GALION — When it comes to choosing an MVP from Clear Fork’s historic showing Saturday, we should probably start with Matt Merendino.
A long-time assistant on Nick Allerding’s coaching staff, Merendino caught a mistake in the scoring, resulting in an extra half-point for the Colts in the Division II sectional wrestling tournament at Galion High School.
That half-point turned out to be the difference between winning the first sectional title in program history and sharing first place with Sandusky Perkins.
Clear Fork finished with 207.5 points, Perkins with 207.
“A lot of times you don’t even pay attention (to match scores),” Allerding said. “I was joking with (meet manager Jeff) Schwall, ‘See if we win by a half a point, it’s going to matter.’ I never dreamed it would actually matter.”
A semifinal win by Clear Fork 157-pounder Luke Lee originally went into the computer as a 13-7 decision. The actual score was 15-7, bumping it up to a major decision, worth an additional .5 in the standings.
Merendino’s not sure his great catch is worthy of MVP honors.
“Because I can count?” he joked.
He can’t even chalk it up to being a math teacher in the Valley.
“I’m just a pastor,” he said, laughing. “I realized (the mistake) before the finals. I was looking at scores and said, ‘That’s not the right score.’ The points scored went from 13 to 15 and that (eight-point decision) was the difference in it being a major.”
With, as it turns out, major implications.
Another unlikely MVP for the Colts was senior 215-pounder Tre Copeland. Knee injuries limited him to two matches all season before the tournament, but he proceeded to go 3-1, winning his third place match on a last-second takedown with the team title hanging in the balance.
“Tre was far from refined,” Allerding said. “He was operating on just a handful of practices.”
Copeland was among nine district qualifiers ― three of them champs ― for Clear Fork. Sophomore Anthony Oscar won a repeat title for the Colts, claiming the 144 class with a 16-0 technical fall of Galion’s Carsten Branstetter. If possible, fellow soph Caleb Snyder had an even more convincing win for Clear Fork at 113, pinning Shelby’s Corbyn Barth in 39 seconds.
Keeping pace with those two Colts was junior 175-pounder Lakota Leedy. He pinned Ontario’s Jimmy Unger at 1:02 in their title bout.
Also advancing to next weekend’s district meet in Norwalk as runners-up were Lee and Colton Wenger, who had to default in the 120 finals because of recurring knee issues. They will be joined by Wyatt Cable (106, fourth), Drayden Tschantz (120, fourth) and Luke Remy (285, fourth).
“I didn’t even realize it,” Allerding said about the unprecedented team glory. “Tom Stortz is our history guru. Winning a sectional title alone is a pretty cool thing, let alone being the first in school history. I remember when we won our first (Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference) title (in 2021). After I had been coach for a couple of years, he told me we had never won a league title, and I thought, wow. Obviously that goal becomes a little more significant, doing it for the first time for the school. So, this is super exciting, too.”
Madison star helps Clear Fork
Even with the scoring snafu and the last-second heroics from Copeland, Clear Fork doesn’t win the title if not for Madison heavyweight Jaxin Stancombe. He beat Perkins’ Jordan Pool in the meet’s final title match.
Stancombe pinned his way through the tournament, capped by a fall at 1:20 in the finals. He was more than happy to help Clear Fork’s cause, even if he was wearing a different shade of green.
“I’ve known those guys since I was really little,” said Stancombe, ranked No. 3 in the state. “I grew up in Butler and went to church with most of them.”
Stancombe has spent the second half of the season making up for time lost after popping a bursa sac in his left knee. It cost him a chance to compete in the area’s showcase event, the J.C. Gorman Invitational, but he bounced back quickly to win at the renowned Alliance Top Gun before becoming a three-time champ in the Sally George Invitational and the Ohio Cardinal Conference tournament.
This was his second sectional title.
“(Top Gun) was a big one,” Stancombe said. “I came through (the Madison system) seeing all of our great guys placing at Top Gun, so to actually come out and win it was huge to me.
