Lakewood's Jacks begins the long road back with title on his home mats
HEBRON ― A year ago, Keegan Jacks lost a 3-2 heartbreaker in the finals of the Lakewood Classic.
Not long after, the stellar Lakewood heavyweight tore his meniscus and was out for the year.
On Saturday, wrestling in his own invitational for the last time, the top-seeded senior not only won his second Lakewood Classic, but served notice he's back on track after his lost season. He grinded past Bishop Watterson senior Landon Purcell 5-1 in the 285-pound semifinals and staved off powerfully-built Columbus West sophomore Dezmond Porter 4-2 in the finals.
"It's been hard, but the man upstairs got me through it and I trusted in him to help me get back to this point," Jacks said after the 15-team tournament ended. "Right now, it's more about the process than the results. The coaches have prepared me, and I trust in them, and they have trust in me. My conditioning is better and I'm working on technique."
In the finals, Jacks used the only takedown of the match to stretch a 2-1 edge to 4-1, and it proved to be enough. He came in as one of the top ranked Ohio Division II heavyweights.
"During the match, I remembered what happened last year, and I didn't want it to happen again," he said. "I don't really worry about the rankings. I try to treat every opponent the same, and am going to give it my all. You try to find a weakness and exploit it, whether it's early in the match or late."
Lakewood senior Tyler Christman (144) placed second. After earning two technical falls, a pin and a 13-8 decision, the second seed lost a 23-8 technical fall in the final to defending champion and top seed Micah Cottrell of Cincinnati Princeton, a returning All-Ohioan.
Unheralded Lancers' freshman Charlie Haire had a strong run to the 126-pound semifinals with a technical fall and two pins, but in the third-place match, after storming ahead of third-seeded Johnstown junior Luis Isidro 6-1, he had to default due to injury. Isidro reached the semis with a 7-4 decision against Haire's teammate and fellow freshman Austin Bush.
Gahanna edged out Cabell Midland, West Virginia, for the championship 238.5-224. Bloom-Carroll (188), Watterson (182.5) and Licking Heights (127.5) rounded out the top five, with the host Lancers taking ninth at 80.5, followed by Johnstown with 79.
Despite missing a couple of its seniors, Heights turned in a solid performance, led by runner-up finishes from sophomore Landon Cahill (132) and senior Ryan Cote (120).
In a hotly-contested, back-and-forth final, top-seeded Gahanna junior Jaylen Sanchez pulled out a 4-3 double overtime win against second seed Cahill, who had three pins and a major decision to reach the finals, while Sanchez registered a technical fall and three pins.
Cahill was down 2-0, but scored an escape and a takedown with 17 seconds in regulation to go up 3-2. But after Cahill had to take an injury timeout, Sanchez had an escape in the closing seconds, then scored what proved be the winner on a technical point, his third of the match, in the second OT.
Cote, the second seed, scored two pins, a technical fall and 7-6 decision to reach his final, but was pinned by top-seeded Cabell Midland sophomore Isaac Wiseman, who had five first-period pins on the day.
The Hornets also received third-place finishes from juniors Cooper Ellison (138) and Braydon Rosebrough (190), while junior Matthew Price was fourth at 175.
Ellison, who was not seeded, responded from a semifinal loss by pin with one of his own, in 1:49 against fourth seed Jonathan Hickey of Franklin Heights.
"The Gahanna kid who I lost to is in my club," Ellison said. "I made a mistake, but he knew what I was going to do. Every day, we get better in practice and have a lot of energy. We just had a two-by-four dual yesterday and went 2-0, and I think it carried over to today."
Rosebrough, seeded just seventh, also finished strong in his third-place match. He fell behind Centennial's fourth-seeded Dewayne Davis 5-0 but turned the tables and scored a pin in 1:36.
The future looks bright for Johnstown, as freshmen wrestling room partners Luke Orsini (106) and Gage Herb (113) both placed third. The Johnnies had three ninth graders in their lineup Saturday.
Orsini trailed Columbus West sophomore Christopher Evans 2-0 before roaring back for an 8-2 win.
"We always drill hard and get the other person we're going up against in practice better," Orsini said. "Most of my matches today were close and hard and I hung in until the end. In that last match I finally got the reversal, and once I got on top I was able to keep control."
Johnstown had a strong middle school team last year and Herb was a Licking County League youth champion. After losing a tight 3-1 decision in the semifinals to second-seeded Bloom-Carroll junior Ethan Moore, he pinned Centerburg freshman Noah Matthews in 48 seconds.
"I'm younger, and after I lost that match, I knew I had to be more aggressive, get on top, and work more from the bottom," Herb said.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Lakewood's Jacks begins the long road back with title on his home mats
