Feb. 5, 2007 • Week in Review
No. 1 looks good on St. Edward after beating Blair
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
The Hero-A-Day Program once again paid dividends for Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward High.
This time, it was senior 145-pounder Dan Gonsor, who moved up a weight to 152 pounds, no less.
With his team trailing Blairstown (N.J.) Blair Academy, 27-26, entering the meet’s final match in St. Edward’s gym, Gonsor added his name to the list of heroics turned in by former Eagles greats over the years. Gonsor took down Adam Hogue, the first of two Blair wrestlers to come down a weight for the match, and added a three-point near fall for a 5-0 first-period lead. Then after Hogue, rebounded to trail 5-4 as he buried Gonsor’s head into the mat on multiple occasions, Gonsor countered a Hogue throw attempt for the clinching takedown in the final 15 seconds to win, 7-4, giving St. Edward an electrifying 29-27 victory, the Eagles’ first win over the Bucs since 2000.
With many predicting Blair would win the showdown, which was sold out more than 24 hours before the first whistle, St. Edward’s victory ended the speculation of a possible split national title after St. Edward’s victory over the Bucs in the Ironman Invitational at Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit High in December.
Originally scheduled to be a quad meet at the annual St. Edward Super Quad, the match was reduced to a single dual after Virginia powers Christiansburg High and Stafford Colonial Forge High were not allowed to make the trip due to winter storms passing through the South.
“Did I feel pressure? No, this is how I wanted it,” Gonsor told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Hogue wrestled a good match and was coming on hard at the end, but I focused for one more takedown."
The match started at 160 pounds, and the Eagles breezed to a 13-0 lead on major decisions by two-time state champion Sean Nemec (160) and Brian Roddy (171), who surprised many with his 18-6 pounding of Corey Peltier, and Chris Honeycutt’s technical fall at 189.
Jared Platt’s major decision at 215 pounds put Blair on the board at 13-4 before embattled heavyweight Ben Kuhar turned in perhaps the biggest victory of the night for the Eagles, scoring a first-period takedown and holding on to beat Kyle Hanson, 3-2. Jamie Clark (103), who beat St. Paris Graham standout David Taylor in overtime earlier in the month, then scored a pin and it was 22-4 in favor of the hosts.
But the heart of Blair’s lineup was on tap. Sparked by Garrett Frey’s pin at 119, Blair won six of the next seven bouts. But the Bucs did leave some points on the mat. St. Edward’s Collin Palmer (125) and Blair’s Kellen Russell (130) traded major decisions, Russell must missing a technical fall in his 15-2 major over Neil Birt. Max Shanaman (135) added another major decsion and top-ranked Mario Mason outlasted Shawn Harris 10-7 at 140 as Blair narrowed St. Edward’s lead to 26-24.
Two-time National Prep champion Eric Medina, who came down a weight to 145, could have all but clinched the meet for the visitors with a pin. But instead of going with Gonsor and regular 152-pounder Scott Elliott at the final two weights, St. Edward countered by sending out untested junior Connor Suba to face Medina. And Suba did his job as well, holding Medina to an 8-1 decision and only three points, giving the Bucs their first lead, but a precarious one, at 27-26 and setting up Gonsor’s winner-take-all victory at 152.
Sorry, Michaela…not this time
Last year, we were the first to mention Soldotna Skyview High’s Michaela Hutchison’s historic feat in the Alaska Class 4A state tournament. The younger sister of current Boise State freshman Eli Hutchison became the first girl ever to win a boys state title, winning at 103 pounds.
This year, up a weight at 112, things turned out a little differently.
Hutchison, a junior, finished fourth in the state meet after finishing fourth in the Northern Lights Conference qualifier last week. In both meets, she lost to the wrestler she beat for the title a year ago, fellow junior Aaron Boss of state champion Palmer Colony High.
After defeating Hutchison for third place in the Northern Lights, Boss won, 6-4, in the quarterfinals and went on to his second straight state runner-up finish.
Colony’s Hollan Gravley (135) won his fourth state title, pinning his way to the Outstanding Wrestler award with four falls in a total of seven minutes, 37 seconds. Wasilla High’s Alan Bartelli (119) and Anchorage A.J. Dimond High’s Zack Shelley (152) won their third state titles.
