Takedown Report

High School — # 15

(Ohio)
With no wrestling tournament, a game of rock paper scissors broke out
There may not be a state wrestling tournament this year. There will, however, at least be one 106-pound champion. When the Ohio High School Athletic Association decided last week to postpone the winter state sports tournaments for at least three weeks, a few of the Division III 106-pounders got an idea to still compete.
Not on the mat, but on the internet. And grappling in a different way.
“Everybody can play rock paper scissors,” Lima Central Catholic’s Gavin Caprella. Carey coach Ryan Pratt, who is also Caprella’s barber, said the sophomore and friends freshman Cooper Shore of Casstown Miami East and senior Caleb Schroer of Troy Christian got the idea to do “something” with the others in their weight class bracket when the state tournament was postponed. “They’re making light of the situation,” Pratt said. “That’s a wrestler who thought, ‘You know, I’m going to get ahold of some of these guys.’ “They literally set a 16-man bracket up just like state and whoever comes up the champion has bragging rights. I just thought that was funny,” he said. “I’m glad to see some kids having fun and knowing it’s not the end of the world, big things are coming.” The first thought was a Madden tournament, but after using social media to contact everyone in the bracket, Caprella said they realized they all didn’t have the same game system so they moved on to something a bit more universal — the age-old game of rock paper scissors. …. story at https://www.advertiser-tribune.com/sports/local-sports/2020/03/with-no-wrestling-tournament-a-game-of-rock-paper-scissors-broke-out/?mc_cid=aa0e6118fc&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Rob Oller | Area wrestlers grapple with emotions after tournament postponement
If they repeat it over and over ― “this is a life lesson” ― maybe eventually they will believe it. For now, however, high school athletes, and especially seniors, don’t want to hear about turning lemons into lemonade and making the best of a bad situation. It hurts too much to listen quietly and nod. “People are trying to say it’s going to be OK, but a lot of them don’t wrestle, so they don’t understand the pain of not being able to compete at states,” said Dublin Scioto senior heavyweight Donnie Hardin, who like so many of his peers remains stunned and upset that the Ohio High School Athletic Association postponed the state tournament indefinitely as a health measure against the spread of the coronavirus. Who can blame them? For many, COVID-19 either canceled their season prematurely or threatens to yet. Basketball, wrestling and ice hockey state tournaments have been forfeited. Spring sports could be next.
Coaches are confused and hurting, too. “Somebody just said to me, ‘You have to make this a teaching moment.’ I walked away, which was probably not the nicest thing, but there’s too much pain for me,” Scioto wrestling coach Adam Huddle said. “The anger isn’t directed at anyone; it’s at the situation.” At least Huddle gets to coach again, probably even under the bright lights of Value City Arena, where the state tournament was to be held Friday through Sunday. For Hardin and senior teammates Daniel Segura and Deron Pulliam, their high school careers ended Thursday. The OHSAA made the proper call. Safety comes first ― and with professional and college sports already having pulled the plug on their seasons the OHSAA really had no choice but join them ― but that does not make it hurt less. “Right now, I’m numb. You can train for anything else, but you can’t train for this,” said Segura, a three-time state placer who was projected to challenge for the Division I title at 152 pounds. He placed fourth each of the past two seasons. Segura’s wrestling career will continue on college scholarship at George Mason in Fairfax, Virginia. Pulliam’s wrestling future is less certain. The 182-pounder and two-time state placer was hoping to impress college coaches with a high finish Sunday. ….. story at https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20200314/rob-oller–area-wrestlers-grapple-with-emotions-after-tournament-postponement?mc_cid=143786004c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

OHSAA cancels tournaments for basketball, hockey and wrestling amid coronavirus
Spring sports remain postponed until it becomes clearer how long schools will remain shuttered. Even before the Ohio High School Athletic Association reluctantly canceled winter sports tournaments Thursday, coaches and athletes were prepared for the verdict. State championships in wrestling, girls basketball and hockey all having been postponed from March 12-15 were wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down virtually the entire sports world. Boys basketball teams were playing in regional tournaments when their seasons were affected. Except for a few events during World War II, these four tournaments mark the only cancellations in the 113-year history of the OHSAA. …. story at https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20200326/ohsaa-cancels-tournaments-for-basketball-hockey-and-wrestling-amid-coronavirus

