Geauga Wrestlers Joltin & Greenberg CVC Champs
The West Geauga Wolverines dominated the Chagrin Division of the CVC as they won the championship Jan. 26 and 27 at Independence High School.
For more West G CVC photos click here.
The West Geauga Wolverines dominated the Chagrin Division of the CVC as they won the championship Jan. 26 and 27 at Independence High School.
West G finished with 187 points, while the next closest competitor accumulated just 110.5.
In addition to winning the division title, Wolverine Zander Joltin won the 132 pound division CVC title.
Also, Hawken junior Will Greenberg won the championship in the 285 pound weight class, and 15 more Geauga County wrestlers also took their places on the podium.
To stand in the top spot of the podium, Joltin and Greenberg both had to win four straight matches; both had a bye in the first round.
Coming into the conference championships, Joltin had a 31-4 record and was ranked 19th in the state in Division II.
Joltin began the tournament with two pins over his opponents from Cuyahoga Heights and Trinity.
In the semifinals, he faced Hunter Blair from Chagrin Falls. Blair took an early lead in the semifinal match, going ahead 5-2 after one period of wrestling.
However, Joltin battled back in the second period with a near fall and takedown for a 7-5 lead. In the third period, he scored two more points on a reversal, while Blair scored just one point to make the final score 9-6.
In the finals match against his opponent from Lakeside, Joltin got out to an early 2-1 lead after the first period.
In the second, Joltin’s opponent got a quick 3-2 lead. However, Joltin then got two points at the end of the second period to take a 4-3 heading into the final period.
Joltin added a point in the third period to win the match 5-3.
For Hawken, Greenberg won the CVC championship in the heavyweight division.
He entered the tournament with a 28-2 record and was ranked 9th in the state in Division II.
To get to the finals, Greenberg had a round-one bye, then pinned his opponent from
Cuyahoga Heights in round two.
In the quarterfinals, Greenberg pinned his opponent from Geneva after only 15 seconds.
Greenberg then won a 7-3 decision in the semifinals against his opponent from Orange.
In his finals match, Greenberg defeated his opponent from Harvey, 1-0, for the title.
Overall, the Wolverines had eight wrestlers place: Caden Kaleal (3rd place – 120 pound division), Zander Joltin (1st – 132), Danny Sizler (6th – 138), Austin Wheatley (3rd – 144), Ethan Bartlett (2nd -150), Brian Denamen (2nd – 157), Quentin Artino (3rd – 165) and Blake Welker (2nd – 215).
West Geauga Head Wrestling Coach Joe Joltin was very pleased with the way his teamed performed.
“I think they have wrestled amazing,” Coach Joltin said. “They wrestled our style of wrestling. We have had a lot of success, (as we are) in first place in the Chagrin Division.”
Other Geauga wrestlers who placed in the championships were Colin Hering (Berkshire – 4th place – 113 pound division), Caden Klingman (Berkshire – 4th – 126), Charlie Dixon (Berkshire – 5th – 138), Alex Munn (Berkshire – 6th – 144), Jay McGinnis (Chagrin Falls – 6th -126), Hunter Blair (Chagrin Falls – 5th – 132), Harrison Fritz (Chagrin Falls – 5th – 144), Johnathan Johnson (Hawken – 6th – 165) and Will Greenberg (Hawken – 1st – 285).
Geauga County wrestling teams will complete their regular season in the first two weeks of February, followed by OHSAA sectionals beginning the week of Feb. 19.
