MANSFIELD — Caden Hill and his Crestview teammates wrestled with the heaviest of hearts this weekend.
Days after the tragic death of assistant coach Jesse Campbell in an automobile accident, the grief-stricken Cougars channeled their emotions into an inspirational showing at the 58th J.C. Gorman Invitational at Mansfield Senior.
Led by Hill, who won an individual title at 285 pounds, Crestview finished second in the team standings with 141.5 points. It was the program’s best-ever finish at the Gorman.
Ashland won its fourth consecutive team title with 184 points.
“I know Jesse’s up there smiling and proud,” Crestview coach Steve Haverdill said. “It’s a tough week, but to do what they did … it’s a testament to those guys.”
Campbell was killed in a three-vehicle crash Monday evening on Ohio 545 in Clear Creek Township. Haverdill wasn’t sure if he should withdraw from the tournament, so he left it up to the team.
“We asked, ‘Do we want to compete this week or do we want to pull out?’ They all raised their hand and wanted to wrestle,” an emotional Haverdill said. “I think that was the best thing. We just got back on the horse and kept going.
“We just wanted to honor him. They honored him as best as you possibly can, finishing second in this tournament.”
Campbell’s funeral was held Saturday morning in Oberlin. The Cougars came straight to Mansfield Senior from the service.
“This morning we didn’t know what was going to happen,” Haverdill said. “We bussed up there for the service and (offered) our condolences and then … bussed down here.
“We got here as they were starting. We had no warm-up, no nothing. The kids never flinched. They were just focused. It’s hard to explain.”
Hill, the top-ranked Division III 285-pounder in the state, advanced to the finals with a pin of Norwalk’s Larry Newland in Saturday morning’s semifinals, then beat Massillon Washington’s Rager Els 8-3 in the finals.
“Once I was wrestling it wasn’t that difficult (to block out the emotions),” Hill said. “But before the match, just thinking about it, then after the match it really hit hard.”
Ashland, meanwhile, joined Lexington as the only team to win four straight Gorman titles — the Minutemen won four straight from 2007 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2015. The Arrows had a pair of individual champs in 120-pounder Case George and 145-pounder Jayden Jones.
“We had two in for first and I thought we could have had three or four,” Ashland coach Sean Seder said. “We told everybody else, ‘If you don’t take first, we expect you to place.’ I think we had 10 total in the top eight and seven went for placement. I think we were 6-for-7 in the finals round, so we were happy with that.”
Mansfield Senior’s Josh Lyons won a championship at 132 pounds. Lyons held on for a thrilling 6-5 decision over East Liverpool’s Howard Williams.
“I didn’t even place last year. I got eliminated on the first day,” Lyons said. “I wanted this more than anything else.”
Mapleton’s Jeremy Tracy won a championship at 152 pounds. Tracy beat Mohawk’s Morgan Price 6-1 in the finals.
The area’s other champ was Ontario’s Cody Mies at 195 pounds. Mies beat Shelby’s Nathan Zehner 9-4 in the finals.
“I’ve never placed in the Gorman before. I had a big mindset change from last year to this year,” Mies said. “Wrestling against these good kids, it’s going to help me out down the road.”
