New Season Brings New Challenges for Mayfield Wrestling

Not only did new wrestling coach Dwight Fritz have to instruct his team on the finer points of the sport during matches against Mentor and St. Peter Chanel on Friday evening, he also had to show them the proper way to clean up and put away the mats when it was all over, too.

Fritz, who is an assistant football coach at the school, knows things have really changed at Mayfield. Blessed with a senior-laden team last season, the Wildcats return with virtually all new wrestlers for the 2011-2012 season.

"I think my assistant coach enlightened me that we had seven first-year wrestlers at varsity tonight. He probably could have told me that after the match was over. I would have felt a little bit better," Fritz said trying to put a little humor and a positive spin on a tough evening.

The contest demonstrated the Wildcats’ youth very clearly. Mentor, a powerhouse in just about every sport, cleaned out the host Wildcats, 60-18, in a night that also featured Kenston.

Mayfield defeated St. Peter Chanel, 41-30, in the nightcap albeit with a huge caveat. The Firebirds dressed only eight wrestlers but won six matches. The Wildcats gained most of their points on forfeits. In fact, the Firebirds led, 30-29, but forfeited the 106- and 113-pound matches for the final margin.

Senior Connor Murray (182) was the lone Wildcat to win both his matches with a pair of pins over Troy Rosko of Mentor (2:46) and Chandler Brown of St. Peter Chanel (1:59). Junior Cody Caswell polished off a pin over Micah Jackson of St. Peter Chanel at 120 with a time of 2:23.

Sophomore Jerome Celico (220) pinned Aaron Wank of Mentor in 54 seconds and junior Nick Bishop (126) pinned Ben Bobic of Mentor at 2:51.

Perhaps the most excitement came when sophomore Manny Gonzalez came close to pinning Mentor’s Dean Edwards in their 145-pound match, but Edwards squirmed out of Gonzalez’s grasp and ultimately came away with the win, 15-11.

"I knew what we had that was coming back. I’m not surprised. There’s just work you have to do. It’s just that simple. We’ve got a lot of rookies. We’re trying to get the numbers up. We have 29 and I’d like to have 40 this year, but that didn’t quite work out."

Gone are coach Carl DiBernardo, along with wrestlers Tylan Coleman, Shane Pietropinto, Mike Carlone, Dan McNulty and Brandon Birr who led the team to a No. 9 Division I ranking in the final Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association Poll. Carlone was a state runner-up at 130.

Fritz said he’s looking forward to seeing senior Rosario Tramontano (heavyweight) and junior Anthony Bishop (120) return to action. Tramontano, along with a few others wrestlers, are recovering from football injuries, and Bishop was hurt in the Solon Comet Classic last week.

Fritz must rebuild and hopes Murray and Bishop can become cornerstones of a Wildcat revival. Murray and Bishop have gotten off to a good start as both placed third in the team’s season opener at the Solon Comet Classic last week. Still, the Wildcats finished 22nd out of 24 teams.

"We have guys with a little bit of experience and we’re just building the team around those guys," Fritz said. "They’re helping us out at practice. It’s just a building process. … It’s a matter of a year or two before we start getting some dividends from all the hard work that we’re doing right now."