A tough day at Climax-Scotts resulted in a 1-4 record for the Mendon wrestling team, but several individuals shined for the Hornets.
Cole Harrison
Mendon beat Marcellus 36-16, but lost to Hastings 43-22, Coloma 36-24, Hartford 45-17 and Climax-Scotts 60-21. Gabe Cleveland, a freshman wrestling up on varsity for the first time, and Cole Harrison each finished with 4-1 marks to earn second-place medals.
With Brandon Bray and Danny Cleveland out due to illness, Gabe Cleveland accepted the challenge in a big way at 152 pounds, though he weighed in at only 145.
“The team needed me to step up,” he said. “My record was 4-1 and now I’m 8-2; [Saturday] has really boosted my confidence. My brother, Daniel, has really been my biggest supporter. We wrestle at home and he has made me a lot better as a wrestler.”
Harrison has been an anchor for the Hornets at 215 pounds despite what appears to be a pedestrian 13-7 record. He has faced eight Division 2 opponents and only five D4 wrestlers so far this season.
He defeated what he called a “physically stronger up top” competitor from Coloma 8-3 to start the day and cruised to a pin in 1:03 vs. Marcellus. A void in the next round against Hartford gave Harrison a breather before having to do all the work against Hastings’ Travis Hoffman.
“He sat back and just waited for me to do something,” said Harrison, whose aggressiveness backfired in the 5-1 loss. “I should have beat him but I will definitely be able to beat a kid of that skill level and strength by districts at the end of the season.”
Harrison also pinned Climax-Scotts’ Ben Reed in 2:15.