MANSFIELD — The championship round of the 55th Gorman Invitational turned out to be a victory lap for Ashland.
Led by individual champions Austin McNamara (106 pounds), Sid Ohl (152) and Josh Bever (195), the Arrows breezed to the team title of the 35-team showcase Saturday at Pete Henry Gym. Ashland piled up 227 points, well ahead of runner-up Fremont Ross (169.5).
The Arrows led the Little Giants 113-76.5 after Friday and had already secured the team championship, the program’s first since 2006, before the evening session started.
“It definitely feels good,” Ashland coach Sean Seder said. “We definitely wanted to win Gorman. … We said if we took care of business in every single match, then hopefully the points will fall where they may and we’ll get that trophy.
“We had a pretty good Day One. The kids wrestled really well and we were fortunate enough to take home the team title.”
The unseeded McNamara got things started for the Arrows at 106, rallying from a 7-4 third-period deficit for an 11-7 win over Manchester’s Jake White.
“He had a great tournament,” Seder said. “He was an unseeded kid, but he’s wrestled pretty well so far this year.
“He’s a fighter. He kept his composure and came back and ended it with a bang.”
The state-ranked Ohl was coming off a disappointing performance at the ultra-competitive Brecksville Invitational. Battling illness, he failed to place.
Ohl pinned his way to the finals before earning a 13-5 major decision over Norwalk’s Ethan Hernandez.
“Last week at Brecksville was a bad week,” said Ohl, whose father was a two-time Gorman champ in the 1980s for Ontario. “I was glad I was able to bounce back.”
Bever was seeded seventh at 195. he earned a 3-1 sudden-death decision over Bay’s Matthew Cover before knocking off Kieler Foster of Fremont Ross 6-1 in the finals.
“That was one of those crazy back-and-forth matches,” Seder said. “Him taking first was huge.”
MVP: The Bill Flanegan Most Outstanding Wrestler trophy went to Madison’s Carson Speelman. The senior ran his season record to 22-0 with a 7-4 win over Northmor’s Conan Becker in the 138-pound finals.
“I knew that if I stayed offensive no one could beat me,” said Speelman, who topped Becker in middle school but hasn’t wrestled him since. “I felt like all my training has led up to it.”
Speelman’s weekend included a remarkable five-second pin in the second round and a 25-second pin in the semifinals.
“This gives me a lot of confidence, especially coming off my knee surgery sophomore year,” said Speelman, who was fifth at the Gorman as a sophomore and junior. “I tore my meniscus and my PCL in my right knee.”
Tough Break: The Flanegan trophy might have gone to Speelman’s teammate, LeConte Merrell, were it not for a controversial call in the finals at 132 pounds. Merrell led Fremont Ross’ Lamonte Chapman 4-2 with 31 seconds remaining in the third period when Merrell was penalized for unnecessary roughness.
Chapman landed hard on the side of his head and could not continue. He was immobilized by emergency personnel and taken from the mat on a stretcher. Chapman was awarded the title by injury default.
“His sophomore and junior years he wasn’t able to wrestle at the Gorman and it didn’t stop him from getting to the state tournament,” Speelman said of his teammate. “A Gorman title is just a stepping stone.”
Fitting Finale: One of the most exciting matches came in the 285-pound finals. Shelby’s Devin Williams held off longtime nemesis Jamez Young of Sandusky for a 1-0 victory.
The two met three times last year with Williams winning twice but Young coming out on top in the sectional tournament.
“I came in here kind of like the underdog,” Williams said. “This is my first Gorman championship and it feels amazing.”
In all likelihood, Williams and Young will run into each other again at the Northern Ohio League tournament and in the postseason.
“Jamez is a really good wrestler,” Williams said. “This win gives me confidence going forward.”
