20/20 Hindsight:OWS Breaks down a Mythical Single Division State Tournament,  Part II of a Three-Part Series (140-160 lbs)

(above): Two of Ohio's best- Coby Boyd and Jesse Dong- battle at the Super Eight Duals. Photo Credit, Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

As a wrestling community in Ohio, we are used to thinking of the state as three separate parts- Division I, Division II, and Division III. But it wasn’t always so.  Prior to 1971, there was a single division of competition in Ohio.  In many top states (notably, New Jersey and California) there still remains only one division. 

Quite frankly, I fall on the side of those who would like to see a single division state tournament.  Qualify 48 to state still- but throw them into a single bracket.  The competition would be absolutely riveting.  A great wrestler can be from any size of school- as the Monroeville contingent has demonstrated this year.  I would keep separate team scores (like they do at the Medina and Brecksville Tournaments) and still have three team state champions, but only one individual champ.   Gone would be the days of top wrestlers avoiding each other through “gentleman’s agreement”.  Will it ever happen?  Probably not.  But the following is a look at how a single division tournament might “play out” in my view.

Couple of caveats first.  When compiling these (or any) rankings, I tend to look at the entire season equally- thus, a win at the state tournament is of no more value than a win in a dual if the same wrestlers are involved.  I do it this way for several reasons.  Most importantly- to simply go on the order of state finish would be a highly unimaginative approach that could be put together by anyone in a matter of minutes, and not worth reading in my view.  Second, the question underlying these rankings is “how they would finish” if I had to bet on it.  In my experience, all top wrestlers are going 100% every time they wrestle, some just have the good fortune to be at the top of their game in Columbus, some don’t.  

(above): Kyle Lang works a leg ride against Marysville sophomore Caleb Marsh at Brecksville. Photo Credit, Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

What follows is part II of a three-part series, focusing on 140-160 lbs.  With no further ado:

140 LBS: OWS Pick: Richie Spicel 

1	Richie Spicel	Brunswick	Senior
2	Kyle Lang	Brecksville	Junior
3	David Habat	St. Ignatius	Sophomore
4	Isaac Dukes	Ravenna	Senior
5	Caleb Messerall	Thomas Worthington	Senior
6	William Sheppard	Kenmore	Senior
7	Aaron Sulzer	Holy Name	Senior
8	Dawson Riedy	Bellevue	Senior
9	Jared Lijoi	Uniontown Lake	Senior
10	Matt Stephens	Graham	Senior
11	Neil Birt	Lakewood St. Edward	Senior
12	Alex Herrick	Toledo Waite	Senior
13	Robert Pajestka	Cuyahoga Heights	Senior
14	Kevin Cloran	Cincinnati Madeira	Senior
15	Andrew Schafer	Bedford Chanel	Senior
16	Lee Shumaker	Arcadia	Senior
17	Chris Burns	Troy Christian	Junior
18	Robbie Chilson	Bellaire	Junior
19	Dylan Ice	Lisbon Beaver	Sophomore
20	Tyler Gombash	Delta	Senior
21	Justin Yetzer	Mansfield Madison	Senior
22	Casey Gordon	Dublin Scioto	Senior
23	Sam Delpra	West Geauga	Senior
24	John Dittrich	Copley	Senior
25	Sean Scaglia	Kenton Ridge	Senior

Though Division I was packed with incredibly tough classes (in the lower weights) this year, none was tougher than 140 lbs.  Normally, you might get 2-3 wrestlers in a weight who are of “state championship caliber.” However, with Collin Palmer and Tony Jameson looking untouchable at 135 and 145 lbs., everyone went here.  Otherwise, you probably get Lang and Birt at 135, and Habat, Messerall, and Lijoi at 145.  The end result was that at least five wrestlers who were good enough to win state ended up at 140 lbs, and they hold five of the top six spots and eight of the top 12 spots.

(above): Isaac Dukes scores a blast double against David Habat at Brecksville. Habat would go on to win this finals bout. Photo Credit, Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

An easy choice here for the top spot is Richie Spicel of Brunswick.  Despite wrestling a tough schedule in this loaded weight (including seven matches against competitors ranked in the top ten here), Spicel ran the table to capture his second state title.  Very strong and always in perfect position, Spicel was nearly impossible to take down and could score a takedown seemingly whenever he needed it, often with his vaunted fireman’s carry.  The reality is, but for an ankle injury Spicel suffered late in his sophomore season, he may very well have completed his career as a three-time state champ and four-time finalist.

