North Ridgeville wrestling: Ian Rottari uses his past experiences against opponents

In his third season wrestling at 106 pounds, North Ridgeville’s Ian Rottari looks like a different wrestler.

A district qualifier in 2022 as a freshman, Rottari improved in his second high school season but narrowly missed on a return trip to the district round in 2023.

Earning 43-second pinfall victory against Berea-Midpark in a Jan. 18 dual match — which went in the Titans favor by a 60-21 final score — the junior was one of four Rangers winning in the five wrestled matches.

Rottari went out on the mat as the aggressor and came away with his 20th victory of the season to only six losses.

The weekend prior, Rottari trailed by as much as 10-0 in the second period of Eastlake North’s John Matteucci Memorial Classic against Western Reserve freshman Lucas Summerfield.

Using experience and skills built upon several more high-level matches, Rottari turned the tables and scored a pinfall with 25 seconds remaining in that second period to take the tournament title away from Summerfield.

“This year, I feel like I’m going out (on the mat) with a lot more confidence,” Rottari noted. “I know what my moves are going to be. I’ve been really honing in on that bar — I’m really getting that move down. I’m just going out there with a lot more confidence, a lot more energy.”

PHOTOS: North Ridgeville vs. Berea-Midpark wrestling, Jan. 18, 2024

Rottari managed to keep his composure in that title match, not initially realizing he’d beaten Summerfield.

“It was unbelievable!” Rottari exclaimed. “When I won, it didn’t sink in until a couple of seconds after.

“I kept my composure — I felt that he was going a little to high (with positioning). He was getting a little cocky, in a sense. So I took advantage — took my shot, hit my quarter, and it was there. It was a pin.”

“Ian’s had his ups and downs, but he’s seemed to develop a pretty good mindset right now. We’re watching him become more aggressive,” North Ridgeville coach Joel Melvin said, who was coaching the girls team last week and at another site but was following along.

“To see him down and come back to get the pin, that’s the grit that we need out of him,” Melvin continued. “We need him. He’s 106 pounds, he’s a junior and he should be able to be very successful. He’s got the skill set – Now it’s just a matter of digging down deep and just getting after it.”

With most wrestlers who start at 106 pounds typically being first or second-year high school wrestlers, Rottari’s third season at the lightest weight class isn’t typical. Compared to other high schoolers, he has an edge in the experience department as an elder statesman of sorts.

With each weight class there’s a different style to it, with the style of someone wrestling at 138 pounds vastly different from Rottari’s 106 class. He’s seen the moves in nearly 100 total high school matches and how to stay in the moment against kids who may have done a lot of work in youth, but not on the high school stage before.

Rottari’s made those mistakes the younger wrestlers have made and he knows from experience what to look for from his opponents.

“Back in those (first two) years, I’d always get hit with those bars and get snapped down,” he said. “Now I’m doing the moves on them. I can definitely recognize the patterns of my mistakes and put them onto the mat.”