“I feel I’m really combining things from practice and it’s translating well to the matches. I was interviewed earlier in the year and said it was ‘All or nothing.’ I still feel that way. It’s my last ride. I just have to keep at it, keep working.”
Shelby freshman impresses
Stancombe finished the championship round in the same convincing fashion that marked the beginning of the finals, with Shelby freshman 106-pounder Sebastian Cain recording a 16-0 technical fall over Madison’s Grady Hunt.
Cain, 33-4, is leading a resurgence at Shelby under coach Gavin Speelman that includes three other district qualifiers.
“It’s great to see (the progress),” said Cain, who won a MOAC title last week as one of four Shelby finalists. “Speelman is taking us to good spots. We’re definitely getting somewhere. He’s so technically good. He’s good at showing us what to do and what not to do.”
Cain’s win was one of eight championship matches decided by pin or technical fall, including the last four.
Fourth title for Ohl
Even though it goes into the books as a win by default, Ontario senior Aiden Ohl was pitching a 5-0 shutout in the third period when Clear Fork’s Colton Wenger retired after aggravating a knee injury.
It was Ohl’s fourth sectional title, and he looked much more aggressive a week after beating Wenger 2-1 in the MOAC finals. Ranked No. 2 in the state, the 2024 state runner-up now takes aim at his third district title.
“Me and a couple of my coaches had a long conversation about my last match with Wenger, not that it shouldn’t be that close but that I needed to open up more, show more tenacity, and I think I did a really good job of that today,” Ohl said. “I didn’t care if I lost, I didn’t care if I got taken down. I surrendered the outcome. I let it be. I let whatever happened, happen. I prayed a lot this week, more than usual. God told me to let it as it is and just follow my heart.”
Three champs for Galion
Credit Galion senior 138-pounder Ryder Alberty for assisting Clear Fork’s run to the team championship. He kept points away from Perkins in the finals by beating Jayciion Everett 7-0.
Alberty often gets lost in the shadows of teammates Gradey Harding (132) and Carter Trukovich (126), both projected state champs. But Alberty is also highly ranked, at No. 5, and was All-Ohio last year, finishing seventh at 138.
“Everybody talks about the wrestlers at our school, starting with Gradey and Carter,” Alberty said. “I get mentioned more now, but what matters more is that I’m practicing with them every day and getting better.
“Everyone wrestles different. Gradey wrestles real quick on the shots, Carter wrestles real funky – that’s where I get most of my scrambles in – and I wrestle heavy. I’m using my arms a lot. It’s good seeing different wrestling styles.”
Harding joined Ontario’s Aiden Ohl as a four-time sectional champ, beating Ontario’s Tyler Turnbaugh in a rematch of last week’s MOAC finals. Trukovich won in the finals by forfeit.
“I knew since my freshman year it was time to turn it on (in the post-season),” said Harding, a two-time state runner-up and three-time All-Ohioan. “Getting that first district title my freshman year was a plus because I didn’t think I was going to get it, but here we are today, and I’m going to keep pushing it. I want to get that fourth district title next week and then go on to state and get my first state title.
“Still not where I want to be, but next week we’ll definitely hit that mark. I have bigger goals now that I’m going to be heading off to college (the University of Buffalo.) Those boxes I was checking off last year just aren’t cutting it. This year is going to be a lot different.”
District qualifiers
Here’s are the area’s other district qualifiers, thanks to top four finishes Saturday:
Lexington: Brayden Vance (215, runner-up)
Ontario: Vince Caudill (106, third); Raiden Rhinehart (144, fourth); Gavin Miller (150, third)
Madison: Caiden Byerly (113, third); Malachi Endicott (138, third); Aiden Proctor (157, fourth)
Shelby: Max Miller (165, fourth), Christian Santiz (190, fourth)
Galion: Kane Hay (150, fourth); Brice McDaniel (165, third); Cameron Kuehlman, 190, third)
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Everyone chips in as Clear Fork wins first sectional wrestling title
Reporting by Jon Spencer, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
