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Central Catholic, St. John's Jesuit, St. Francis de Sales and Whitmer all showed up hoping to spoil the party, but Clay's wrestling team wasn't in a giving mood.
Coach Gerry Anthony's eighth-ranked Eagles took care of business in winning their third straight City League tournament crown, scoring 285½ points and crowning eight individual champions.
No team will ever win another CL wrestling championship. All five teams that competed last Saturday will join the new Three Rivers Athletic Conference next season.
“We've got a good thing going and I didn't want to take a step back at all,” Anthony said. “Our kids just really came through. I believe our tough schedule really paid off. In the final round, when the chips are in, our kids stepped up. We just got the momentum rolling.”
The Eagles won 12 of their 14 matches in the final session to run away with the league title. Central Catholic was second with 204 points followed by Whitmer (191½), St. Francis (122) and St. John's (61).
Freshman Jared Davis, who upset the top two seeds earlier in the day, won the 103 pound title to get the Eagles rolling in the championship finals. Davis beat Peter Nichols of St. John's 15-6 in the title match.
“We were only leading by 12 points going into the finals, and Davis started us off,” Anthony said. “He's a freshman and he's worked his way into the lineup. We thought Jared could do it. He won the Maumee Bay Classic two weeks previous.”
Clay's other seven champions were Mike Screptock at 112 pounds, Angelo Amenta (130), Matt Kohler (140), Chico Cloyne (171), Brandon Veler (189), Shane Gaghen (215) and heavyweight Garrett Gray. The Eagles also had two runners-up in Nico Castilleja (135) and Eddie Silva (160).
Anthony said the Eagles were anxious to start their “second” season this weekend when they hosted the Division I sectional tournament Saturday.
“We're very excited,” Anthony said. “Our goal is to take 14 kids to districts.”
Clay, which has won three straight sectional titles, will compete against wrestlers from Anthony Wayne, Northview, Perrysburg, Springfield, St. Francis, St. John's, Southview and Whitmer. The top four placers in each weight class advance to next Saturday's district tournament at Lorain High School.
“Perrysburg is much improved, and Whitmer has some wrestlers who had a great day (at the CL tourney),” Anthony said. “I feel like we're going to be challenged by Perrysburg and Whitmer.”
The Eagles sent a school-record 14 individuals to last year's district tournament.
“That's what we're trying to do, get this through to the kids that this is an expected thing,” Anthony said. “When it's expected, it will happen. We would like to take a high number of kids to state again. Now, it's expected to take four, five, six kids to state. Our goal is to build our program to take 12, 14 kids to state. We're excited and looking forward to the next few weeks.”
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