Matthew Copley rolls Aurora wrestling to Portage County Tournament championship

RAVENNA — Matthew Copley knew he was competing for his own Portage County Tournament championship.

The Aurora junior didn't know the team title also was at stake.

So Copley just wrestled.

The one sign that something was amiss was what happened after Copley executed a fat man roll to surge ahead of Southeast's Preston Bello in the third period of their 285-pound title match. With his fat man roll in the rearview mirror and a 5-1 lead in hand, Copley was ready to go for the pin. His coaches told him to play it safe so the junior complied.

"I'm proud of him for stepping up and coming through for the team," Greenmen coach Jeremy Johnson said. "I'm not the biggest fan of that move, but he found a way to get it done."

Copley's championship was secure.

So was the team title as Aurora edged defending champion Rootstown 315.5-312.5. Amazingly, after 7½ hours of wrestling at Ravenna's James L. Coll Gymnasium, the team title literally came down to the final bout.

"It feels good because it just shows everyone has a part in winning the match," Copley said. "This is seen as an individual sport but, in the end, it really does come down to team points and how your team perfects each other during practice and works with each other."

Aurora wins five individual titles

A year ago, in Johnson's first season at the helm of the Greenmen, they only sent part of their roster to the PCT because it hadn't been on the varsity schedule when he took the job.

In his second season, Johnson decided to send the whole team, including 2023 state placers Johnny and Luke Green. The twin brothers finished first and second, respectively. It wasn't just Copley and the Green brothers, however, as Aurora senior Austin Grossman (190) and sophomore Michael Kennedy (132) dominated their brackets, each picking up four of their five wins via pin.

Sophomore Nicholas Turba added a key victory, given the team standings, over Rootstown's Will McEwuen in the 120-pound title match.

"We had some guys step up and it was huge for us," Johnson said. "Anytime that we can get good competition in our county, I think it's important for us to step up and rise to the challenge."

Rootstown's rally comes up just short

The Rovers nearly extended their streak of PCT team titles, as Nick Malek won at 138 and fellow juniors Dominic Duvall (157) and Tristan McKibben (165) added back-to-back titles to cut into a sizable Greenmen lead.

"Tristan's really turned the corner this year, had a great tournament out at Medina — took second out there to a really good kid from Division I — so this was another good test for him," Rootstown coach Anthony Anderson said. "[Malek] is going to do really well here toward the end of the year. Duvall, man, you can't ask for more out of a kid, practice room-wise. He's every day just putting the work in and gets on the mat and it shows and he's hard-nosed, [in] great condition and super coachable, which is very important."

It wasn't just the gold medals that powered Rootstown's rally.

The Rovers' heavier weights showed strides, with Mason Fleck picking up a key win in the 215 third-place match and Tony Karp doing the same in the 285 fifth-place match to briefly take a one-point lead in the team standings.

That brought about a strange moment as Rootstown fans loudly cheered for rival Southeast, as a Bello win over Copley would've given the Rovers the title. Alas, Copley's championship roll gave the Greenmen the trophy.

Crestwood, Garfield, Streetsboro win individual titles

The Rockets finished third in the team standings, starting with freshman Jarreau Walker's impressive performance to secure his 106-pound title match against Greenmen junior Luke Green. Streetsboro senior Hunter Smith secured his own title at 144 pounds with a reversal to start the third, thus pushing his 3-2 lead to 5-2, all of which proved critical as he held off a late rally by Mogadore's Casey Pruitt.

Crestwood seniors J.P. Wrobel (126) and Drake Rennecker (150) both repeated as PCT champions. Wrobel took control of what was a one-point PCT championship match in the third, while Rennecker rode Aurora's Drake Brasiel out in the final period to hold onto his own one-point lead.

Garfield senior Keegan Sell (215) was dominant in defending his PCT championship, prevailing with four pins and a tech fall, while Mogadore's Cole Reese (175) won his first PCT title with three pins, a major decision and his opponent getting disqualified in Reese's final match of the day.

Ravenna celebrates 1993 state title

With wrestling fans descending on James L. Coll Gymnasium from all over Portage County, what better time to honor Ravenna's 1993 state championship team? That was Ravens coach Eric Kline's thinking, as members of the 1993 team came from as far away as Illinois and Wisconsin and were recognized at center court.

