MEDINA — It might be a good time for those at the Westlake Division I sectional to pay some attention to the Olmsted Falls wrestling program.
A school with a storied past, the Bulldogs came to the 41st annual Medina Invitational Tournament on Monday and made some noise.
OK, they made a whole lot of noise, finishing second behind Brunswick by 17.5 points.
Olmsted Falls’ Noel Caraballo defeats Oak Hills’ Brendan Marchetti 11-3 during the 220-pound semifinals of the Medina Invitational Tournament.
“We’re back on the map, definitely,” Olmsted Falls 220-pound senior Noel Caraballo said. “We’re back and ready to stay, baby.”
That could have been the understatement of the two-day tournament after Caraballo was crowned MIT champion for the Bulldogs, who placed an MIT-high seven individuals.
While Caraballo was the only champion, Michael Shaw (second, 106), Brice Locklear (fourth, 160), Tony Caraffi (fifth, 170), Mike Iler (fifth, 195), Patrick Simon (sixth, 285) and Josh Jaeckin (seventh, 138) all reached the podium to show just how strong the squad has become.
The Blue Devils placed four to win the title, but those four all made the finals. That said, Brunswick wasn’t exactly sitting back in its easy chair, as it looked at Olmsted Falls the entire final round with calculator in hand to make sure it could stay in the lead.
“These past two days have been a good two days of wrestling,” Caraballo said. “We can definitely build on this. We saw some good competition. We saw what we do well, we saw what we don’t do well. We can take away a lot out of this. That’s why we come to this tournament. We want to be prepared.”
That should help when the squad has to take on the likes of St. Edward and Elyria at sectional even if it means the Bulldogs won’t sneak up on anyone.
“Hopefully this is a good platform,” Olmsted Falls coach Bryce Burkhard said. “Honestly, I don’t think we did our best, which is a good sign. We can improve on our matches.
“No one seems to notice us ever. We’ll keep plugging away and we’ll see. It’s fine with us. We’ll make our noise at state. This is where our season really ramps up. We’re getting a lot of wrestling, so it’s a good start.”
Lorain coach Mark Moos is hoping for the same kind of spark as his Titans get ready for the stretch run.
The squad placed only Devione Edwards (second, 113) and Aaron Huff (third, 182), but came here with lessons to learn.
Even if those lessons were that the Titans weren’t quite where they thought they might be.
“It was a rough weekend for the team,” Moos said. “We had our ups and downs. We’re here to get our butts whipped a bit.
“That’s why it’s beautiful that it’s only December. You come in, get your butt whipped and start getting ready for February and March. You make those adjustments. The best kids in your weight are here or at Brecksville.”
Even returning Division III state champion James Handwerk of Lutheran West found the going rough as the reigning MIT champion fell 5-4 to Norwayne’s Zach Steiner on a late takedown.
It was a loss Handwerk not only vowed to avenge, but one he thinks won’t even be close the next time the two meet.
“He had a game plan and I didn’t,” Handwerk said. “I’m working on it tomorrow. We don’t have practice tomorrow, but I have some things to work on. It won’t be close again. I’ll tell you that.”