Cleveland West Conference crowns Buckeye Team Champion with 6 Individual Champions
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Buckeye Men's Wrestling captured the Cleveland West Conference Tournament title on Saturday at Westlake, rolling up 200 team points to outdistance runner-up Westlake and clinch the league crown behind multiple individual champions and a Coach-of-the-Year our very own head coach - Mike Tecco.
The Bucks finished atop the eight-team field with 200.0 points, well ahead of host Westlake’s 152.5. Valley Forge took third with 109.5, followed by North Olmsted (99.0), Bay (97.5), Normandy (83.0), Rocky River (57.0) and Lakewood (56.0). The strong showing across the lineup not only delivered the team championship but also helped earn Tecco Cleveland West Conference Coach of the Year honors.
Buckeye set the tone in the lightweights, starting at 106 pounds where Vincent Joy delivered one of the Bucks’ most emphatic wins of the day. Joy secured a fall over Valley Forge’s Gaige Burianek in 3:15, giving Buckeye early bonus points and momentum. At 120, Collin Bartos extended that lead with a convincing 12-5 decision over Bay’s Max Prahl, showcasing steady offense and control to put another individual title on the board for the Bucks.
The Bucks kept piling up gold medals in the middle of the lineup. At 126, Brenden McKee earned a fall over Nathan Hale of Valley Forge in 3:16, nearly matching Joy’s pin time and reinforcing Buckeye’s strength in the lower weights. After a setback at 132, where Bay’s Michael Surovi pinned Daniel Leonard in 3:40, Buckeye answered quickly at 138. Logan Letner stepped up with a pin of Bay’s Carter Baruxes in just 2:23, a swift first-place finish that swung momentum back in the Bucks’ favor.
Buckeye’s upper-middle weights produced some of the tournament’s most dramatic moments. At 150 pounds, Carter Hershkowitz edged North Olmsted’s Stanley Campbell in a tight 9-8 decision, a one-point victory that proved crucial in separating the Bucks from the rest of the field in the team race. The back-and-forth bout highlighted Buckeye’s ability to prevail in close matches where every point matters in the final standings.
The Bucks continued to collect key points in the upper weights. At 165, Brody Zoul turned in a dominant effort with a 7-1 decision over Westlake’s Nabiel Qasem, limiting the host school’s scoring chances while adding another first-place finish for Buckeye. The team did surrender a pair of finals losses — a pin at 157 by Lakewood’s Kostandin Laska over Kaden Locker in 2:27, and a 21-3 technical fall at 175 for Valley Forge’s Amir Abukhalil over Preston Ware — but the Bucks’ depth and multiple champions had already created a cushion that the field could not overcome.
With individual titles, bonus-point victories and clutch decisions spread throughout the lineup, Buckeye’s 200-point total underscored a complete team performance at Westlake. The conference championship and Tecco’s Coach of the Year recognition give the Bucks significant momentum heading into the postseason, as the team looks to carry its Cleveland West Conference success into the upcoming sectional and district tournaments.
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