Westlakes Nathan Locklear shoots in for the pin on Bay’s Nick Buhler during the Westake Invitational. Locklear won the match 17-10. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

Demons sweep through duals
By Matt Pawlikowski
Sports
Published Dec. 13, 2006

Excuse Westlake wrestling coach Mike Antonyzyn for being hoarse after his teams’ four matches. Always emotional, his kids wrestle with the passion he initiates from his corner of the mats, and boy did it show Saturday.

They say to be the best you have to match up with the best, and it’s exactly what Antonyzyn’s young Demons did, when they hosted some of the better teams in the area. Westlake not only won, its own meet, but did so in an impressive fashion, sweeping the duals with a 47-17 win over Nordonia, 43-28 win over Bay, 40-38 against Cuyahoga Heights, and in one of the more exciting matches of the day, 39-38 over Hudson.

The key to the Hudson win was a pin by Devin Henry over Scoot Hooper at 152 pounds. Henry who was 3-0 on the day, with his closest match a 9-5 decision over Nordonia’s Darren Rhodes could’ve won his match easy, but had some added pressure on his shoulders when Antonyzyn told him he needed to get a fall.

“I kind of expected it,’’ said Henry, who was on a mission to show his worth to his coach. “The win, it was just for me, but I also wanted to show coach that I can perform on this level.”

Henry was not alone in doing well for the Demons. Also scoring perfect slates were 2006 state placer Jeff Green at 160 pounds, and Naseem Merhi at 125 pounds.

Green was named MVP of the meet for his performance, which included three pins. Green recorded falls over Hudson’s Randy Grein in 3:30, Cuyahoga Heights Pat Meade in 5:32, Bay’s Zac Lacure in 2:24, and Nordonia’s RJ Buck in 2:40.

“It feels great to get off to a good start. I was just looking to start fresh, and do well and get a few wins,’’ said Green. “ What’s even nicer about today, is last year we lost to a team by two points to finish in second place, so to win by a point, it was great, the young kids showed a lot of potential.”

Merhi moved up to 125 this year from 119 pounds, and like Green and Henry began his year on a good note going undefeated, with his closest match being a 9-1 decision over Cuyahoga Heights Mike Galaska.

Merhi also nailed down tow pins, in 1:00 over Hudson’s Mike Sedlak, and 1:33 over Bay’s Mousha Shafik.

“It feels pretty good, since I jumped from 119 to 125,’’ said Merhi. “I’m doing pretty well. I don’t have to cut as much weight this year, so I have more energy. I’m planning on going undefeated; that is my goal along with making it to state.”

One reason for the Westlake success is the fact Antonynyz took the team to the Disney Duals this summer, where they fared pretty well against some stiff competition.

“Every kid has picked it up a bit, and we have a great group of freshmen,’’ said Antonyzyn. “They work very hard in the room, and what can you say when you have kids like that. I’m real proud of them.”

Also faring well for the Demons was Nick Lawrence at 103 pounds who went 4-0, with three pins, in 1:03 over Bay’s Nick Brulfort: 50 over Hudson’s Jake Dittore, and 3:20 over Cuyahoga Heights Jimmy Mallus. He also had a 4-2 tough fought decision over Nordonia’s Shawn Smutek.

Conner Dempsey was 4-0 at 112 pounds with a fall, as was Ryan Smugala at 215 pounds. Smugala had two forfeits, but won two tough bouts by decision. Nathan  Locklear (171) was 3-1 in the tourney, with two pins, 4:38 over Nordonia’s Chris Lowrey, and 5:52 against the Redman’s Brandon Miller.

Bay, also competed at the Westlake meet, but failed to win any matches, losing to Westlake 39-28, Nordonia  48-18, Hudson 45-21, and Cuyahoga Heights 41-21.

The Rockets did get a nice day from Sam Stan at 140 pounds. Stan had a fall in just :45 over Nordonia’s Mike Collier, and Hudson’s Jake Hutt in 2:59. He also earned a major-decision over the Demons Ben Carricio (14-2). Stans only loss, came in a hard fought 6-3 decision to the Redman’s Rob Pasestka.

Gabe Samad at 130 also went 3-1 for the Rockets, with his only loss a 5-3 decision over Nordonia’s Colin Rafuse. Samad pinned the Redman’s  Danny Barrett, and earned a forfeit against Westlake. His other win of the tourney was a 7-0 decision over Hudson’s Pat Spaulding.

Kyle Sharp (119) and Nick Buhler (171) were 2-2 in the meet.