Stitzlein and Morehouse tops for the Knights at Top Gun
However, the Knights had two wrestlers reach the podium at what is considered one of the most grueling wrestling tournaments both in the state and nationally, as senior 125-pounder Will Morehouse took eighth place and Knights junior Justin Stitzlein earned the bronze at 145-lbs.
A tough first day saw all but four of the West Holmes wrestlers knocked out of the competition, with only Zach Hendershott (112-lbs.) and Chris Larson (160-lbs.) joining Morehouse and Stitzlein at the start of the day on Saturday.
Both Hendershott and Larson were defeated in the third round of consolation matches to start the day on Saturday, however, ending both of their tournament runs.
But after dropping an 8-4 decision to Miami Trace senior Keaton Webb in the championship quarterfinals at the end of the day on Friday – following wins over Austintown-Fitch sophomore Joey D’Amico (fall) in the opening round and Claymont’s Drew Avery (5-4 decision) in the round of 16 – Morehouse started day two of the tourney wrestling in the consolation fourth round, needing a win to assure himself a placement.
“He has always been a hard worker,” said West Holmes head coach Jeff Woods after watching Morehouse battle Joel Zepp of New Oxford, Pa. to win a 7-6 decision and advance to the consolation quarterfinals. “It’s nice to see somebody like that getting to reap some of the benefits of his hard work. I think he wrestles very smart and what he lacks in athleticism he makes up in effort.”
In fact, following Morehouse’s win over Zepp, West Holmes assistant coach Greg Woods told Bret Curran of Knights Wrestling Newsletter, “That might have been the smartest match he’s wrestled. He wrestled smart in all his matches, but in that go to place match, really, really smart wrestling.”
Unfortunately, smarts and effort couldn’t carry Morehouse any further as he dropped a close 3-1 decision to Josh Decatur of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in the consolation quarterfinals and had to settle for the eighth place spot on the podium after losing a 6-2 decision to Massillon Perry freshman Isaac Best in the consolation seventh place match.
Meanwhile, after pinning his first two opponents on Friday and picking up a 15-2 major decision over Wapakoneta senior Caden Mauk in the championship quarterfinals, to push his season record to 19-1, Stitzlein found himself in the same half-bracket as projected State champion Bo Jordan of St. Paris Graham Local.
“If we wrestled him again, I know we would do better,” said Jeff Woods after watching Stitzlein get taken to the mat with a double-leg takedown and rolled into a pin by a power-half nelson just 33-seconds into the bout. “I think Justin had a rough time. He wrestled the name, and what I mean by that is that Jordans have been State champs numerous times, the family name and everything like that, and it is intimidating.”
But give Stitzlein credit.
After suffering the quick loss to Jordan, the Knights junior and 2010 State qualifier bounced back in the consolation semifinal round to pin Jordan Burkhart of Claymont 4:57 into their match, and picked up a 1-0 decision over Clear Fork’s Austin Maneese in the consolation finals to earn the bronze medal, just two weeks after winning silver at the Medina Invitational Tournament.
“I kind of set placing in the top four at M.I.T. and Top Gun as one of my goals this year,” said Stitzlein afterward. “And I really wanted to go out there and compete with the best kids in the state, and so far it’s been going pretty good. The hard work is paying off and I’m finally starting to see some success that I’ve been working toward since my freshman year.”
Using the Medina and Top Gun tournaments as a measuring stick to gauge where his individual wrestlers are, as well as what his team needs to work on in the weeks leading up to the Sectional tournament in mid-February, Jeff Woods said, “We definitely have seen where we need work. Probably a lot of getting off the bottom, we lack that. Some of the stuff on our feet, we just need to tweak some things and basically once those tournaments are over, now our intensity can pick up.”
And talking specifically about Stitzlein as he moves forward, hopefully looking for an opportunity to face Jordan again on an even bigger stage, Woods added, “I think we do a few little different things, but if somebody beats us, I want to see him as many times as I can. I think it gets closer each time you wrestle and it’s tougher for the guy that won I think.”
The top team finishers at Top Gun included Jordan’s St. Paris Graham Local team, taking first with 286.5 points, followed by Massillon Perry (235) and CVCA (152.5).
With the elite tournaments behind them and with the measuring sticks having been measured, Woods and company will return to dual meet competition when they put their 3-0 record on the line against the Indian Valley Braves, Wednesday, Jan. 19 in the Dungeon.