"I wanted to make it special," Kline said. "I wanted to make it special for Coach [Steve] Reedy, who was my coach. I was a sophomore that year that it was won, but I just wanted to add that acknowledgment for that group of guys because they're a special group. From the bottom of my heart, they're a special group of guys."

Portage County Tournament team standings

1. Aurora 315.5, 2. Rootstown 312.5, 3. Streetsboro 274.5, 4. Garfield 211.0, 5. Crestwood 209.5, 6. Field 170.0, 7. Mogadore 166.5, 8. Waterloo 158.0, 9. Southeast 136.0, 10. Roosevelt 81.0, 11. Ravenna 69.5

Placers

• 106: 1. Jarreau Walker, Streetsboro; 2. Luke Green, Aurora; 3. Rocco Wrobel, Crestwood; 4. Jayden Kittle, Streetsboro; 5. Dublin Porter, Waterloo; 6. Braden Martin, Southeast

• 113: 1. Johnny Green, Aurora; 2. Alex Ely, Rootstown; 3. Tobyas Boyett, Streetsboro; 4. Luke Kauffman, Garfield; 5. Cameron Dye, Southeast; 6. Jeremiah Willis, Waterloo

• 120: 1. Nicholas Turba, Aurora; 2. Will McEwuen, Rootstown; 3. Dominic Kemble, Southeast; 4. Rex Fryer, Waterloo; 5. Matt Klimak, Streetsboro; 6. Logan Sell, Garfield

• 126: 1. J.P. Wrobel, Crestwood; 2. Anthony Sindelar, Streetsboro; 3. Owen Roberts, Mogadore; 4. Cole Munn, Aurora; 5. Landon Andel, Garfield; 6. Max McEwuen, Rootstown

• 132: 1. Michael Kennedy, Aurora; 2. Jacob Joltin, Streetsboro; 3. Joe D'Amico, Field; 4. Nate Marzec, Rootstown; 5. Vincent D'Amico, Garfield; 6. Jeremiah Brunfield, Roosevelt

• 138: 1. Nick Malek, Rootstown; 2. Blake Hershberger, Mogadore; 3. Justin Wargo, Streetsboro; 4. Deian Longgood, Southeast; 5. Keaton Ellison, Garfield; 6. Steven Voytilla, Aurora

• 144: 1. Hunter Smith, Streetsboro; 2. Casey Pruitt, Mogadore; 3. Aidan King, Waterloo; 4. Nathan Lee, Rootstown; 5. Tye Berquist, Crestwood; 6. Mason Long, Field

• 150: 1. Drake Rennecker, Crestwood; 2. Drake Brasiel, Aurora; 3. Tyler Paulus, Rootstown; 4. Cameron Rogowski, Streetsboro; 5. Carter White, Field; 6. Kaleb Lewicki, Garfield

• 157: 1. Dominic Duvall, Rootstown; 2. Jayden Hakin, Waterloo; 3. Cohen Klimak, Streetsboro; 4. Brady McCoy, Field; 5. Gavin Edwards, Roosevelt; 6. Michael Berquist, Crestwood

• 165: 1. Tristan McKibben, Rootstown; 2. Cole Walton, Aurora; 3. Harper Troyer, Garfield; 4. AJ Bruno, Aurora; 5. Chris Claar, Streetsboro; 6. Drew Pfost, Crestwood

• 175: 1. Cole Reese, Mogadore; 2. Brian Youngblood, Rootstown; 3. Michael Wise, Aurora; 4. John Riley, Field; 5. Brody MacLearie, Crestwood; 6. Ethan Kurtz, Roosevelt

• 190: 1. Austin Grossman, Aurora; 2. David Davis, Ravenna; 3. Daniel Hudson, Field; 4. Dylan Benedum, Mogadore; 5. Aiden Kissell, Garfield; 6. Ethan Humbert, Roosevelt

• 215: 1. Keegan Sell, Garfield; 2. Gavin McIntyre, Crestwood; 3. Mason Fleck, Rootstown; 4. Noah Dunlap, Roosevelt; 5. Matthew Trusky, Mogadore; 6. Aiden Jackson, Aurora

• 285: 1. Matthew Copley, Aurora; 2. Preston Bello, Southeast; 3. Will Nienhius, Field; 4. Jayce Fedor, Streetsboro; 5. Tony Karp, Rootstown; 6. Ivan Trent, Garfiield

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Aurora High School wrestling wins Portage County Tournament title