Matt, Teddy lay down the Hammer with golds

 

AUSTINTOWN — Medina’s wrestling team didn’t repeat its championship at the Josh Hephner Memorial Tournament, but the Bees certainly made a statement on Saturday.

Sitting in 17th place after the first round of the two-day event, Medina battled back to finish third as a team behind Uniontown Lake and Copley.

Speaking of battling, Zach Getto (112 pounds) sustained an injury after his first match Friday, but had the wherewithal to keep going and finish second.

He joined champions Matt and Teddy Hammer (140 and 152, respectively), as well as runner-up Mike Griffith (135) in the finals for the Bees.

“It was a big step,” Medina coach Chad Gilmore said. “Matt, Teddy and Mike have been getting to the final round or close to it pretty regularly, but for Zach Getto to step up after a slow starting season was a huge accomplishment for him. He did a great job. We’re starting to peak at the right part of the season.”

Ryan Hornack (3rd, 103), Joe Gigliotti (3rd, 189) and Jake Spelic (8th, 130) joined the quartet on the podium, as the Bees look to finish the season strong with a dual at Brunswick before the Northeast Ohio Conference Tournament.

“It’s definitely a big stepping stone toward the postseason,” Gilmore said. “You have to wrestle consecutive days and having a dual Thursday (against Parma) and then a two-day tournament was just like state.”

Highland impressed as well with a fifth-place finish.

The squad finished 19 points out of third despite the fact it was missing state placer Tyler Bloniak, Shane Bloniak, Lazar Vilimonovic, Zach Holowecky, Zach Blessing and Tanner Adair, who had to sit out of the tournament because of scheduling points.

Still, Dan Mirman (135) finished first with runner-ups Colin Rininger (140) and Adam Kluk (171) making the finals as well.

Collin Vozar (4th, 285), Tom Gabyak (5th, 160), Brendan Hall (6th, 130) and James Kunzler (7th, 119) also placed for the Hornets.

“I was really overwhelmed with the effort from the guys that were wrestling,” Highland coach Paul Casey said. “Our varsity B guys that wrestled really had a great weekend. It was a little frustrating missing those weights, but we had seven guys place in the top eight.

“These guys were pinning guys left and right. I was really impressed with how they worked. When we fire on all cylinders, we’ll be on top.”

There were two All-Medina County finals as Mirman and Griffith met up for the third time this season — they wrestled at the Battle of Route 18 and Medina Invitational Tournament. Mirman is now 3-0 after eking out a one-point win at the Hephner.

Matt Hammer met up with Rininger for the first time this year and walked away with an impressive 9-2 decision.

Lake won the tournament based on a strong first day. The Blue Streaks won 39 matches on Friday with 30 pins, two technical falls and two major decisions.

Contact Brad Bournival at sports@medina-gazette.com.