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The motto for this year's Gibsonburg wrestling team is “improve every single practice and every single match.”
So far, the Golden Bears are living up to that motto, according to first-year coach Justin Edgell.
“I told them at the beginning of the year we have a very advanced group,” said Edgell, a former club wrestler at Bowling Green State University. “We came out from day one in November and worked them pretty hard. In past years we were softer, but we've been working hard since the first day and they've accepted it. They know the expectations the coaching staff has on them and they've accepted those expectations and lived up to them so far.”
The Bears have 16 wrestlers this season, including six returning district qualifiers and one state tournament qualifier.
Junior Damen Escobedo, who reached the state tourney as a 135-pounder last year, has wrestled at 145 and 152 pounds this year. He is 18-3 this season and earned his 100th career victory at the recent St. John's Titan Invitational.
“Damen has great mat sense,” Edgell said. “He understands wrestling situations. He's quick and hard-working. He works hard in the practice room.”
Gibsonburg has competed in three major events thus far, winning the Golden Bear Invitational behind tournament champs John Angelone (130), Ryan Widmer (140) and Escobedo (152).
The Bears took fourth out of 10 teams at the Hopewell-Loudon Duals, finishing with a 6-3 match record. Angelone, who had one loss, was named the team MVP while Widmer also had one loss and Escobedo and sophomores Gage Collins (103) and Austin Webb (112) all had two losses.
Gibsonburg also took 10th out of 13 teams and had five scoring wrestlers at the Titan Invitational.
“I split my team up with the jayvee and varsity team,” Edgell said.
Collins, juniors John Angelone (125), Widmer, Curt Davies (189) and senior Andrew Helle (215) are all returning district qualifiers.
Angelone has won 17 of his first 20 matches this season.
“He is very quick, very opportunistic,” Edgell said. “If he puts somebody on their back, they're not getting off their back. His biggest asset is his speed. He's probably one of the fastest wrestlers we have.”
Widmer, who has 88 career victories, is 18-3 this season.
“He's got that wrestler mentality of when he steps on the line, his mindset is he's going to win and he's going to take it to you,” Edgell said. “The last two years he's won our Orange Crush Award, which goes to the hardest working individual on the team. He's not the fastest, he's not the strongest, but he will outwork you and he never takes a break.”
The rest of Gibsonburg's lineup includes juniors Jacob Kissell (130), Nick Williamson (140) and Demetrius Ernsberger (152), sophomore Dennis Shammo (160), freshman Jacob Auld (171) and senior heavyweight Elijah Walters, who has battled knee injuries and hasn't wrestled since his freshman year.
The Bears took fourth at the Suburban Lakes League tournament last season and were picked by the league coaches to finish fourth again this year.
“The kids really want to finish top two in the league,” Edgell said. “It's nice to have every weight class but one (119) filled. We need our high-end kids to be in the (SLL) finals and our lower-end kids need to get wins in that third- and fourth-place match. That's really where the league is won, in the consolation finals. It shows the depth your team has.”
Edgell's assistant coaches are Dennis Druso, who also wrestled at BGSU, and Richard Escobedo and Jerry Widmer.
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