A year after Elyria’s dominating team victory at the Division I Midview Sectional wrestling tournament, a new champion emerged.
Avon Lake had two sectional title winners, Nathan Perry (138) and Jack Marconi (165), with four title match wrestlers and 10 overall wrestlers heading to Perrysburg with their first sectional championship under their belt.
@ALWrestlingClub @AvonLakeSports @MJournalSports pic.twitter.com/fRRxcOfeHl
— Sean Fitzgerald (@fitzonsportsbsr) February 26, 2023
With the extra momentum behind the Shoremen, senior Jack Marconi talked about the significance as they head into the March 3-4 district meet next weekend.
“It means a lot to me,” Jack Marconi said after earning his first sectional championship as an individual. “Our wrestling team has never done that before and it shows how hard we’re working and how much improvement we’ve had the last couple of years. I’m really proud of everyone with how their doing, especially our freshman and our girls, and all of our younger kids.
@ALWrestlingClub @AvonLakeSports @MJournalSports pic.twitter.com/X7vyLfnrRu
— Sean Fitzgerald (@fitzonsportsbsr) February 26, 2023
“I’m really excited for everyone in the couple of years after I’m gone. We’re going to do great things (going) ahead.”
Coach Scott Sedlick has turned around a program that was far removed from these kinds of days and built a consistent winner over the last four years, with the seniors like Marconi, Perry and others buying in quickly.
“I have a lot of pride in the kids,” Sedlick said. “Those guys every day, they work their asses off. I mean, it’s ridiculous. How hard we work in the practice room and what they do out here is amazing to me.
“Watching how far they’ve come in these last three years to get to this point is really astounding,” he said, trying to find the right words. “They do a lot of good stuff. I tell those seniors every day that ‘Hopefully, we’re going to be really good for a long time now, and you’re the ones who made it happen. You’re the ones who believed in the system and believed in the wrestling that we do and the hard work and you’re the ones who built it.
“Us coaches, we didn’t build it, you guys did! You built it. That’s the biggest takeaway I gave those guys after what happened last week (winning the SWC Title).
Beyond Perry and Jack Marconi, the other eight wrestlers heading to Perrysburg for Avon Lake were title match placers Michael (126) and Jack Valerino (132), Nate Grieger (106), Brayden Patterson (144), Joe Marconi (157), Jack Shepard (175), Clay Broadhurst (215) and Lewis Gallagher (285). Michael Valerino, Perry and Broadhurst were state qualifiers in 2022.
24 other area wrestlers will head to Perrysburg, with Avon sending eight, Mdiview six, Elyria four, Amherst four, and North Ridgeville and Lorain each sending one wrestler each from the Midview sectional.
