Sports
Avon Lake's Cory Frank Wins SWC Championship
Rojek, Sokolow also place as young team grabs 58 points
Cory Frank had the eye of the tiger prior to his Southwestern Conference (SWC) championship match against Brecksville-Broadview Height's Jake Bonfig in the 285-pound bout Feb. 12.
Headset on, he had the intensity of Rocky Balboa, as he paced around the Midpark High School gym, with much anticipation. This was a match that he had waited for all season.
Then, just as Frank’s match was about to begin, a poor call by an official on another mat during the 215-consolation match caused the Avon Lake senior to wait even longer, this time on the mats.
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The match eventually started and it took three periods, but after jumping out to a 2-0 lead and then a 4-2 lead into the fourth, Frank dug deep, and took down Bonfig for the pin at the 4:27 mark.
"This is great," Frank said. " I have been waiting for this all three years that I have wrestled. I can't explain the feeling; it’s awesome. I wanted to end it. It had been a long day but it’s an awesome feeling."
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Frank's day started off with a pleasant surprise: a 12-3 major decision over Westlake's Alex Busser. Not that he was not expected to win the match, but because it was the first major decision he has ever scored in his career.
"I was ecstatic about that one; it felt really nice," Frank said with a huge smile on his face. In the finals, he knew what Bonfig was going to come out with, because he met him during the dual season, and also tallied a pin in the third period.
Frank who had trouble early in the year closing out close matches, and lost his only two of the year that way, said the hard work in the wrestling room with his coaches is the reason he was able to win his championship.
"My goal is to get the under hook and get after him, but this a great way to go into the post season, to start 2-0, it feels pretty good," Frank said." I owe all of this to Mr. Weaver and all my other coaches; it’s been a really great senior year for me."
As a team, the Shoremen scored 58 points in the SWC tournament. Considering the youth on his roster, Weaver was pleased with how his kids performed. In addition to Frank, the Shoremen had two other placers.
Caleb Rojek (171) took home second place after sustaining an injury to his knee in his championship match. In his first match of the day, Rojek pinned Westlake's Pat Hertl in 2:43, an impressive feat considering Hertl had just knocked off the No. 2 seed via pin.
"His knee buckled, but he will be back next week," Weaver said.
Matt Sokolow took home fourth place honors, just missing out on third place after a hard fought 4-3 loss to Broadview Heights Troy Lang in the 189 pound match.
"We have a young roster and I was definitely pleased with the placers," Weaver said of his teams showing.
Championship results
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103 Evan Krumheuer, Midpark (Dec) P.J. Mueller, Olmsted Falls, 6-2
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112 Chase DuPratt, Olmsted Falls M-(Dec) Dominic Armstrong, North Olmsted, 13-0
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119 Mark Matos, Amherst (Dec) Tommy Pruchinski, Breck.-Broadview Hts., 5-2
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125 Kyle Biggs, North Olmsted Fall Anthony D'Amico, Breck.-Broadview Hts., 4:22
130 Mitch Baran, Breck.-Broadview Hts. (Dec) Brian Brunner, North Olmsted, 4-3
135 Dylan Good, Breck.-Broadview Hts. Fall Alex Bevilacqua, Olmsted Falls, 4:53
140 Quinton Hiles, Breck.-Broadview Hts. (Dec) C.J. Basinski, Amherst, 2-0
145 George Saridakis, Breck.-Broadview Hts. (Dec) Ryan Scholtz, Midpark, 7-1
152 Sheldon Stuckart, Westlake (Dec) Andrew Barr, Breck.-Broadview Hts., 3-2
160 Kyle Roddy, Breck.-Broadview Hts. Fall Thaer Zayed, North Olmsted, 3:16
171 Marshal Willet, Breck.-Broadview Hts. (Dflt) Caleb Rojek, Avon Lake
189 Jerimiah Roig, Olmsted Falls Fall Sam Huston, Midpark, 3:21
215 Scott Sheffield, Midpark Fall Scott Linville, Olmsted Falls, 1:59
- 285 Cory Frank, Avon Lake Fall Jake Bonfig, Breck.-Broadview Hts., 4:27
Consolation Results
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103 Christian Lough, Amherst (Dec) Zach Goodman, Westlake, 12-2
112 Andrew Spreng, Westlake Fall Anthony Mendez, Amherst, 0:50
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119 Nick Asadorian, Olmsted Falls (Dec) Thomas DiMarino, North Olmsted, 9-2
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125 John Debth, Berea (Dec) Bryan DeRuchie, Amherst, 1-0
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130 Kyle Kokitka, Olmsted Falls (Dec) Alex Funderburg, Amherst, 2-0
135 Ricky Kelly, North Olmsted Fall Bryce Williams, Amherst, 0:53
140 Scott Ahern, Olmsted Falls (Dec) Steve Robb, Westlake, 6-2
145 Brian Slater, Olmsted Falls (Dec) Mike Sliman, Amherst, 8-3
152 Adam Binggeli, Olmsted Falls (Dec) Garrett Darby, Midpark, 5-4
160 Kyle Koncek, Midpark (Dec) Nick Sommer, Olmsted Falls, 8-5
171 Travis Devericks, Olmsted Falls (Dec) Pat Hertl, Westlake, 17-12
189 Troy Lang, Breck.-Broadview Hts. (Dec) Matt Sokolow, Avon Lake, 4-3
215 Austin Linden, Breck.-Broadview Hts. (Dec) Trevor Winston, North Olmsted, 5-2
285 Jordan Lee, Olmsted Falls (Dec) Alex Bookshar, Amherst, 3-1 OT