AND SO IT BEGINS...
Nick's first high school wrestling match was a dual meet between Brunswick and North Royalton on 12/6/2013. He wrestled a Junior named Jon Bonnaci. Jon was a former youth teammate of Nick's, from the very first wrestling club that Nick participated in while he was in first grade.
Any anxieties I had about the match disappeared pretty quickly. Nick dominated the match and won by major decision 11-0. Bonnaci was warned for stalling and you could clearly see he was wrestling to take away the tech fall or pin that would have surely resulted had he engaged Nick more in the match.
It was a good first high school match however and Nick and his coaches were satisfied. His coaches were of course (just in case you're reading this blog for the first time) long time Brunswick Wrestling head coach Mike Koshar, and head assistant coaches, Mike Heil & Jim Hewitt, and Boomer Fechko. These are great coaches to have in your corner with a wealth of coaching experience with different personalities and coaching styles that all complimented each other.
Nick scoring his first official high school takedown!
About to power half.
Breaking down opponent from top.
Extending opponent after being shot on.
Riding.
Digging in an arm bar.
Coach Heil trying to get more bonus points out of Nick.
Nick happy that his first high school match was in the books.
The next day, on 12/07/2013 Nick wrestled at his first official high school tournament, the Copley Duals. He wrestled Hudson's Nate Szoch, Copley's Brandon Grimes, and wrestlers from Carrolton, Norwalk and Maple Hts., whose names I didn't record. He pinned all of his opponents and placed first! Great start so far to his high school wrestling career.
Nick receiving feedback from Coach Koshar after his first match.
Coach Jim Hewitt preparing Nick's mindset before a match.
Nick securing a cradle against an opponent.
Leg turking an opponent.
Pinning his opponent with a head lock.
About to lock up a near side cradle on opponent.
Pinning opponent with a double arm bar.
The following weekend Nick wrestled in the North Coast Classic. A very solid tournament with 24 teams with a few teams that travel from Pennsylvania to participate in it. This was a definite upgrade in competition and Pam and I were very excited to watch.
The North Coast Classic is a 2 day pool type tournament where teams were grouped into pools and after the teams all wrestled each other they are put into brackets with other wrestlers who had the same record (wins/losses) thus pitting wrestlers of similar abilities against each other more times than not.
Nick before his first match at the North Coast Classic. Coach Heil said Nick looked a little apprehensive at the beginning and I would have to agree with him based on this picture. He definitely relaxed as he began to wrestle.
The first day was on 12/14/13 and Nick opened up his tournament with a 15-0 techfall against Padua's Steve Shivak. His very next match was the one Brunswick wanted to see. It was a match against a very solid wrestler named Jarrad Lasko. Jarod was a Junior who was a 2013 Division 1 State Placer at 126 lbs. who was ranked 2nd in the state at 132 lbs.
Jarrad, who currently wrestles Division 3 for John Carrol University, finished his high school career as a state alternate in 2015 and 2015. He also was a 4 time Sectional Champion and a 3 time District placer. All around very solid kid.
It was a good competitive match, but Lasko's high school experience paid off for him on his feet and on top. Nick was able to score a reversal and had a couple cradles locked up, but was unable to turn him. In the third Lasko caught Nick in a scramble and pinned him.
All in all Nick had a very good first day. He went 4-1with two pins, a tech fall and a 14-2 major decision. The following day was a continuation of the pool format to completion.
The 132 lb. weight class was one of only two weight classes that were completely filled and it was very competitive. Alec Benedetti, the North Royalton wrestler who defeated Nick back in the Summer at the Baldwin Wallace Duals was there, a Solon Senior named Chris Wymer, who was at the top of his game, and two tough PA kids...a Junior and a Senior. They ALL traded losses to each other. It was crazy. Round robin wrestling at its best!
The next day Nick came in loose, without the jitters, and wrestled tough again. Beat the Senior from PA., Ken Tarpley by decision 8-2 but dropped the next match to the Junior from PA. 13-10. Nick got off to a slow start but finished strongly with three take downs in a row, but couldn't overcome the point deficit that the wrestler, Greensburg's Austin Shaw, established. I clearly remember Coach Heil and Coach Fechko emphasizing to Nick that in high school he needed to come out with more urgency.
Nick with teammates Brett Thomas and Austin Fallon.
Nick playing around on the mats before tournament began.
With his biggest fan...his Mom!
Relaxing sometime between the matches.
His 3rd match of the day was a rematch with Jarrod Lasko from Madison again. This time Nick looked more poised and aggressive from the start and in all positions. He beat Lasko by decision 7-2 and this time 3 of these points were from earning a near fall off a scramble. It was great to watch. He was serving notice!
With the win Nick earned the right to wrestle for 3rd place later in the evening. It was against Ringgold's (PA.) Ken Tarpley again. It was a good match and Nick wrestled solid the entire match and earned his 2nd trip to the podium in as many tournaments. He won by decision again...8-2.
In deep on a shot in 3rd place match.
Trying to finish a single leg on his feet.
Opponent quad podding up while Nick attempts far side cradle.
Winning his 3rd place match.
Third Place finish at the North Coast Classic.
This was a great learning tournament for Nick who finished 7-2. Also a really impressive showing for Brunswick Wrestling as a whole. Brunswick crushed the tournament field by 125 points and was also serving notice that they were deep in talent and would be a force in Division 1 wrestling for the foreseeable future. With a young talented squad and able committed coaches, fans of Brunswick wrestling had a great deal to be excited about.
Coaches Mike Heil and Boomer Fechko
Coach Boomer Fechko giving Nick feedback after a match.
Brunswick 2013 Team Picture.
Team picture hoisting the first place trophy.
That's it for this installment. Next week we'll be covering more of this special and unique period of time that everybody involved with Brunswick Wrestling got to experience. By the way...here's a picture of how Nick looked at the end of this tournament.
Sporting a nice shiner...but also a smile. Ya gotta love a grappler. Take care and thanks for reading my blog and following Nick's high school journey.
