Teams / Lutheran West Longhorns (OH)

20 POINTS - 26TH PLACE at the STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The Lutheran West Wrestling Team finished in 26th place at the OHSAA State Wrestling Championships on Saturday. Both Lutheran West senior wrestlers Josh Malave and Colin Dennis placed in the tournament. Dennis, wrestling in his third straight State Tournament, ended his high school career with an eighth place finish in the 119 lb weight class. Dennis lost a heartbreaker against Begg from Bluffton in the seventh place final. The match was tied at four at the end of regulation. The first overtime period had no scoring so the match was sent into double overtime. Dennis was able to hold Begg for the 30-second period to have the advantage going into the second 30-second period. Dennis chose down but Begg signaled neutral so Dennis was up 5-4 with 30 seconds left. Begg shot in deep on a double leg and Dennis held him off for 20 seconds when he lost his grip and the referee awarded Begg with the winning takedown with 3 seconds left in the period. Dennis finished the season placing in every tournament, setting the school record for most pins in a season (33) and he finished with 48 wins. Dennis has been named to the Greater Cleveland Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association West All-Star team. Malave (135), wrestling in his first state tournament, made the most of his opportunity. After winning his first two matches to reach the semi-finals, Malave lost 11-1 to the 3-time State Champion Ryan Gambill from Casstown Miami East. Malave bounced right back to defeat Foster from Bellaire St. John Central Catholic 5-3 to reach the third place final. Malave scored a takedown with four seconds left in the match. In the third place final Malave took on Andrew Johnson of Tontogany Otsego. Malave controlled the match after a scoreless first period scoring two takedowns to take a 4-3 lead. Malave added an escape and another takedown and held on to win 7-6. Malave becomes the highest place winner for the Longhorns since Kenny Sanger placed second in 2005. Malave also placed in every tournament this season with six championships and two Most Valuable Wrestler awards. Malave broke two school records: most wins in a season (51) and most takedowns in a career (290). Malave has also been named to the West team at the GCWCOA All-Star Meet. Dennis and Malave will wrestle Friday in the East-West All-Star meet at Garfield Heights High School starting at 6:00 PM. Tickets are available at the door.

DAY TWO - 32ND PLACE at the STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The winning continued on day two for the Lutheran West wrestlers Colin Dennis (119) and Josh Malave (135). Dennis faced Logan Stieber, the defending state champion in his quarterfinals match. Stieber took control of the match early and pinned Dennis in the first period. Dennis bounced back in the afternoon consolation round to pick up his second victory of the state tournament and he is guaranteed to place in the top eight. Dennis defeated Dandurand of Hopewell-Loudon 6-0. Malave faced Quinton Cooperider of Marion Pleasant in his quarterfinal match. Malave scored two takedowns in the first period to lead 4-1. In the second period Malave scored a takedown and put Cooperider on his back for a 9-1 lead. Cooperider came back in the third period by scoring a takedown and 4 back points to cut the lead to 9-7. Malave escaped and gave up two stalling points to earn the 10-9 decision and advanced to the semi-finals. In the consolation quarterfinal match Dennis took on Sommers from CVCA. Sommers was able to score a takedown at the end of the 1st period to take a 2-0 lead. Dennis chose down in the second but was unable to score. The third period found Dennis on top with a chance to turn Sommers but he was unable to do so before time expired. The 2-0 decision now put Dennis into the 7th place match Saturday morning. In the semi-final match Malave took on two-time state champ Gambill from Casstown Miami East. Gambill scored a takedown and three back points in the first period. Gambill added two more takedowns in the second and one more in the third to defeat Malave 11-1. Malave will take on Foster from Bellaire St. John at 10:00 am Saturday morning to determine if he will wrestle for third or fifth place.

about 12 hours ago.

Super Quad Final Standings:
1st Place- Lutheran West 5-0 223pts
2nd Place- Clearview 5-0 180pts
3rd Place- Brooklyn 4-1
4th Place- Elyria Catholic 3-2
5th Place- Twinsburg B 2-3
6th Place- West Geauga B 1-4
7th Place- Lincoln West 0-5

December 4 at 7:39am

First newspaper article: http://sites.google.com/site/studentathletecleveland/

December 3 at 2:07pm

An almost record number of athletes have joined the wrestling team this year. Coach Ressler’s roster stands at 25. This is quite a jump from the 9 wrestlers he had last year. Captain Brad Watson worked hard in the fall to recruit many athletes from the football team. Returning lettermen include Junior Captains, Steve Flury and Brad Watson. Flury has once again certified at 103lbs and will attempt to make the next jump from being a district qualifier to qualifying for the state tournament. Watson certified again at 125lbs and looks to make it to districts this year. Jack Stillman jumped up to 152lbs this year and is working hard to get back to districts and qualify for the state tournament as well.
Kurt Guelker, Ian Kroyer, Ryan Rusnak, Gabriel Petkac and Zach Prah round out the wrestlers from last year’s team.

Five incoming freshman from the Junior High team should make an immediate impact: Bryce Deblock, Nick Salman, Brian Blankenship, Andrew Liese and Matt Glowacki. Joining the experienced freshman are David Pierce and Gevin Maxwell. Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors trying wrestling out for the first time include, Jonathon Molnar, John Graw, Shauntel Hall, Blaine Hickey, Sam Myers, Corbin Schneider, Art Schwandt and Zac Zupancic.

The wrestler’s open up at home with the 7th annual Super Quad on Saturday December 5th. Over Christmas break the team travels down to Tipp City, Ohio and try to win a tournament for the first time since 2002. The real challenge for the team this season will be the sectional tournament, which was changed to include 4 of the top 10 teams in the state.

On having a large team, Coach Ressler stated, “We have a very good chance to compete for the stripes division dual meet title this year and should be very competitive in the dual meet tournaments. It is great to have so many weight classes filled after going through last year with only 6-7 filled.�

November 15 at 8:14pm

Hydration Test at Avon Lake November 25th at 12:30pm