The Cleveland wrestling team placed fourth at the PIL district championship on Feb. 16-17, ending their 12-year run as the district champs. McDaniel walked out on top, with 394 points, over a hundred more than second-place Grant, which had 254.5.
Despite the disappointing team result, Cleveland still had eight wrestlers automatically qualify for the state meet, three of whom won the district championship for their weight class. Freshman Stewart Bromwell started the meet as the top seed at 113 and finished it that way. He picked up a 16-4 major decision in the title match to beat McDaniel freshman Ford Morris. At 138, Cleveland senior Adrian Anaya clinched the title with a nail-biting 7-6 victory over McDaniel junior Ahmeil Keys.
“I started the season slow and had to work hard to get better. I never missed a practice. I started to place in tournaments but was never able to get first until districts,” Anaya said.
Cleveland junior William Kingman took third in the 138-pound weight class and moved on to state with Anaya.
The 157-pound weight class was dominated by Cleveland junior Max Copus. He won all four of his district matches by a pin, including a sub-two-minute win in the championship match.
“I feel good,” Copus said. “It was my first championship. It’s nice to bring something home for Cleveland.”
Cleveland’s girl’s wrestling team was equally as dominant, finishing the district meet with five wrestlers placing in the top six. Junior Isabel Herring placed first in the 170-pound weight class. Maria Caudillo won her weight class (100 pounds). Kiera Callahan, a Cleveland sophomore, placed third in the 110-pound weight class. Lily Love finished fifth and Charlotte Campbell placed 6th in their respective divisions.
At state, the boy’s team fought hard but were unable to have anyone place.
When asked about the future of Cleveland wrestling, junior Max Copus said, “We need to start putting extra effort in outside of practice. We had a lot of freshmen this year so hopefully they’ll start to develop a little more.”
Cleveland junior Isabel Herring dominated at state. She started the tournament ranked first, and held on to that ranking, winning all her matches and the championship in the 170-pound weight class. Herring won every match by pin, one of which, the semi-final match, came in just 42 seconds. Freshman Maria Caudillo came into the tournament ranked fourth, and was able to place sixth in the 100-pound division.
Herring said, “It feels very gratifying. It confirms that I’m actually good at the sport and not just getting lucky,” when asked about her win.
Herring also said that in the offseason “I’ll be doing a lot of cardio to stay in shape and maintain my fitness to prepare for next season.”
Overall the future looks bright for the Warriors wrestling program. We have a good combination of young talent and returning seniors with championship experience. They’re definitely a team to watch out for next season.