With most sports, getting off to a strong start is always important, and wrestling dual meets are no different. When it comes to the OHSAA Dual Team Tournament, it can be even more important to set the tone of the match early with a strong start.
If that’s the case, than all the Division I teams in Ohio may be in trouble because the Elyria Pioneers couldn’t have gotten off to a better start than they did in the first two rounds of the tournament on Jan. 28 at Westwood Middle School in Elyria.
Despite sending out two freshmen at 106 and 113 to kick things off, the Pioneers jumped out to early 12-0 leads in both matches, setting the table for Elyria’s big boppers in the upper weights of the lineup. The great start paved the way to a 71-10 win over Madison Comprehensive in the opening round and a 56-12 win over Ashland in the regional quarterfinals.
Dennis Breeding (106) earned a forfeit in his opening match, against Madison Comprehensive, and a pin in just 1:23 against No. 4 seed Ashland.
Fellow freshman Brendon Felton (113) followed Breeding with two pins.
He came up with a pin in 1:14 against Madison Comprehensive and another in 2:54 against Ashland.
‘I always like going first, because if you get the pin, it really gets the team going,’ Breeding said. ‘Getting the team going is always a good thing. (Brendon) and I both wrestled great and got the points the team needed.’
In both matches, the Pioneers won four of the first five matches to take an early stranglehold of each. Junior 132-pounder Nico O’Dor also pinned in both of his matches.
‘Getting those pins is really important in a dual meet,’ O’Dor said. ‘All of us coming out want to get the most points we can, and I just try to get a pin.’
Getting off to the fast start then set the table for Elyria who still had wrestlers like Darrion Overall (138), Mikah Price (152) and J.T. Brown (170) in the middle of the lineup, not to mention projected state champions Ben Darmstadt (182) and Kevin Vough (285) at the back end.
While Breeding and Fenton may be freshmen, Elyria coach Erik Burnett said neither is exactly new to the sport.
‘They both have a lot of experience and have been wrestling for a long time,’ Burnett said. ‘They’ve both worked extremely hard. The cool thing about them is I think they’re getting better all the time, which increases your confidence.’
The win sets up a matchup almost all Lorain County wrestling fans have wanted to see all year long, as the Pioneers will now face the No. 2 seed, Lorain in the regional semifinals on Feb. 4.
Burnett can’t wait for the match against the Titans.
‘It’s going to be awesome,’ he said. ‘(Lorain coach) Mark (Moos) is doing a great job over there, and his kids are buying in. They’ve really got things going in the right direction there, and they’re good. The bottom line is they’re good.’
Despite Lorain having a number of wrestlers out with the flu in its opening rounds of the state duals on Jan. 27, Burnett believes the Titans will be ready for the semifinal matchup.
This season marks the third year of the OHSAA state dual tournament, and in previous years Burnett hasn’t been a big fan of the tournament. It would seem that he has changed his tune a little bit this year, and it has a lot to do with his wrestlers.
‘When the tournament first started, I wasn’t sure what the buy-in was going to be,’ Burnett said. ‘Now, the kids are into it. Dual meets are generally a good thing for the sport. They’re good for team spirit.
‘When you see that happening with your kids, particularly. When the kids are into it, you’ve got to go with it. That’s where we’re at. It’s all about the kids.’
Avon Lake also wrestled in the state dual tournament at Elyria on Jan. 28, and fell to Madison Comprehensive, 60-12, in the opening round.
