Despite trailing 21-17 with five matches remaining Thursday night, Chris Cooper and his Columbus East wrestlers weren’t worried.
The fourth-ranked Olympians had five of their best wrestlers left to finish the match against Franklin. All five of those East wrestlers came away victorious to give the Olympians a 41-21 victory.
“I definitely thought it was closer than what it should have been,” junior 132-pounder Joey Gordon said. “But we’re working hard every day, and we’re trying to improve. So there’s not much I can ask other than getting a win.”
After Jeremy Clark scored a major decision at 126 to tie the match at 21-21, Gordon gave East the lead for good with a second-period pin at 132.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“It’s not really nerve-racking,” Gordon said. “I just go out there and do what I need to do. Coop expects something from me every match, and I try to make sure that I do what he wants me to do every day. I just go out there and wrestle my match, and I’m always shooting, always scoring, trying to get bonus points.”
Cayden Rooks, ranked No. 1 at 138, won by technical fall to give the Olympians a 32-21 lead. No. 14-ranked Kade Law won by decision at 145, and No. 3-ranked Jake Schoenegge finished off the match with a first-period pin at 152.
Starting at 160, the lead changed hands seven times in the first nine matches. After the Grizzly Cubs won a decision at 160, East’s top-ranked Nick South won by technical fall at 170, and Noah White scored a decision at 182 for an 8-3 lead.
Franklin regained the lead with a pin at 195, but the Olympians’ sixth-ranked Jacob Bolte answered with a pin at 220. The Grizzly Cubs then scored decisions at 285 and 106 to take a 15-14 advantage.
Kenton Wilson gave East the lead back with a decision at 113. Franklin then won by pin at 120 to take the 21-17 lead and set up the Olympians’ closing run.
“I thought we wrestled pretty well,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “We’re still a long way from where we need to be. We just need to focus on practicing every day, getting 1 percent better so that we can get to the point where we can start thinking about a state title.”
The Olympians, who finished third at state last year, improved to 7-0 in dual meets this season.
East will see some tough competition in Saturday’s Perry Meridian Invitational. Besides the host and second-ranked Falcons, Mason (No. 10 in Ohio) and Oldham County (No. 16 in Kentucky) will be there.
“(Perry Meridian) will be a big test,” Cooper said. “Mason is very, very good, so that’s two schools right there that definitely are going to let us know where we’re at.”