‘It was kind of a letdown’: Senior wrestlers deal with uncertainty of postponement
Senior wrestlers like Perry’s Max Millin and Tuslaw’s Brier Marthey have been juggling the emotions of hope they may still have a chance to wrestle for a state title with understanding the potential realities of the situation. PERRY TWP. Max Millin could see the finish line. Then, as if out of an old Looney Tunes cartoon, he suddenly ran into a brick wall. The Perry senior heavyweight had just arrived in Columbus on Thursday with the rest of his teammates, focused on the next day’s beginning of the state wrestling tournament. Millin, in particular, had eyes on a potential run to a state championship as the top-ranked heavyweight in Division I. Then, almost as soon as they arrived, everything changed. No sooner had Millin and his teammates reached their hotel, they were notified the Ohio High School Athletic Association had postponed all winter sports tournament indefinitely as a precaution over the coronavirus pandemic. “I was really excited to go down to state this year,” Millin said Monday. “I felt this was my year to win it. It’s been a goal of mine to win it forever. As soon as we got to the hotel on Thursday, we were there for like 20 minutes and we got the announcement that the tournament was obviously not going to be going down that weekend. It was really sad, it was kind of a letdown.” …. story at https://www.indeonline.com/sports/20200316/it-was-kind-of-letdownrsquo-senior-wrestlers-deal-with-uncertainty-of-postponement?mc_cid=f6e5f3ba8d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

(New Mexico)
Mayfield wrestling champ pins down suspected kidnapper at convenience store
LAS CRUCES – A Mayfield student is being lauded as a hero after helping to stop an alleged kidnapping and assault by pinning a man to the ground until authorities arrived. Daniel Beltran Arroyo, 22, of Phoenix, was arrested by Doña Ana County Sheriff’s deputies Wednesday after witnesses say he tried to kidnap three children at Chucky’s Gas Station in Doña Ana. He’s also accused of assaulting several patrons and employees who tried to intervene.
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Arroyo is charged with four counts of battery, two counts of assault, two counts of child abuse and one count of kidnapping.  The seemingly random attack didn’t end until Canaan Bower entered the affray and was able to control Arroyo, within seconds, according to witness statements. Bower, 16, won the District 3-5A championship in the heavyweight division (285 pounds) on Feb. 16, and later competed at the state tournament.
Chaotic scene
Chucky’s Gas Station is a Greyhound bus drop-off point and about 9 a.m. Wednesday, a woman told authorities she just got off the bus along with her three children, ages 9, 2 and 1, and was waiting for her Uber to arrive when she noticed Arroyo staring at her family. The mother told authorities the man eventually approached and grabbed a hold of the 2-year-old’s arm and demanded the woman give him her children. …. story at https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2020/03/26/mayfield-wrestling-champ-pins-down-suspected-kidnapper-chuckys-store/5082784002/?mc_cid=97441c20ca&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

