But in truth, Jamie Clark simply picked the wrong weekend to leave his offense back in Lakewood.  In both his matches with the outstanding Jerome Robinson (which went right down to the end) and especially in the match with Sammy White, the usually constantly-attacking White seemed unwilling to pull the trigger.  Perhaps it is something about White’s style- I noted the same thing about Clark in his loss to White in the M.I.T. finals.  But it seemed odd that the wrestler I saw in on David Taylor’s legs seemingly the entire match was content to tie up and hand-fight with White for six minutes in the state finals.

Make no mistake, Sam White is a very worthy state champion, and probably wins state in eight, maybe nine out of ten years- but I still think that Jamie Clark is the best 103 in Division I.  Suffice it to say that Sammy White can definitely say that he earned his title!

Odds and Ends- Random Observations of the 2007 State Tournament

of the guys who didn’t win that I came away most impressed with was Tommy Pretty…..I saw a lot of his matches and Pretty may be the best wrestler in Ohio from the top position not named Taylor…..every I looked he was turning somebody with a different move.  He completely destroyed the outstanding Pat Zamaria- in fact, if he had not pinned him, he would have had the technical fall.  He similarly dominated Scott Fuller for 3rd (would have been a major, approaching a tech if not for the fall) and Garrett Henry.  If Pretty can get a bit better on his feet he could win a title next year.

After Roddy/Kilgore, the best match of the tournament was Brian Dean/Brian Stephens- they were like two crazed, starving bulldogs getting after it.  When I saw Dean in the Sectional Finals, I wanted to check him for a pulse- yet in Columbus, he may have been the most intense wrestler down there not named Jameson, Roddy, or Sponseller.  I still think that #1 ranked Brian Stephens is the best wrestler in this weight, but Dean wasn’t going to be denied.  Stephens has impressed me greatly, it’s tough for me to not see him winning two state titles.  Stephens’ brother will be a freshman next year and appears to be almost as good as he is already.  Meanwhile, this class was completely upside-down, with #2 Ulinski (who beat Dean 11-0 recently) failing to place and #3 Vaughan taking just eighth, and #10 Tieler Severance making the finals with big falls over Tucker Armstrong and Chris Romeo.  As expected, the powerful Firestone District dominated here, taking 1st, 4th , and 5th.

With all the hype surrounding Logan Stieber, David Habat, and Jamie Clark, it went almost unnoticed that there were freshman champs at 112 and 119- Cody Garbrandt and Brad Squire.  Of the two (and this may be surprising) I like Garbrandt the best long-term.  I see Garbrandt as just an intense, though still unpolished, wrestler with an incredible will to win.  His upside potential I think is tremendous.  Squire is a guy who I cannot quite figure out yet.  He just keeps beating outstanding wrestlers, yet to watch one of this matches, there isn’t one thing that “jumps out” at you about him.  I think he just does all things well and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. Yes, he was unbeaten…..raising the question, could he be the first four-time unbeaten champion?   Probably not, but his mistake-free style is less upset-prone than others- and the fact that Wadsworth is not currently competing at the Ironman greatly helps his chances.

Another great freshman who has slipped under the radar is Josh Demas of Massillon Perry.  A highly-respected source on the coaching staff told me in the preseason that he was a definite title contender at this weight- causing me to rank him high, which was of course scoffed at at the time.  My source tells me that Demas moved from California in the 7th grade, where he competed almost exclusively in freestyle- so he may have only scratched the surface.  Ohio should be able to put together a tremendous cadet national team, with Clark, Stieber, Habat, Squire, Demas, plus upperweights Riley Kilroy and Cody Lamberg and some middle school aces including Matt Stephens, Kyle Ryan, Hunter Stieber, and Johnny Dijulius.

Warning: Shameless Plug to Follow: for you statistics buffs out there, in the first round of Division I competition the more highly-ranked wrestler in the OWS Rankings won 85% of the time. 

The 130 lb. class has been a muddle throughout the state all year.  So naturally, pre-tournament favorites Neil Birt, Jeremy Espinoza, and Darren Boing all went down.  Boing fell victim to an early five-point move and lost by a point to #5 Jordan Thome, and then was beaten by a single point again in the consolations to finish 7th.  Though he finished 4th, Birt’s performance was even more puzzling, as the St. Edward Junior was completely dismantled by #6 Kurt Wentink and #17 Joe Parra (possibly the most underrated wrestler in Division I).  In my view, Jeremy Espinoza is probably the best 130 in the state.  Espinoza was penalized for clasping late in his bout against Aaron Sulzer of Holy Name, tying the score.  Sulzer wisely shot in immediately- before Espinoza had the chance to regroup mentally- and scored the winning takedown.  First-year Head Coach Doug Gainous of Holy Name started off right with a state champ and another place-winner in Seamus Szucs.

For as much abuse as Division III takes sometimes, there were sure a lot of good wrestlers who failed to win state titles, including: Cameron Wade, Josh Falk, Darren Boing, Troy Opfer, Ross Tice, Zach Nelson, Kyle Gardella, Dusty Hermes, and Trevor Davis.  Three underrated wrestlers in Division III who I invariably come away impressed with are Daniel Kolodzik, Steve Wilson, and Ross Tice.  In a superb junior class, Kolodzik, Wilson, and possibly Ryan Gambill are all very close to top ten status.

It’s inevitable that the “choker” label will be hung on Ryan Fields now that he is a 3x state runner-up.  It’s also completely ridiculous.  Fields’ state finals losses are to three wrestlers that are all on track to be four-time state champion.  Pretty much everyone who has wrestled Tony Jameson and Collin Palmer has lost to them- Fields just happened to reach the state finals to do it.  Everyone who has wrestled Squire thus far has lost.    

The toughest weight in Divison II was either 152 or 160.  One of the great debates of the year was who might win between Eric Cubberly and Jared Kusar.  Quite shockingly, Kusar lost in the quarterfinals to sophomore Zach Garbrandt and then again in the consolation to Alex Croasman.  To put it in perspective, Croasman finished 6th but recently defeated Division I 3rd place finisher Tommy Weinkam, and Kusar finishing 7th despite winning easily over 2x Division I state champ Thomas Straughn in a preview match, and taking him to overtime in the M.I.T. Finals.  160 was completely upside-down, as #2 (2x state place-winner) David Fisher beat #3 Nick Mills 10-5 yet failed to place, but #13 Kyle Haddox made the finals by stunning #4 Zach Thomusseit, who had staged a late rally to beat #2 Fisher in the quarterfinals.  Meanwhile, nobody was unluckier than #7 Kasey McCurdy.  McCurdy beat eventual third place finisher Phil Dukes 6-5 in the first round but then failed to place, losing one and two point matches to #3 Mills and #6 Keith Witt (a two-time state placer), respectively.

Something must be done about the heavyweight class.  It’s no secret that Ohio has a great group of heavyweights this year, however, in the state finals a grand total of zero offensive points were scored in regulation (in a combined 18 minutes of wrestling).  Bob Preusse suggested to me that perhaps it was time to institute a push-out rule for heavyweight like they have in freestyle. 

Last but not least, Colt Sponseller won his third straight state title in convincing fashion.  Scoring almost entirely takedowns, Colt has won by at least a major decision in 10 of those 12 bouts (the only wrestlers to hold him to less than a major: Andrew Lamancusa and Josh Rohler).
Fortunately, Ohio fans will be able to follow this great warrior for four more years at Ohio State University.

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