Wrestling: Daniel Serrano’s late-match pin secures Strongsville’s dual win against Columbia, 40–37
COLUMBIA STATION — Strongsville’s Daniel Serrano had the biggest highlight of his young wrestling career for the visiting Mustangs during their Dec. 19 dual against the Columbia Raiders.
It was the 215-pounder’s second year on the mat as the team score stood at 34–31 in the penultimate match. A victory cemented a dual match win after trailing 29–4 through the first seven weight classes.
Serrano seized the moment in the pivotal swing match, putting Alex Andrews down to the mat and earning not only a first period pinfall in 72 seconds, but a 40–37 victory for Strongsville.
“It feels good,” Serrano described the feeling after coming off the mat with a roar from the crowd. “A lot of my teammates were winning. They were like, ‘You know, I have to go at it’,” in reference to Serrano.
“I looked at the scoreboard and saw we were down. I was like ‘I have to get this pin.’ I just kind of took over and it was like ‘I gotta go.’
The Mustangs got rolling in the final seven weight classes. Starting at 144 and 150-pounds. Both Tyler Petkov and Dominic Grecol earned first period pins — the latter of whom won in forty seconds flat.
Only losing one other match prior to the heavyweight bout at the end, the back-half of Strongsville’s lineup set the stage for Seranno’s big night.
“It was big for Daniel,” Strongsville coach Tim Orlosky said with a smile. “He’s just a second-year wrestler and he’s a senior. Hopefully it’ll help him push through the remainder of the season.
“I’m so happy for our guys with how we started to come back and battle back to win that one.”
Columbia is in Division III compared to the Division I Strongsville squad. A few matches at the end of the night didn’t go the Raiders’ way.
The early matches by the likes of Bodey Gibbs (106), Andrew Sorensen (132) and defending state champion Michael Frye (113) “set the tone,” as Frye put it.
“I’m happy with how everyone wrestled,” the junior Frye noted. “In the (wrestling) room, we practice hard hand-fighting, and hard drilling. It showed today. We came out there and really set the tone in the hand fight.
“At the beginning, we really set the tone for this match.”
While there is some disappointment from letting the dual slip away late, Columbia coach Dan Juliani saw a lot of positives come from Dec. 19 bout.
“It was nice seeing our young guys out there hitting moves and trying things in matches, even if they weren’t successful. That’s something we can build upon.”
On the girls’ side of the dual, Columbia bested Strongsville, 42–18.
The Lady Mustang’s Autumn Zoscak (110) was one of the two Strongsville wrestlers to win by fall against the Raiders. Lydnsey Muzic (190) also won by pin, with Callie Pierce-Henneman (110) winning by forfeit.
Boys Lineup (Columbia names on LEFT; Strongsville names on RIGHT)
106: Bodey Gibbs vs Henry Smith
113: Michael Frye vs Mustafa Eddir
120: Tanner Cochrane vs Michael Rusinko
126: Brent Friscone vs Jaden Snakovsky
132: Andrew Sorensen vs Ostap Korpan
138: Tyler Helwig vs Finn Royer
144: Ricky Fatica vs Tyler Petkov
150: Xavier Hanson vs Dominic Grecol
157: Kolton Higgs vs Michael Walters
165: Chase Dennison vs Kagan Gadalah
175: Wes Harold vs Jordan Bednar
190: FF for Wyatt Harhay (STRO)
215: Alex Andrews vs Daniel Serrano
285: Nate Chapman vs Jawad Mohammad
TEAM KEY
Columbia (CO); Strongsville (S)
BOYS
Strongsville 40, Columbia 37
106: Gibbs (CO) tech falls Smith 22–5
113: Frye (CO) pins Eddir 0:24
120: Rusinko (S) maj dec Cochrane 11–1
126: Friscone (CO) pins Snakovsky 4:10
132: Sorensen (CO) pins Korpan 0:57
138: Helwig (CO) pins Royer 3:16
144: Petkov (S) pins Fatica 1:44
150: Grecol (S) pins Hanson 1:44
157: Higgs (CO) dec. Walters 10–6
165: Gadalah (S) pins Dennison 3:03
175: Bednar (S) pins Harold 3:53
190: Harhay (S) FF
215: Serrano (S) pins Andrews 1:12
285: Chapman (CO) pins Mohammad 1:47
GIRLS
Columbia 42, Strongsville 18
