North Union’s Tyler Cline (top) pins Tecumseh’s Carsen Williams during the first round of matches at 215 pounds. The senior Wildcat secured his 100th career win with the result.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
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North Union’s boys wrestling team finished with four placers during the Central Buckeye Conference wrestling tournament over the weekend.
“Team-wise, we are just trying the sharpen up heading into sectionals,” NU coach Garrett Andrews said. “We are trying to get everybody healthy, which has been a big focus.”
The Wildcats finished with a 54.5 points, putting the team in ninth place overall.
In the CBC’s Mad River Division, North Union took fifth place.
Taking the Mad River crown was St. Paris Graham, which tallied 235 overall points.
The Falcons were followed by Benjamin Logan with 206.5 points.
North Union’s Heath Ferguson finished third at 150 pounds, following a 17-5 major decision over Northwestern’s Dominick Mahaffey.
Tyler Cline took fourth at 215 pounds. He fell to Indian Lake’s Adrian Crumley during an 8-6 decision in the third-place match.
Cline claimed the 100th victory of his career during the tournament.
North Union’s Zack Ellis claimed a fifth-place finish. He notched a first-period pin over Jonathan Alder’s 120-pounder Marcos Martinez in the placement match.
A.J. Leeson also secured fifth after pinning Shawnee’s Justin Roseberry in the placement match at 157 pounds.
Also competing for North Union included Braylen Riffle (132), Kingston Alvarado (144) and Ben Bonell (138).
“We want to continue to progress to be the best we can be next week,” Andrews said.
Cline clinches 100 wins
In the initial rounds of the conference tournament, Cline had his sights set on a career milestone.
“I felt good heading into this tournament,” Cline said. “I knew there was going to be competition still ahead of me and I am ready to move forward.”
In his first match of the day, the senior Wildcat secured his 100th career win with a second-period pin over Tecumseh’s Carsen Williams.
“I’ve been preparing and battling all week,” Cline said.
“Anytime a wrestler hits 100 wins, it shows consistency at being good for the most part,” Andrews said. “Tyler has had three strong years as far as win totals.
“It is great for the younger kids to see that,” said the coach.
After clinching his career achievement, Cline’s name was announced to a packed gym at Indian Lake High School.
The Wildcat said a weight was lifted off his shoulders, which cleared his mind for the rest of the tournament.
“It was awesome,” Cline said. “I don’t quite know how to explain it… it felt good to have all that attention.”
Thinking back to when he was a younger grappler, Cline did not have the toolset he does now as a seasoned veteran.
“Heading into this sport, I had no idea what I was doing and I didn’t think I’d be ranked in the state,” Cline said. “I found that out last year.
“What I would tell my younger self is ‘we did it,’” he said.
“We had to dig deep into the archives,” said Andrews. “He may have had 10 or 11 wins as a freshman.”
Andrews said it was good for the younger grapplers to see someone go from a 10-win freshman seasonto a more than 30-win season as a sophomore.
“For Tyler to do that in the upper weights for his entire career, he’s always had to do it against juniors and seniors,” said the coach.
In the 16 years since Andrews has been the head coach, North Union has added more than a dozen grapplers in its 100-win club.
“It is a rare accomplishment and something we never take for granted,” he said.
After taking fourth place this past weekend, Cline has his goals set on being a possible state qualifier.
“I know he’s set his goals since last year to go further,” Andrews said. “To qualify for state has been his goal and it’s right there for him to get after it.”
North Union’s next competition will be the Division III sectional tournament.
The event will be held at Amanda-Clearcreek on Saturday.
Weigh-ins will begin at 8 a.m.
“The team has to push each other harder and improve our mentality when we are down, including me,” Cline said about what the team needs to address heading into the postseason.