Junior High Wrestling claims first Silver Buck Tournament title since 2017
Buckeye piled up 231.5 team points to win the Silver Buck Tournament on Saturday at its home gym, securing the program’s first championship at its own event since 2017. Wadsworth finished second with 204.5 points and Edison took third with 167.5 in a deep field at 3084 Columbia Road in Medina.
The Bucks were paced by a quartet of individual champions in the lower and middle weights: 92-pounder Greyson Zoul, 98-pounder Shane McKee, 110-pounder Landon Piovarchy and 116-pounder Lucas Naso. That core group provided crucial bonus points with pins and lopsided wins that helped Buckeye create separation in the team race and hold off Wadsworth’s push in the final rounds.
Piovarchy delivered one of the day’s most dominant performances and was named the team’s Hammer after pinning all of his opponents. His falls came in bursts of 37, 20, 15 and 10 seconds, giving Buckeye rapid-fire bonus points every time he stepped on the mat. At 98 pounds, McKee was selected as the Hustler after rolling through the bracket with a combination of technical falls, a major decision and multiple first-period pins, piling up a high volume of team points in each round.
Depth behind the champions proved just as important. At 80 pounds, Levi Maxworthy placed third, while at 86 pounds, Brody Geyer reached the finals and finished as runner-up. Buckeye showed particular strength around the 92- and 98-pound classes, where in addition to champions Zoul and McKee, the Bucks received a seventh-place finish from Blake Watkins and a ninth from Carter Tomblin at 92, along with a fifth-place effort from Neil Neitenbach at 98.
The middle weights continued the steady scoring. At 104 pounds, Hayden Wagner wrestled back for third and teammate Keegan Brunk added a ninth-place finish. Behind Piovarchy at 110 pounds, Danny Dozanti gave the Bucks a second placer in the bracket, taking third. At 122, Blake Stanwyck placed sixth, and at 128, Robert Miller added a seventh-place finish as Buckeye continued to collect valuable advancement and placement points across the lineup.
Upper weights also contributed to the title run. Hayden Piovarchy took fourth at 134 pounds, while Liliana Hernandez battled through to a 12th-place finish at 142. At 150, Liam Danko placed fifth, and at 160, Nick Sprinkle secured a fourth-place finish to keep Buckeye in front on the team scoreboard. The Bucks closed strong at 172 pounds, where Carter Gentry’s third-place performance helped seal the tournament championship.
With four individual champions and placewinners spread from 80 through 172 pounds, Buckeye’s balance and bonus-point production were the difference in claiming the Silver Buck team title. The home-tournament championship, their first in eight years, gives the Bucks momentum as they move deeper into the season and offers a benchmark for a lineup that showed the potential to contend in larger events ahead.
