Wrestling: Columbia wins home Wasko Tournament for first time since 1990s
UPDATED EDITOR’S NOTE (Jan. 4, 2025–9:55pm): The original main image has been moved into the body of the article.
The last time the Columbia Raiders won their own home tournament — the Jacob Wasko Memorial Tournament — Raiders head coach Dan Juliani said it had been a “long time.”
Going back to the early-mid 1990s, the Raiders finally captured the elusive team title in the 51st annual edition on Jan. 4. The Raiders (162.5 team points) edged out runner-up Benedictine (148) and Norwalk (146).
Five wrestlers from Columbia’s side qualified for their respective first place matches, with four wins in the title matches helping boost the team’s score.
One of those wins came in the 132-pound weight class via Andrew Sorensen. Known among his teammates and coaches as a ‘pin machine’, the junior won his second straight Wasko Tournament title against Western Reserve’s Dominic Rueting.
Ironically, it wasn’t a victory by pin.
Between two wrestlers who pinned three opponents each on their trip to the 132-pound title bout, Sorensen slugged out a 12–1 major decision in a big match against Rueting. Coincidentally, Sorensen won his 2024 Wasko tournament title with pinfalls in his first three matches and won the final match by a 13–2 major decision.
“Going into that match, I knew he was strong,” Sorensen said of Rueting, noting there was a big difference in size between the two.
“It was like he was double my height,” the junior chuckled. “I knew when I took him down right at the beginning of the match, that’s what I had to do to win that match. I just had to keep taking him down — which is what I eventually did to win it.”
The last two years, Columbia came close to ending the streak, finishing runner-up to Midview in 2023 and taking third place in last year’s 50th edition of the event.
One of the weaknesses from Sorensen’s early high school career — having an ‘empty tank’ after the first or second period — has been reduced dramatically, as the junior stayed strong throughout the entire match.
Columbia assistant coach Ray Porter — a one-time OHSAA state qualifier as a high school wrestler for Strongsville in Division I — still weighs around the weight necessary to work with the likes of Sorensen and some of the other lightweight wrestlers during practice. Porter noticed the growth in Sorensen’s match and especially heading into this season compared to the prior two campaigns.
“Andrew took a big jump this year. One of the biggest things that’s improved is his conditioning,” Porter praised the two-time tournament champion.
“His mental toughness is up. He’s able to last past that first period, last past that second period and grind out a win like that in the third period. It’s good to see.”
Sorensen has his eyes on a trip to Columbus come March, with the Jan. 4 title match a good demonstration of his improved stamina allowing him to win crucial matches by results not resulting in a fall. When sectionals and districts come around, matches that go the distance are more commonplace on the road to state over pins.
“You need that experience,” Sorensen said, noting that it’ll help down the road. “If you don’t have matches like that, you may not be as prepared as the other guys who did once you get closer to states. Today definitely helped.”
Sorensen is a product of the hard work put into revitalizing Columbia’s youth wrestling program. The Raiders fell short the last two years and having finally ended the drought, it was one way to kick off the New Year with a bang.
“It’s great to be able to do that as a team, which is awesome,” he said.
“Knowing it wasn’t just you, but your whole team, it’s a good experience. I work with these dudes every day. To be able to win something with them is just great.”
Columbia Wrestling Invitational Team Scores
1) Columbia 162.5; 2) Benedictine 148.0; 3) Norwalk 146.0; 4) Northwestern 94.0; 5) Eastlake North 92.0; 6) Western Reserve 90.5; 7) Garfield Heights 85.0; 8) Beachwood 77.0; 9) Fairview 74.5; 10) Liberty 57.0; 11) Elyria Catholic 48.5; 12) Cuyahoga Heights 48.0; 13) Huron 46.5; 14) Oberlin 20.0
First Place Matches
106: Bodey Gibbs (Columbia) tech falls Reed Hamey (Northwestern) 19–2
113: Michael Frye (Columbia) dec. Aldynn Metzger (Norwalk) 10–4
120: Zander Mooney (Cuy Heights) tech falls Shakir Thomas (Liberty) 17–1
126: Devion Coffin (Benedictine) tech falls Justin Elwell (Beachwood) 18–3
132: Andrew Sorensen (Columbia) maj dec. Dominic Rueting (Western Reserve) 12–1
138: Caiden Wilson (Norwalk) pins Drake Martinez (North) 3:20
144: Nick Toth (Norwalk) pins D`Andre Adams (Garfield Hts) 1:26
150: Caleb Greenwood (Beachwood) tech falls Antonio Hobbs (Benedictine) 25–10
157: Gavin Lepley (Norwalk) pin Ashton Good (Northwestern) 1:35
165: Tristan Wilson (Benedictine) dec. Nico Helton (Norwalk) 11–7
175: Christopher Maloney (Benedictine) pins Timmy Jesenovec (North) 1:07
190: Leeland Zeiger (Columbia) pins Brady Morgan (Liberty) 3:19
215: Cooper Gee (Norwalk) dec. Joseph Vialva (Garfield Hts) 8–1
285: Caden Holliday (Northwestern) pins Nathan Chapman (Columbia) 0:22
Third Place Matches
106: Maddox Moos (Elyria Cath) maj dec. Solomon Miklowski (Beachwood) 14–0
113: Lucas Summerfield (Western Reserve) tech falls Mikael Edwards (Beachwood) 16–1
120: Tanner Cochrane (Columbia) dec. Anthony Lierenz (Western Reserve) 1–0 TB
126: James Zellmer (Fairview) pins Hakeen Garcia (Elyria Cath) 2:44
132: Jack Morris*NOR (X1) pins Tommy Boyer (Oberlin) 4:37
138: Blake Good (Northwestern) dec. Landen Barnhart (Western Reserve) 5–3
144: Brandon Clark Jr. (Fairview) dec. Killian Clarke (North) 7–5
150: Xavier Hendon (Columbia) dec. Colton Morris (Northwestern) 4–3
157: Sam Cox (Huron) maj dec. Sean Thomas (Liberty) 10–2
165: Brandon Erby (Garfield Hts) pin Christian Soltis (Elyria Cath) 0:34
175: Henry McAleer (Fairview) dec. Maxwell Muise (Huron) 6–3
190: Blake Reyes (Huron) pins Gage Bias (Northwestern) 0:48
215: Jamere Church (Benedictine) pins James Henley (Cuy Heights) 2:08
285: Sheppard Charlton (Benedictine) pins Rayshaun Anderson (Garfield Hts) 3:39
Sean Fitzgerald is an award-winning journalist, writer, sports reporter, voiceover talent and podcaster. Tune in to the ‘Fitz On Sports Podcast’ on Voltage Live each Friday and follow him on Twitter/X @fitzonsportsbsr; as well as Bluesky @fitzonsportsbsr.bsky.social for insights, articles and occasional livestreams, as well as columns here on medium.com.
