Tough draw costly for West Holmes at State

  • By Kevin Lynch
  • March 11, 2010
  • 557
                        
How well one does when they get to Columbus for the State wrestling tournament is often determined by the luck of the draw. For the two Knights competing at the 73rd Annual State Wrestling Tournament last weekend at the Value City Arena at Ohio State, the only luck they had was bad. “This was probably our worst draw in 20 years for both kids,” West Holmes coach Jeff Woods said. Max Rohskopf, the Knights’ 119-pound freshman, opened the tournament against a two-time State champion, and 135-pound sophomore Justin Stitzlein drew the projected titlist in the first round. “I was a little nervous, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Rohskopf said. Once the whistle blows and the wrestling begins, “it’s just like any other match,” he said. Unless of course, you are facing a two-time reigning State champion, as was the case for the West Holmes freshman as he opened action Thursday, March 4, against Aurora’s Ty Mitch, who was last year’s 112-pound title holder. “The coaches knew how he wrestled and they told me some of the things he would do,” Rohskopf said. “I went into the match trying to stop the things that he did, and I just couldn’t.” Mitch shot first and scored a takedown, kicked Rohskopf out and scored another takedown. Following that pattern for much of the first period, the Knights’ freshman found himself trailing 13-4 after the first two minutes. He lost a technical fall 20-5. “I’ve just got to forget about this first match and concentrate on my next match and the next person I have to wrestle,” Rohskopf said. Rohskopf’s next match was against Padua junior Collan DaFonseca, who jumped all over the West Holmes frosh and rolled to a 13-2 victory. Mitch wound up winning the 119-pound championship, and DaFonseca placed sixth. Things didn’t go much better for Stitzlein. “I just tried to use my best stuff and tried and counter what he did,” Stitzlein said. “I just did what I usually do. I tried to get a takedown right off the bat” Stitzlein hung right with projected State champ, sophomore Isaac Jordan of St. Paris Graham through the first period of their 135-pound tilt, and was right there into the second, before a near fall gave the 40-3 Jordan a 9-2 advantage after two periods. He stuck Stitzlein in the third period. Stitzlein said he had to refocus and put the first match behind him as he prepared for a consolation-round match Thursday evening. In that match against Kenston senior Jake Kazimir, the two wrestlers battled each other tough for six minutes without a point being scored. Each shot was countered and each takedown attempt was thwarted. The one-minute overtime period also ended up scoreless, which led to a second overtime, where each wrestler had 30 seconds to try and ride the opponent out. Kazimir escaped with time running out to take a 1-0 lead, and then scored a two-point near fall when Stitzlein tried unsuccessfully to escape. “He was a tough opponent. I couldn’t turn him,” Kazimir said of Stitzlein. “This is my senior year and my last shot here, so I had to do everything I could to pull out this match.” Kazimir went on to finish fourth in the 135-pound weight class. As was expected, Jordan won the title match, beating Daniel Mirman of Medina Highland 7-2. “It’s a good eye-opener for what good kids do; how quick they are, how strong they are,” Woods said. “We’re not disappointed. This lets us know we’ve got some work to do. Hopefully we can come back down here next year a little stronger.” ***** Reaching the State wrestling tournament is the goal of every wrestler who steps onto the mat, but just getting there isn’t enough for some. Some are driven to succeed at all costs, sometimes cutting a lot of weight or adding weight to move up or down into a different weight class where the wrestlers feel they have a better shot at success. That was the case this year for a pair of Wayne County wrestlers, Orrville’s Dennis Raber and Waynedale’s Jon Beam. Both competed in the 171-pound class in 2009, and both finished second in the State. This year, with Orrville falling into Division III, and reigning champion Chris Phillips of Monroeville loomed large as a sure-fire shot to retain his title, Raber opted to drop down to 160 pounds. Beam, who got stuck in last year’s championship match by Phillips, bumped up a weight class to 189. The strategy worked for Raber, who claimed the 160-pound title for the Red Riders with an overtime victory, while Beam wound up finishing fourth.


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