Columbus East’s Tyler Lake competes against Columbus North’s Jose Ramirez in the 182-pound weight class at Columbus East, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022.
Paige Grider | For The Republic
With nine of the 14 matches completed in Wednesday night’s wrestling dual, Columbus North led Columbus East 19-18 and was looking to end years of domination by its crosstown rivals.
In the blink of an eye, the Olympians ended those dreams.
East rallied to score four consecutive first-period pins in the heaviest four weight classes and picked up a forfiet to close the match at 106 pounds to pull out a 48-19 victory.
“In wrestling, it’s different than a football or basketball game,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “There’s not really momentum. It’s not the same kids every time, and we knew in those last four weights, we had real a big advantage, so that wasn’t too unexpected at the end.”
Although he lost his 170-pound match that gave the Bull Dogs the lead, the Olympians’ Mitchell Williams may have given East a huge spark when he scored a reversal in the closing seconds to limit the victory by North’s Keller DeSpain to a 9-3 decision instead of a 9-1 major decision.
After that, Tyler Lake pinned Jose Ramirez in 1 minute, 44 seconds at 182; 10th-ranked Jackson Fox pinned Keyshon Osborne in 1:04 at 195; fourth-ranked Tommy Morrill pinned Bryce Luttrell in 1:13 at 220 and Pat McMahon pinned Cody Thurnall in 1:51 at 285.
“I think so for sure,” Cooper said of Williams’ late reversal creating a spark. “Just up and down with the matchups, we always talk about, ‘Just do your job. Little things here and there. Save a team point, or get an extra team point.’ If everybody does that, that’s 14 extra points for us during the course of the dual. So I thought we did a pretty good job of that up and down the lineup.”
Lake took the mat after the Bull Dogs had run off four consecutive wins to take the lead.
“I was just thinking I needed to go out there and be the man,” Lake said. “I needed to earn six for the team.”
In a competition that began at 113 pounds, North coach Matt Joyce bumped up his 106- and 113-pounders, knowing the Bull Dogs would have had to forfeit at 120. East jumped out to an early 15-0 advantage. Aiden Miller earned a 9-5 decision against Nolan Riley at 113, Gage Rutan scored a second-period pin against Liam Curfman at 120 and 10th-ranked Liam Krueger scored a first-period pin against Bryce Hawkins at 126.
North got on the board with 13th-ranked Justice Thornton’s 12-4 major decision against Caleb Cooper at 132. But the Olympians responded when Bo Wagner upset 20th-ranked Jason Shuey in a 5-2 decision at 138 to put them ahead 18-4.
“I just had trust in our coaches’ plan that I really don’t get tired pushing the pace and trying to wear them out and in the end, just come out on top,” Wagner said. “The game plan worked.”
The Bull Dogs then outscored East 15-0 over the next four matches. Asher Ratliff, ranked 16th at 145, earned an 8-2 decision against his cousin Nate Anderson. Josiah Green won a 12-2 major decision against Cam Crider at 152 and Liam Phillips earned a 16-0 technical fall against Eric Duncan at 160 before DeSpain’s decision against Williams at 170.
“They have some tough upper weights,” Joyce said. “We’re tougher through the middle. We’re stronger where they’re not as strong, and they’re stronger where we’re not as strong.”
North, which was coming off a runner-up finish in their own tournament, has only two seniors in its varsity lineup.
“We’re gaining on them every year,” Joyce said. “It’s one of those things where, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we’re laying bricks every hour. We’re working hard, and if not this year, maybe next year.”