State individual wrestling tournament canceled
At the beginning of the wrestling season, Grand Valley coach Ross Tice had his wrestlers sit down and write down their goal for the season. It did not take long for Mason Shreve to complete the task. “I wrote down that I wanted to go to state,” the senior said of the individual state tournament which was scheduled for the weekend of March 13-15. Shreve met his goal this season — he just will not get the opportunity to live it out. The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Thursday the wrestling state tournament, along with the remainder of the winter sports tournaments, had been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament was postponed on March 12. Shreve, along with the other five state qualifiers from Ashtabula County, were holding onto a glimpse of hope the tournament might go on. That hope, however, was dashed with the announcement. Shreve said the news was something he expected, but it still wasn’t easy to take. “I woke up and got the text from coach Tice,” said Shreve, who qualified to state in Division III 195 pounds. “It didn’t come as a surprise because … I knew it might happen. It does suck. I made it, but I’m not going to get to go down. It was taken away.” Shreve, a senior, and Pymatuning Valley senior William Campbell, were making their first state tournament appearances. Campbell qualified at Division III 132. Telling the official bad news was something Lakers coach Dave Miller had not been looking forward to. “It’s hard to put together I guess,” Miller said. “I guess it still hasn’t sunk in. On the other hand, I knew it was coming.” Miller, who has been a regular at the Schottenstein Center for the last several years, was getting two wrestlers ready for the tournament — Campbell and Jake Edelman. Edelman, a senior, advanced to state the previous three years, but never placed. Miller thought this could have been his year at Division III 120. …. story at https://www.starbeacon.com/sports/local_sports/state-individual-wrestling-tournament-canceled/article_fd6c9704-09c2-5891-b29b-90b9e3277164.html?mc_cid=97441c20ca&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Portage wrestling coaches dealing with unprecedented state tournament suspension
Since 1938, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has always hosted a state wrestling tournament.
As of Thursday, however, the tournament has been thrown into limbo. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ohio High School Athletic Association Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass announced the state wrestling tournament, along with all other winter sports tournaments, were suspended. That decision was followed Friday a no-contact period from March 17 to April 5 was announced for all coaches, along with ban on any events in high school facilities
For the 19 Portage County wrestlers who qualified for states, this was the mother of all curveballs. Rootstown coach Craig Wise was set to lead four Rovers down to Columbus. He acknowledged this is an unprecedented situation. “Honestly, this is something for which is there is no playbook,” Wise said. “We talk about how wrestling gives life lessons. This is lesson within itself.” Unlike many coaches who also are educators, Wise runs a mortgage company and therefore has not had his workplace shut down, as school have been till April 5. However, he is aware how much the pandemic is disrupting school and life. “It’s a shock to everybody for sure,” Wise said. “Everybody is hanging in there. We’re down to the simple things in life.” Aurora had the largest contingent from Portage County heading south, as coach Johnny Papesh and the Greenmen had designs on another run at the Division II state title. “We found out about an hour before we were set to head down,” Papesh said. “You let them know you love them and that you’re there for them. “They’re hurting and, as a coach, I can’t even say I know what it feels like,” Papesh added. “We were trying to take home the championship. I was hoping to have six kids in the semis, and who knows what can happen from there. I know what I demand from them. Not to have that payday out of their control kind of sucks.”
For seniors like Crestwood two-time All-Ohioan Brett Szuhay, the suspension was particularly heartbreaking, as this was their last opportunity to wrestle at states. “We were planning on having a workout Thursday before we left for Columbus,” said Crestwood coach Dave Wrobel. As expected, he was quite emotional and quite upset. He would never have that opportunity to get on top of the podium. “Being a senior, your heart goes out to him. Here’s a kid that did everything the right way. He rehabbed his knee to get back to where he was at. He won the sectional and district titles for the third straight year and felt really good about Columbus. To have that pulled out from underneath him, he wasn’t happy at all that first day.” Garfield coach Dan Andel was set to lead three G-Men to the Division III tournament, which is the most state qualifiers Garfield has had in years. “I know we as a team celebrated the bad news by going out to Texas Roadhouse together,” Andel said. “It’s tough because Connor [Hrubik] and Noah [Hoffmann] are both seniors and this was the first time Connor got down there. It’s tough news to swallow.” Mogadore coach Duane Funk was already on his way to Columbus with his two wrestlers when word came down, as he planned to have his boys practice at New Lexington High School the day before the tournament. “I was in Zanesville when we found out and we had to turn around,” Funk said. “You’ve just got to take it day by day at this point. Hopefully this season is not over. I do feel very sad for all seniors in all sports.” …. story at https://www.record-courier.com/news/20200317/portage-wrestling-coaches-dealing-with-unprecedented-state-tournament-suspension?mc_cid=9e69424014&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Amos named InterMat High School Wrestler of the Year
Link:Final High School Individual Rankings
If one has been paying any attention to the news, the novel coronavirus has put global society at a total stalemate for the last week and will do so for the foreseeable future. Prior to this stalemate, all but one of the state championships were conducted for 2019-20. Ohio was the exception. Normally at this point, postseason national tournaments (i.e. NHSCA grade-level and USA Wrestling folkstyle) would be upcoming; however, those events have been postponed until the COVID-19 stalemate comes to an end. Since that is the case, InterMat has decided to conclude the 2019-20 scholastic wrestling season from a national rankings perspective. The below article will acknowledge the Wrestler of the Year along with the other wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the country at their respective weight classes.
Wrestler of the Year: Braxton Amos, Parkersburg South (W.Va.), 220 pounds
Already a Cadet (now 16U) double national champion before stepping into high school, the University of Wisconsin signee packed more than a full four years’ worth of accomplishments into a three-year scholastic wrestling career. Amos missed his freshman season due to injury sustained during September 2016. However, in the next three seasons he amassed an in-season record of 132-0 with many of those matches being first-period pins. …. story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/23431?mc_cid=a4e126b07e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Officiating courses available for free through July 1 on the NFHS Learning Center
Note: USA Wrestling encourages its members to take advantage of this tremendous free resource. Not only will officials and coaches benefit, but athletes also could learn the rules of folkstyle wrestling better through the NFHS course on wrestling officiating. Those with interest in multiple sport can also participate. Remember, American needs sports officials!! INDIANAPOLIS, IN (March 25, 2020) — Current high school sports officials, as well as individuals interested in joining the officiating ranks, will be able to access online education courses on the NFHS Learning Center for free through July 1. Since many individuals are at home for an indefinite period of time due to the current worldwide health crisis, the NFHS has decided to make its 11 sports officiating courses available for free on the Learning Center at www.NFHSLearn.com. “Everyone is looking for positive things to do at home during this difficult period of time, so we thought it would be a good opportunity for officials to take courses on the Learning Center to brush up on their skills,” said Dr. Karissa Niehoff, NFHS executive director. “As a means of encouraging more people to take advantage of this time at home, the NFHS is offering officiating courses for free until July 1. …. story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/March/25/NFHS-offers-free-officials-education-through-July?mc_cid=0750227b4f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

April 5, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized