Plenty of deserving MVPs in talent-rich Gorman wrestling invitational

MANSFIELD — There were two overtime matches, five more decided by three points or less and even a dramatic race to beat the clock as the final second of the final bout ticked away in the area’s crown jewel of a wrestling tournament.

The only thing missing from Saturday night’s championship round of the 61st J.C. Gorman Invitational was a carving knife.

DAY 1 FROM THE GORMAN: Ontario hangs tough: Defending champ Medina Buckeye shoots out to early lead in loaded Gorman

Something to slice the Bill Flanegan Most Outstanding Wrestler Award — picture the Heisman Trophy with the entangled arms of two athletes instead of the stiff arm of one  — into 10 pieces.

At least that many champions had a real argument for tournament MVP. While Medina Buckeye left no doubt it was the best of 32 teams in winning a repeat crown, and doing it without two-time Gorman MVP and state champion hopeful Eddie Neitenbach, there was no clear-cut choice for top individual honors, voted on by the coaches.

Buckeye’s sophomore 113-pounder Blake Bartos was named Most Outstanding, and deservedly so, after he lived up to his No. 1 ranking in Division II with a 4-2 win over Ontario’s two-time Gorman champ and 2022 state runner-up Jacob Ohl.

But no one would have looked side-eyed if it had gone to any of these fellow champs:

106: Ashland’s unbeaten freshman Mason Bauer hit a four-point move 15 seconds into overtime for a 5-1 win over Ontario’s Aiden Ohl, ranked No. 1 in DII.

120: Buckeye’s Colyn Limbert became a three-time Gorman champ by nipping Galion’s Gradey Harding 1-0 in a showdown between the No. 1 and 2-ranked wrestlers in DII, with Limbert (barely) living up to his top billing.

138: Ontario’s Mason Turnbaugh became a repeat Gorman champ by hitting a takedown with five seconds left for a 6-4 win over Northmor’s previously unbeaten and top-seeded Cowin Becker, a two-time state medalist.

144: Mapleton’s Brock Durbin became a three-time Gorman champ (there have only been 22 in tournament history) with a 3-1 win in overtime over Sandusky St. Mary’s Ben James.

150: Marion Pleasant’s unbeaten Daxton Chase outscored his first three opponents 62-16 before emphatically tying a bow on his title with a 63-second pin of Indian Valley’s No. 2 seed Quake Beatty.

175: Clear Fork’s Blake Schlosser, who wrestled in the shadows of his state medalist brother, Luke, last season, went 5-0 and pinned his way to the title, taking out Ontario’s No. 1 seed Dylan Floyd at 4:37 in the semis and Willard’s Ryan Fox at 3:34 in the finals.

190: Taking advantage of Neitenbach’s absence, Sandusky Perkins’ Haiden Bollini went 4-0 with a tech fall and three first-minute pins, needing only 41 seconds to win his title bout over Rittman’s No. 1 seed Justin Metheney.

215: Ontario’s top-seeded Landon Campbell had three pins, a 5-3 decision over Ashland’s two-time state qualifier Cayden Spotts in the semifinals and then a 7-4 win in the finals over Massillon’s Cody Fair, ranked No. 5 in Division I.

285: Crestview’s No. 1 seed Caleb Cunningham, sixth last year at 215, made it look easy with a 10-0 win over Galion’s three-time state qualifier Alex Griffith, the No. 2-ranked heavyweight in DII

All good choices, right?

Let’s start with that last one. Cunningham nearly finished with a pin, but the ref’s hand slapped the mat a split second after time ran out. He’s a small heavyweight at 240, and still fairly new to the weight class, but he’s learning fast.

The state rankings bear that out because he’s No. 3 in DIII.

“I’ve got to use my speed against the bigger, heavier guys,” said Cunningham, a first team All-Ohio football player who overcame a slew of injuries to finish eighth at state last year at 215. “I’m not that fast, but obviously heavyweight is a different game. They’re slower, so I’ve got to use (my agility).”

In his corner was assistant Steve Haverdill. He turned over the coaching reins at Crestview this season to Nate Godsey, but he’s worked with Cunningham since second grade.

“He got to wrestle some freestyle matches in the summer for my brother (Todd Haverdill is coach of DI power Brecksville), so he’s getting some experience,” Haverdill said. “He’s pretty good.”

Cunningham won two matches at the Walsh Ironman, the top regular season tourney in the country, but he never thought when he walked away from last year’s Gorman as an also-ran 215-pounder that he’d leave the next year as a heavyweight champ.

“I definitely didn’t think that,” he said, smiling.

Schlosser took advantage of the Gorman to steal some thunder from his brother. Luke Schlosser, a senior, is the area’s top returning state medalist, after finishing fourth last year in DII. He has missed all season after breaking his leg in football, but looks like he’s nearly ready to come back.

Luke will step on the mat just before Blake at 165.

“Especially when it’s a tight match and he comes up with a victory, that gets me really excited for my match,” Blake said. “From wrestling with him in the room and watching him, I’ve picked up quite a bit. He beat the crap out of me last year.”

And this past weekend it was Blake doing the same to his opponents.

“I pinned everybody here with a cradle,” he said. “Five matches, five pins, same move.”

Turnbaugh and Campbell helped Ontario to a third place finish (177 points) behind Buckeye (261.5) and Sandusky Perkins (184.5). Ashland (148.5) and Clear Fork (134) rounded out the top five, with Galion (seventh without injured freshman Carter Trukovich, 127) and Northmor (10th, 103.5) cracking the top 10.

Turnbaugh’s two titles have come at the expense of Becker and, last year, his Northmor teammate Carson Campbell. They’re both two-time runners-up, with Becker’s two hard-luck losses by a total of four points.

“Carson’s a lot longer,” Turnbaugh said. “He was really good on top and I had to watch for him reaching for legs, because that’s what I like to do – shoot and reach. Cowin’s more of a technical wrestler who will move you around. I was just glad to have the endurance to keep up with them.

“I just got a little burst of energy in the last few seconds (for the winning takedown against Becker). I don’t know if I knew it was so close (to time running out) or because I had a good chance of taking him down. I don’t know. I just got hit with some energy, got in on that shot and ended up with a cradle.”

Campbell’s title run kept him unbeaten and made up for all the time he lost last year with a hyperextended elbow. After placing sixth at state for Galion as a sophomore, he didn’t start competing last year for the Tigers until one week before winning his third Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title. Ultimately he didn’t have enough mat time to round into his 2022 form at the end of the season.

This year he feels like his old self with his new team.

“I feel like I’m back to normal. I’m in a groove,” Campbell said. “The conditioning’s there, all my technique. I’m just putting everything together.

“I feel like I know more (than when I was a state medalist) and my cardio is better. I’m going to keep working hard in practice and doing the extra stuff outside of practice and hope I hit my end goal of finishing top four at state.”

The first two local champs were Bauer and Guardian Miller, half of the four talented freshmen in Ashland’s lineup for new coach Tommy Bauer. Miller won the 132 title with a 13-5 decision over Massillon’s Marcus Fricke.

Mason, the coach’s son, came in ranked No. 9 in DI after winning a title at the formidable Medina Invitational Tournament, and he simply picked up where he left off with three first period pins before his win in OT over Aiden Ohl, a good friend.

“I was just looking for everything (in overtime), what was the best option when he was tired,” Bauer said. “I was testing things throughout the match and then I saw that tendency where he would reach over the top, and that’s when I capitalized on it.”

Miller, who was third at the MIT, has been wrestling with Bauer since they were about 5. They were both middle school All-Americans and have traveled all over, competing on the national circuit.

“Having been in the big tournaments and big venues, you don’t get as nervous or scared,” Miller said. “Winning this is cool, but it also feels normal, like another day in the office.”

During the recognition program prior to the finals, the 1971 Mansfield Senior Tygers were honored for winning the Gorman title along with the weight class champs from that season. Madison’s Bryan Mosier received the Doug Castle Coaches Award, voted on by the meet officials, and former Northmor coach Mike Skelton received the Halley Weaver Volunteer Award.

Complete results can be found at trackwrestling.com.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: All great choices: Plenty of deserving MVPs in talent-rich Gorman