All Kyle Lang did this year was make the virtually unheard-of move from 112 to 140 lbs without missing a beat.  One of the most dangerous wrestlers in the state, Lang showed down the stretch that not only can he light up very good competition, but he can win the controlled bout against great competition as well.  His state road was far from easy, as he had to take out Habat and Sheppard, but at the end of the day he was a hair away from securing the winning takedown versus Spicel for his first state title.  Lang now has state finishes of 4th, 3rd, and 2nd to his credit, which would seem to mean that “1st” is the next logical step.  However, the road will once again be far from easy.  Collin Palmer at 140 or 145 lbs. will likely mean that once again, the entire state will gravitate to one incredible weight class- likely including Lang, Habat, and possibly either Seth Horner or Brad Squire (both growing tremendously).

(above): Jameson's ill-fated maneuver here allowed Zach Toal to simply trap his head for a reversal and back points. Photo Credit, Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

The difficulty of this weight in Division I was best illustrated by the fact that Caleb Messerall placed only 5th at state, but 3rd at NHSCA Senior Nationals (despite moving up a weight).  Other than David Bolyard and Scott Sletvold- who finished 3rd and 2nd at state respectively before winning nationals) I cannot recall a wrestler placing higher at nationals than state.

The Division II wrestlers are ranked in an order much different than their state finish, you will note.  Based on their entire seasons- I believe that Dukes probably would be Sulzer 7 out of ten times, who in turn would probably beat Reidy 8 out of 10 times.  But, as they say, matches are not wrestled on paper, and Reidy certainly peaked when it counted.

Though it didn’t have a standout competitor, the Division III field was incredibly deep and balanced this year as well.  The results were so completely all over the map this year, I suspect that you could have re-wrestled the tournament one week later and had wildly differing outcomes.  As a result of the parity here, the top seven pack the #13-20 spots.

145 lbs: OWS Pick: Ben Jordan

1	Ben Jordan	Graham	Senior
2	Zach Toal	Troy Christian	Junior
3	Tony Jameson	Austintown Fitch	Senior
4	TJ Rigel	Tecumseh	Junior
5	Dustin Fraley	Miami Trace	Senior
6	Josh Demas	Westerville North	Sophomore
7	Zach Nelson	London Madison Plains	Senior
8	Jonathan McGookey	Sandusky Perkins	Junior
9	Christ Canty	Columbus Desales	Senior
10	Caleb Marsh	Marysville	Sophomore
11	Connor Suba	Lakewood St. Edward	Senior
12	Mike McCoy	Marion Pleasant	Senior
13	Billy Painter	Aurora	Senior
14	Evan Schreiner	Mentor	Senior
15	Jerrell Valiant	Sandusky	Sophomore
16	Jesse Stevens	Lakota West	Senior
17	Aaron Hunter	Manchester	Junior
18	David Stiltner	Waynedale	Senior
19	Mike D'Alessandro	Mayfield	Senior
20	Jamarr Sheppard	Akron Kenmore	Freshman
21	Ryan Shupe	Vermillion	Senior
22	Dominic Gorrasi	Cincinnati Elder	Senior
23	Seamus Szucs	Holy Name	Senior
24	Joe Crabtree	Hilliard Darby	Junior
25	Kevin Carabello	Cleveland St. Ignatius	Senior

The theme for Ben Jordan in 2008 was redemption.  A two-time state champ heading into his sophomore year, Jordan seemed to lose his “mojo” in 2006-2007, and a series of losses to wrestlers who did not seem to be better than Jordan followed.  This culminated in his loss to the excellent Jeffrey Pelton in the state finals, ruining his chances of becoming the third Jordan four-timer.  However, Jordan redeemed himself in a big way this year, taking two of three bouts from Zach Toal and winning the big ones, 9-8, over Tony Jameson at Top Gun in what had to be the bout of the year.  In that match, the winning takedown was awarded to Jordan right at the buzzer.  Completely mistake-free and always hustling, nobody can say that Jordan did not get 100% out of himself.

Zach Toal may have established himself at the third best senior-to-be in the state (behind only David Taylor and Collin Palmer) following another excellent season.  Now a two-time state champion (to go with a bronze as a freshman), Toal’s only losses were to one of the nation’s best seniors in Mario Mason and Ben Jordan (twice).  Against those losses he compiled numerous big wins, none bigger than his victories over Jordan and Tony Jameson.  As mistake-free a wrestler as you will find other than possibly Jordan, Toal’s consistent record against top wrestlers is remarkable (including three wins over Josh Falk in 2007 and a win over David Habat this year at Ironman).   With most of his rivals graduated, look for Toal to dominate next year.

(above): Ben Jordan won here 8-5 over excellent sophomore Josh Demas of Westerville North. Photo Credit, Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

It’s hard to imagine that four-timer Tony Jameson is the third best in Ohio at this weight.  But, as the saying goes, the results “are what they are” and Jameson lost to both Toal and Jordan.  While to some extent one left with the feeling that he gave both matches away- at the end of the day, the controlled styles of Toal and Jordan got the better of Jameson.  Moreover, my feeling watching Jameson all year was that he simply didn’t have the “edge” that he had his sophomore and junior seasons.  It almost seemed that he was trying to figure out whether he was going to continue to be a “funk” wrestler or go with a more conventional approach with his collegiate career nearing- and the result was a Tony Jameson less sure of himself.   When he did use the “funk”, it seemed his instincts were not what they were his junior year- as it served only to get him in trouble- such as when he basically flopped to his back against Toal with only a few seconds left in their Brecksville bout, completely changing the complexion of a bout that he had dominated up to that point by giving up a senseless reversal and backpoints.

After the “big three” and T.J. Rigel, there is a tremendous drop-off in quality here, as none of the three divisions have even average fields.  The lack of depth created a real opportunity for some previously unheralded wrestlers- who capitalized by grabbing spots on the podium.

(above): Coby Boyd work for a takedown against one of the nation's best in Johnny Koepp of Bishop Lynch. Photo Credit, Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

152 LBS: OWS Pick: Jedd Moore

1	Jedd Moore	Marion Pleasant	Senior
2	Jesse Dong	Westerville North	Senior
3	Coby Boyd	Graham	Senior
4	Jared Kusar	CVCA	Senior
5	Kirk Tank	Oak Harbor	Senior
6	Nick Heflin	Massillon Perry	Junior
7	Hunter Pool	Benjamin Logan	Senior
8	Eric Gobin	Cincinnati Moeller	Senior
9	Christian Ortolani	Sandusky St. Mary CC	Senior
10	Mason True	Arcadia	Senior
11	Zack Goins	Elyria	Junior
12	Erik Schott	Marlington	Senior
13	Steve Timoteo	Medina Highland	Senior
14	Louis Carraher	Cincinnati St. Xavier	Senior
15	Brett Ewing	Miamisburg	Senior
16	Corey Martinson	Lakewood St. Edward	Senior
17	Corey Carlo	Fairview	Senior
18	Brandon Roshon	Marysville	Senior
19	Deante Russ	Nordonia	Junior
20	Lou Greco	Austintown Fitch	Junior
21	Tony Karaffa	Ravenna	Senior
22	Daniel Foley	Worthington Christian	Senior
23	Harrison Rosch	Canal Winchster	Junior
24	Dave Jindra	Mentor	Senior
25	Brennan Black	Dayton Christian	Senior

Without question, this is a much stronger weight than 145.  The “top tier” consists of five wrestlers who could probably all beat one another on a given day.  In my view, all five of these wrestlers are top 20 in the nation.  However, at the end of the day, there can be only one choice for #1 at this weight, the senior from Marion Pleasant.  After losing the state finals to Lance Palmer his sophomore year (which I think can be forgiven), Moore lost just one regular season match of the past two years, to Eric Cubberly (whom he also beat).  With 20/20 hindsight, Cubberly and Moore were the two best wrestlers in this year’s senior class- at least based on their senior campaigns- in my view.  Like Cubberly, Moore’s achievemements in Fargo- where he is a three-time freestyle All-American and has never placed lower than 5th- are also outstanding.  I was truly surprised that he was not a finalist at NHSCA, but look for him to continue his excellence at the collegiate level.

(above): Jedd Moore scoring one of 13 takedowns in his Brecksville final versus Lou Greco of Austintown Fitch. Photo Credit, Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

After Moore, the rankings process gets much more difficult.  Despite his upset of Coby Boyd in the state finals, Kirk Tank goes in the #5 spot as a result of losing twice to Nick Heflin (whom Boyd was approaching  a tech fall against when he pinned him in the second period at Ironman) and by virtue of the fact that there Boyd leads the series against him 2-1.  Tank was also less dominant against other state placewinners than the rest of the top five.  Initially, I had Kusar at #2 because he beat Dong (who beat Boyd).  However, upon reflection, the fact that Kusar lost 12-3 to Johnny Koepp of Texas (who also beat Tank) and Boyd beat Koepp, combined with Boyd’s slightly better career credentials, leads me to put Kusar below Boyd.  I think that Dong must move to the #2 spot since he has the win over Boyd, a win over Heflin and only the very close loss to Kusar.   CVCA fans already (good-naturedly) complained about getting the shaft in Part I- so, more ammo here I guess.

#2 pick Jesse Dong was a late Jared Kusar takedown away from matching teammate Chris Kline’s unbeaten season.  Very quick and a great scrambler, the Westerville North Senior has been one of my favorites to watch since his sophomore year.  Although Moore has the credentials to be #1, by no means is it out of the question that Dong could prevail in a match between these two.   I would be very surprised if Dong does not become a successful collegiate wrestler.

The #3 choice here is Coby Boyd.  Going into the season, I thought there was a chance that the Graham senior might establish himself as Ohio’s best.  After all, he was coming off a year where his only meaningful loss was to Alex Meade (he also lost on a quick fall when he was “caught” in the Sectional Finals, later avenged “big”), and he was unbeaten in Disney including a big win over 3x state champion Kevin Hardy of Solon.  However, a high-ankle sprain suffered in practice shortly before the Ironman seemed to hamper his mobility (and explosiveness)- and attempting to come back too soon caused him to re-aggravate the injury on several occasions.  In my view, the ankle injury probably played a large roll in why he had a disappointing season by his standards.  While Boyd could be ranked as low as #4 or #5 based on how you look at this season, in all honesty I must say that I believe that a healthy Boyd finishes either 1st or 2nd in a single-division state tourney.  Bear in mind that Hardy (defeated by Boyd) beat both Dong and Moore last year.

A commentary about the relative strength of the divisions is in order here.  While Division III has its critics- and without question there is less depth- the bigger issue is that its competitors wrestle invisible schedules that make them unknown to fans of this state (and often to rankers as well).  At Brecksville, Jedd Moore destroyed five solid Division I or II state qualifiers in a row, teching all of them except Billy Painter (whom he beat 18-6).  You might expect, based on this, that he would walk through the Division III field, if it was as weak as its detractors suggest.  Not so. Moore was pushed not only by #2 choice Jared Kusar in the semis, but also by Mason True of Arcadia in the quarters, whom he squeaked past 4-3.  True is a great illustration of my point here.  Arcadia rarely competes against anyone except other small schools in there area before Sectionals- so True is forgotten about until Columbus.  In the only match I could find against a noteworthy competitor from another Division, True won 17-5 over Rudy Hendon (the Division I state qualifier whose claim to fame was almost pinning Jameson three times at state this year).  Because they don’t know him, fans just assume a Mason True is not that good- but Moore can attest otherwise.   The outstanding Zach Toal also had his hands full one weight below- winning a one point and two point bout on his way to the finals before registering a fall against a wrestler he had previously beat 2-0.

160 LBS: OWS Pick:  Eric Cubberly

1	Eric Cubberly	Eastwood	Senior
2	Chris Kline	Westerville North	Senior
3	Steve Wilson	Marion Pleasant	Senior
4	Derrick Yant	Delta	Senior
5	Bryan Skoff	Bridgeport	Senior
6	Jon Bittenger	Beaver Local	Senior
7	James Mannier	Graham	Junior
8	Colin Heasley	Worthington Christian	Senior
9	Adam Walters	West Geauga	Junior
10	Cody Cheatham	Walsh Jesuit	Senior
11	JT Rice	Hilliard Davidson	Junior
12	Riley Kilroy	Padua	Sophomore
13	Alex Utley	CVCA	Freshman
14	Ashton Packard	Belpre	Junior
15	Aric Thurn	Clyde	Senior
16	Zach Garbrandt	Uhrichsville Claymont	Junior
17	Kyle Raber	Triway	Senior
18	Kyle Kwiat	Tiffin Calvert	Senior
19	Mark Tomanek	Avon Lake	Senior
20	Marc Bryan	St. Ignatius	Junior
21	Kyle Dilley	Lancaster	Junior
22	Darren Tate	St. Vincent-St. Mary	Junior
23	Tylan Coleman	Mayfield	Freshman
24	Thomas Torres	Fairfield	Senior
25	Ethan Taylor	Cuyahoga Falls	Junior

It is difficult for me to believe now, but there is a time when I wasn’t sold on Eric Cubberly. Cubberly suffered a mid-season slump his sophomore year, the low point being when Jake Kyle of Graham bumped up a weight at state duals and unceremoniously took him down, turned and pinned him in under a minute. However, later in the year he took Sean Nemec and Andy Lamancusa to the wire on his way to a third place finish in a very tough weight, and his performances have just continued to improve since then.  It was at cadet freestyle state a few months later that I really realized how good Cubberly was going to become- he ransacked the field there, competing with the ferocity I would compare to that of a starving dog in a meat packing plant (only in wrestling could this analogy be a compliment I suppose).

Cubberly’s virtuoso performance in his final tournament put the finishing touches on a brilliant career.  Competing in one of the toughest weight classes in Division II- Cubberly set the tone in the first period with a quick technical fall of Zach Garbrandt- 4th a year ago- and never looked back.  After a quick (though questionable) fall in the semis against superb junior Adam Walters- Cubberly notched another technical fall over the very tough Jon Bittenger of Beaver Local in the finals.  Featuring a wide assortment of knee picks, ankle picks, and even mixing a headlock and pancake into the onslaught, Cubberly’s takedowns were superb, but his mat wrestling was even better. With man-strength in his hands that is positively Hodge-esque, it seems that once Cubberly grasps a two-on-tilt on his opponent, back points are automatic.  In my view, Cubberly was the #1 Senior in Ohio based on how they wrestled this season- looking to not only his in-season and state dominance, but also his preseason win over Scott Winston (an unbeaten competitor who some consider the best in the nation regardless of weight) and bearing in mind that his Ironman loss to Josh Condon was 100% a result of a rib injury that a less mentally-tough competitor would have defaulted over.

(above): Eric Cubberly and Jedd Moore- shown here at Brecksville last season- may have been the best two seniors in Ohio this year. Photo Credit, Bob Tuneberg, Villager News.

A wise man once remarked that the single most important key to consistently winning in wrestling was to be impossible to take down.  #2 Chris Kline exemplified that wisdom this year in putting together an unbeaten senior season.  Nobody will mistake Kline for Jameson or David Taylor when it comes to style points, but Kline simply was the master of getting a takedown or two while giving up none against virtually everyone.  With the exception of Districts his sophomore year, he has been a model of consistency since his freshman year.  Coach Grant will sorely miss the #1-#2 punch of Dong and Kline.

Frankly I did not know what to do with #3 choice Steve Wilson here.  He is an obvious #2 from a career standpoint, and in fact beat #2 choice Chris Kline head-to-head in a preseason all-star match.  However, the defending state champ just didn’t have it the last two weeks of the season. First, he needed overtime to win twice at Districts (although against excellent competitors).  Then, after a 10-9 quarterfinal win at state, he inexplicably lost 3-2 to Collin Heasley, whom he has beaten 10-4 at Sectionals.  He was then pinned in his 3rd place match by superfrosh Alex Utley of CVCA.  Looking purely at his season and without the all-star match, Wilson clearly does not earn the #3 spot, but I am taking those things into account and ranking him here.

Comparing the divisions here, it is striking how much tougher Division II and Division III were than Division I.  This was arguably the toughest weight for the first two, and a very weak field in Division I.   Of the top 18 competitors, eight were from Division II, eight from Division III, and two from Division I.

Stay Tuned for Part III of “20-20 Hindsight” to follow soon.

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