Wrestles for Central Catholic: Northwood’s Schmoekel has ‘unfinished business’

By advancing through sectional and district tournaments, Northwood resident and Central Catholic senior Mason Schmoekel and classmate Jacob Jackson qualified for the Division II state wrestling championship to begin at the Jerome Schottenstein Center’s Value City Arena on Friday, March 13. 
One day earlier, Schmoekel and Jackson were the only two seniors at school as all of their classmates were attending an annual retreat. It was 2:30 p.m. and Schmoekel was in the main office and Jackson was in Assistant Principal of Discipline Lori Langenderfer’s office, both preparing to leave for Columbus.
The “trouble” didn’t begin until Assistant Athletic Director Mike Padgett walked in, breaking the news that the state championships are being postponed indefinitely, and the wrestling team will not be leaving school at 5 p.m.  Both Schmoekel and Jackson were devastated. 
 “It was surprising to say the least and next thing we did was call our parents to let them know,” Schmoekel said.
 Jackson’s immediate response was “This is crazy, I thought they’d let it happen, this was my year.”
 Schmoekel recalls, “The event was the saddest that I’ve ever experience,” reflecting back on it. He stated, “I now feel like I was being selfish, because this coronavirus is much bigger than our wrestling season. I’m still sad but I now realize that canceling the tournament had to happen.”
As teammates, both Schmoekel and Jackson experienced successful regular seasons. Both earned championships at Northwood’s Jim Derr Memorial Invitational, the St John Jesuit Invitational, the Perrysburg Invitational Tournament, and Catholic Invitational Tournament.
Schmoekel, who qualified for state at 195 pounds, saw his season end at 33-6. Jackson was 29-5, qualifying for state at 285.
Both may have the chance to wrestle collegiately. Schmoekel is interested in pursuing business (market research, advertising and marketing) in college while extending his wrestling career. He is in the process of narrowing down his college choices.
Jackson is interested in studying history in college and continuing his athletic career. As a Division II all-state special mention defensive lineman, college football is an option. He says playing football for the perennial state powerhouse Central football team is something he will always relish because of his teammates.
 “The team, my teammates can pick-up for me when I falter, and I can pick up for my teammates when they falter,” Jackson said.
Wrestling, Jackson says, is a little different.
 “It’s all you, win or lose, you’re responsible,” Jackson said. 
Although Jackson’s college choices are still open, several institutions have shown interest, including a couple for wrestling and a couple for football and at least one institution for both.
Padgett, a Genoa resident, and Central coach Carmen Amenta, the former Waite coach, say both of these young men have bight futures and “unfinished seasons” ahead of them, although since the state wrestling tournament went from postponed to cancelled.
 
Injury-ridden road to state
Schmoekel was a TRAC runner-up, losing to Clay sophomjore and state qualifier Ty Cobb (39-10) in the final. Schmoekel was also a sectional runner-up, qualifying for state after finishing fourth at the Norwalk district meet.
He opened the district tournament pinning Bryan senior Carter Hoffman in 31 seconds, then defeated Lexington senior Hayden Hoskins 8-3 in his quarterfinal match.
However, in the semis, Schmoekel was pinned by Ontario senior Cody Miles in 4:56, so he had to fight his way back in the loser’s bracket. Miles had also defeated Schmoekel to win a sectional title. Schmoekel defeated Shelby junior Nathan Zehner 5-1 in the consolation semifinals, but was pinned in the championship to Sandusky senior Terion Stewart in 2:03.
Both faced adversity, but Jackson’s road to state is a little more out of the ordinary. In total, Jackson was 4-1 against returning state qualifiers and 2-0 against returning state placers, defeating a returning division III state runner-up from Van Buren in the semifinals of the PIT.
On December 27, Jackson defeated his initial two opponents at Defiance’s Border War Invitational Tournament by pin. In the championship quarterfinals, Jackson strained his hamstring while battling returning state placer Jeff Meyer of Columbus Grove. Jackson was able to finish the tournament by defeating Mr Meyer in overtime, 3-2. After consultation with Amenta, they decided that the best course of action would be for Jackson to be finished for the day to avoid further injury and help preserve his promising season.
On February 22, Jackson pinned his opponent in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference semifinals and remained undefeated on the season going into the championship finals where he was defeated by Ethan Green of Fremont Ross by a score of 2-0. Jackson found Green to be a formidable opponent, but another injury came in the way.
 “He was tall, I was having trouble getting to his legs, and oh by the way, I broke my hand,” Jackson said.
After getting x-rays and determining there was a fracture in the fourth metacarpal bone (i.e., the ring finger) further medical consultation was made on whether Jackson could further his quest of becoming a state champion. Sectional and district qualifying tournaments were just ahead of him. After plenty of discussion with his doctor, family, and coach a plan was put in place.
On February 29, Jackson pinned his opponent in the sectional semifinals, earning a berth to the district tournament. As per the plan, Jackson defaulted in the finals and placed second. The following week, Jackson defeated Jake Bever of Ashland by a score of 8-3 in the district semifinals, earning a berth to the state tournament and per the plan, defaulted in the finals and placed second.
With a single on-the-mat loss in his senior campaign, Jackson is left wondering what could have been.
Jacob’s brother, Tyler, a freshman at Central Catholic, didn’t begin his competition season until January as he had to shed a few pounds prior to qualifying for the 220 pound weight class. Tyler finished with a third place finish at the CIT (5-1), third at the TRAC tournament (2-1), third at sectionals (3-1), and won a match at the district championships. Jacob says he is hoping his “‘little’ brother can carry-the-torch for the family.”