WESTLAKE — The battle of Southwestern Conference unbeatens Olmsted Falls and Avon almost didn’t happen as billed Thursday night. That’s because host Westlake came within a whisker of pulling off one of the bigger upsets of the season in its last home regular-season duals of the season.
The Demons led by 22 points with four matches remaining against Avon in one of the opening bouts of Thursday’s night’s SWC double dual that also featured Lakewood. However, the Eagles used three straight pins and a major decision to tie the score at 35, then sweat it out as officials and coaches consulted the rulebook and went through criteria through criteria to break the tie.
In the end, Tiebreaker H, the seventh tiebreaker — most first points scored in each match — was slanted in Avon’s favor, 9-4, giving the Eagles a thrilling 36-35 win over the Demons.
However, Olmsted Falls proved that even an unbeaten Avon team is a mere speed bump to its first SWC title in 11 years.
Warming up with a 78-0 blowout of Lakewood, the Bulldogs dispatched Avon 60-11 to remain unbeaten in the SWC with two more regular-season meets remaining.
Westlake salvaged its home finale by defeating Lakewood 61-15 to bump its record over .500.
“We’re staying right with the plan and that’s what we’re looking to do every time we come out on the mat,” Olmsted Falls coach Bryce Burkhard said. “We watched (Avon) last weekend at the Bill Dies Tournament, and they had a real good showing, too. We wanted to get on them early and often. No letdowns at all — we just wanted to keep the throttle on.”
Olmsted Falls, which took advantage of an undermanned Lakewood squad that surrendered six forfeits, reeled off 20 consecutive match wins Thursday night before Avon’s Tate Zeman earned a 21-6 technical fall over Nic Kuntz at 113. That win, which cut the Eagles’ deficit to 33-5, was one of only three for Avon against the Bulldogs.
Olmsted Falls had five pins and three forfeit wins against Avon and added five more pins in the shutout of Lakewood.
Among those going unbeaten for Olmsted Falls was senior Alec Kirby (145). Kirby pinned Lakewood’s Pa Luh in 1:27 in the opener, then avenged a loss at the Dies last weekend by handing Avon’s Jack Gothier a 4-1 defeat in the nightcap.
“It means a lot to remain unbeaten,” Kirby said. “The whole week, we wanted to dominate Avon like we dominated everyone else. We put our hearts and minds into it and got the job done.
“(Gothier) beat me back at Dies in the seventh-place match, so beating him today was a goal. Really, overcoming personal obstacles for all of us were the biggest goals, and if that meant remaining unbeaten in the SWC, then so be it.”
Noah Broski (152) had two pins, Jaden Mendeluk (170) had a pin and major decision, Michael Shaw (106) had a pin and a technical fall, and Brice Locklear (160), Michael Iler (195), Patrick Simon (285) and Zach Wolanin (126) each had a pin and a forfeit to lead the Bulldogs.
Before Avon could contend with Olmsted Falls, it first had to contend with the surprisingly tough Demons. Westlake used three pins and two major decisions to open up a 26-4 lead through the heavyweight bout, and a thrilling 20-18 overtime win by Liam Kruger over Avon’s Mason French at 126 put the Demons ahead 35-13 with four matches remaining.
However, not only couldn’t the Demons get that one victory that would have clinched the win in those four matches, but they also allowed the Eagles to earn all 10 of the bonus points they needed to force a tie.
Max Bourque (132) pinned Eyad Shouman in 46 seconds, Adam Kirresh (138) pinned Leo Spremulli in 37 seconds, Gothier (145) pinned Musa Assad in 1:52, and Frank Rizzo (152) — despite failing to get a dual-clinching pin — earned an 11-0 major decision over Nael Zayed to force everyone to their nearest rule book.
“That’s pretty incredible that it came down to something that close,” Avon coach Mark Porter said. “I’ve never experienced that in my career to go that far down on the criteria list before we found a winner. With that being said, I tell the kids all the time in a dual situation that bonus points do count.
“All the little things do count. The great thing about wrestling is, win or lose, there are situations that dictate a victory overall. And boy did that come to fruition in that match. If we wouldn’t have had four pins or two majors, it wouldn’t have come down to us scoring first the most.”
Westlake coach Joe Heiland, despite the close call, was very happy with his team’s performance.
“We are really close to where we need to be, and I was excited about their performance today,” he said. “The guys wrestled very smart tonight. We earned a lot of bonus points, and I’ve been getting in their heads about that not giving up the major and getting the major.
“Avon was undefeated when we wrestled and we were tied at 35 when it was all said and done. We’re still missing one good guy, who should be back this week, and if we had him tonight, that’s a whole different ballgame.”
Olmsted Falls 78, Lakewood 0
106 — Michael Shaw (OF) pinned Sami Alnajjar, 5:20. 113 — Nic Kuntz (OF) pinned Saif Ali, 1:56. 120 — Jihad Salti (OF) won by forfeit. 126 — Zach Wolanin (OF) won by forfeit. 132 — Nick Dailey (OF) won by forfeit. 138 — Josh Jaeckin (OF) dec. Andrew Nicholson, 10-4. 145 — Alec Kirby (OF) pinned Pa Luh, 1:27. 152 — Noah Broski (OF) pinned Thomas Kaufman, :49. 160 — Brice Locklear (OF) pinned Jovon Mills, 1:58. 170 — Jaden Mendeluk (OF) pinned Tyson Davis, 2:15. 182 — Tony Caraffi (OF) dec. Roman Krizan, 5-0. 195 — Michael Iler (OF) won by forfeit. 220 — Noel Caraballo (OF) won by forfeit. 285 — Patrick Simon (OF) won by forfeit.
Olmsted Falls 60, Avon 11
106 — Michael Shaw (OF) tech. fall Alec Walker, 20-3. 113 — Tate Zeman (A) tech. fall Nic Kuntz, 21-6. 120 — Jihad Salti (OF) won by forfeit. 126 — Zach Wolanin (OF) pinned Mason French, 2:55. 132 — Max Bourque (A) dec. Nick Dailey, 11-6. 138 — Adam Kirresh (A) dec. Josh Jaeckin, 7-5. 145 — Alec Kirby (OF) dec. Josh Gothier, 4-1. 152 — Noah Broski (OF) pinned Frank Rizzo, 4:39. 160 — Brice Locklear (OF) won by forfeit. 170 — Jaden Mendeluk (OF) maj. dec. Mark Campo, 9-6. 182 — Tony Caraffi (OF) pinned Jack Roesch, 1:13. 195 — Michael Iler (OF) pinned Jacob Rak, 1:46. 220 — Noel Caraballo (OF) won by forfeit. 285 — Patrick Simon (OF) pinned Evan Root, :50.