STEUBENVILLE - While Steubenville Catholic Central didn't win the 2013 Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Bill Hinegardner Class 1A/2A Dual Meet Championship on Thursday at the Crimson Center, coach Aaron Henry realizes his program is moving forward after finishing runner-up to Shadyside.
''I'll tell you what, this is the first piece of hardware this team has got at Central in a long, long time,'' Henry said. ''It means a lot to us. We've worked really hard for this.''
The Tigers topped the Crusaders 48-23 to claim the title.
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Shadyside’s Wyatt Skapik, left, and Steubenville Catholic Central’s Isaac Kiedrowski, right, engage during their 106-pound match in Steubenville.
''Real happy with that,'' Shadyside coach Scott Kinemond said. ''It's been a long time coming. Finally got almost a full team this year.
''The kids have been stepping it up every week. I'm real happy with them.''
Chase Kinemond got Shadyside rolling with a 19-0 tech fall victory against Leo Herrmann at 160 pounds in the first match. At 170, Jake Duvall gave the Tigers an 11-0 lead after pinning Harold Rogers in :48.
Isaac Sanford gave Catholic Central its first points via forfeit at 182, making the match 11-6.
Scott Hammond squeaked out a 2-1 decision against Lucas Borden at 195 to put Shadyside back in control.
The tide seemed to swing toward the Crusaders when Caleb Moore dominated his way to a pin of Dante DeFelice in 1:09, but Zach Meadows pin of Marty Engle at 285 and Wyatt Skapik's 6-0 decison of Isaac Kiedrowski at 106 put the Tigers up 23-12.
Zach Vaughn's forfeit at 113 pounds pushed the score to 29-12 before Catholic Central attempted to storm back.
Blake Kiedrowski (120) and Cuyler Ledyard (132) earned one-sided victories with Blake Kiedrowski pinning Bailey Chaplin in 59 seconds and Ledyard grinding out Jake Haswell for a 16-0 tech fall victory.
''Against Shadyside we got a few matches,'' Henry said. ''Blake Kiedrowski got a big pin. Cuyler Ledyard with a big tech fall. We were getting a little bit of momentum there, but it fizzled off.''
Between those matches, at 126 pounds, the Crusaders' Cedro Parise was an eyelash away from pushing his 4-2 loss to Austin Allen into overtime when the official ruled a takedown wasn't completed until just after time expired.
The Tigers closed strong with Brett Kahl (138) earning 9-1 major decison against Mike Crosby, Alex Quinn (145) pinning Pat Hernon in 21 seconds, and Ian Baker pinning Ricky Happ in 3:13.
Steubenville Catholic punched its ticket to the final via a 39-38 victory against Caldwell. Ledyard and Herrmann each rolled to victories by pin during the Crusaders semifinal match. Engle secured a hard-fought 4-3 decison victory.
Toronto placed third after stopping Caldwell 48-30 in the consolation finals. Cody King (132) won by pin with Donnie Starkey (113) and Jake Haynes (220) picking up 11-5 and 6-1 wins respectively.
''I think we wrestled really well,'' Toronto coach John Parker said. ''Shadyside is a great program. You've got to give it to them. We've come a long way in five years from starting our program.''
The Red Knights lost to Shadyside in the semifinals, 62-15.