Previous High School Reviews
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
The Hero-A-Day Program once again paid dividends for Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward High.
This time, it was senior 145-pounder Dan Gonsor, who moved up a weight to 152 pounds, no less.
With his team trailing Blairstown (N.J.) Blair Academy, 27-26, entering the meet’s final match in St. Edward’s gym, Gonsor added his name to the list of heroics turned in by former Eagles greats over the years. Gonsor took down Adam Hogue, the first of two Blair wrestlers to come down a weight for the match, and added a three-point near fall for a 5-0 first-period lead. Then after Hogue, rebounded to trail 5-4 as he buried Gonsor’s head into the mat on multiple occasions, Gonsor countered a Hogue throw attempt for the clinching takedown in the final 15 seconds to win, 7-4, giving St. Edward an electrifying 29-27 victory, the Eagles’ first win over the Bucs since 2000.
With many predicting Blair would win the showdown, which was sold out more than 24 hours before the first whistle, St. Edward’s victory ended the speculation of a possible split national title after St. Edward’s victory over the Bucs in the Ironman Invitational at Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit High in December.
Originally scheduled to be a quad meet at the annual St. Edward Super Quad, the match was reduced to a single dual after Virginia powers Christiansburg High and Stafford Colonial Forge High were not allowed to make the trip due to winter storms passing through the South.
“Did I feel pressure? No, this is how I wanted it,” Gonsor told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Hogue wrestled a good match and was coming on hard at the end, but I focused for one more takedown."
The match started at 160 pounds, and the Eagles breezed to a 13-0 lead on major decisions by two-time state champion Sean Nemec (160) and Brian Roddy (171), who surprised many with his 18-6 pounding of Corey Peltier, and Chris Honeycutt’s technical fall at 189.
Jared Platt’s major decision at 215 pounds put Blair on the board at 13-4 before embattled heavyweight Ben Kuhar turned in perhaps the biggest victory of the night for the Eagles, scoring a first-period takedown and holding on to beat Kyle Hanson, 3-2. Jamie Clark (103), who beat St. Paris Graham standout David Taylor in overtime earlier in the month, then scored a pin and it was 22-4 in favor of the hosts.
But the heart of Blair’s lineup was on tap. Sparked by Garrett Frey’s pin at 119, Blair won six of the next seven bouts. But the Bucs did leave some points on the mat. St. Edward’s Collin Palmer (125) and Blair’s Kellen Russell (130) traded major decisions, Russell must missing a technical fall in his 15-2 major over Neil Birt. Max Shanaman (135) added another major decsion and top-ranked Mario Mason outlasted Shawn Harris 10-7 at 140 as Blair narrowed St. Edward’s lead to 26-24.
Two-time National Prep champion Eric Medina, who came down a weight to 145, could have all but clinched the meet for the visitors with a pin. But instead of going with Gonsor and regular 152-pounder Scott Elliott at the final two weights, St. Edward countered by sending out untested junior Connor Suba to face Medina. And Suba did his job as well, holding Medina to an 8-1 decision and only three points, giving the Bucs their first lead, but a precarious one, at 27-26 and setting up Gonsor’s winner-take-all victory at 152.
Sorry, Michaela…not this time
Last year, we were the first to mention Soldotna Skyview High’s Michaela Hutchison’s historic feat in the Alaska Class 4A state tournament. The younger sister of current Boise State freshman Eli Hutchison became the first girl ever to win a boys state title, winning at 103 pounds.
This year, up a weight at 112, things turned out a little differently.
Hutchison, a junior, finished fourth in the state meet after finishing fourth in the Northern Lights Conference qualifier last week. In both meets, she lost to the wrestler she beat for the title a year ago, fellow junior Aaron Boss of state champion Palmer Colony High.
After defeating Hutchison for third place in the Northern Lights, Boss won, 6-4, in the quarterfinals and went on to his second straight state runner-up finish.
Colony’s Hollan Gravley (135) won his fourth state title, pinning his way to the Outstanding Wrestler award with four falls in a total of seven minutes, 37 seconds. Wasilla High’s Alan Bartelli (119) and Anchorage A.J. Dimond High’s Zack Shelley (152) won their third state titles.
Previous High School Reviews