Bryce Skinner, Rylan Hurley lead STVM to OHSAA district wrestling runner-up finish

St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Bryce Skinner engages with Howland’s Adam Heckman in the 126-pound final Saturday at district tournament at Garfield Heights.

GARFIELD HEIGHTS — The buzz around OHSAA Division II wrestling this winter anticipates one the most wide open state races in decades.

Another consensus: the Northeast district remains a minefield.

St. Vincent-St. Mary has prepared for that minefield all season. Results from the district tournament at Garfield Heights show the Irish have a chance to be a state player.

STVM finished second in the team race at Garfield Heights with 126 points, trailing only Medina Buckeye, which won with 237.5. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy was third with 103 points

The Irish advanced five wrestlers to the state tournament.

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“This has been quite the roller coaster weekend, as it usually is,” said STVM coach Dan Rooney. “We were really hoping for six or seven getting down to Columbus, but you’ve got to roll with the punches. I think that kind of stuff happens every year.”

Rolling with the punches is second nature to returning STVM state champion Bryce Skinner, who has battled a variety of injuries. Skinner had to pull out two tight wins to take the 126-pound title.

Skinner got a last-second reversal to beat Louisville’s Kolten Barker 5-4 in the semifinal. He then pulled out a 1-0 win over Howland’s Adam Heckman in the final.

“He was a lot stronger than I thought he was going to be,” Skinner said of Heckman. “It was hard for me to get the angles I wanted, so i figured I had to throw some defense. Hopefully, next week, I’ll be feeling a little bit better.”

STVM’s second district title came from a third-generation Irish.

Freshman Rylan Hurley won the 144-pound title with an 8-3 win over Howland’s Carter Mock. Hurley is the son of Ryan Hurley and nephew of Mike Hurley, both of whom won state titles for STVM.

“Last week, I got beat in the semis. It was kind of an eye opener,” Hurley said. “We worked off that this weekend and slowed my wrestling down. I feel like I have great conditioning, which a lot of guys don’t have.”

Story continues

STVM’s Calvin Gwinn also reached the 157-pound final and nearly pinned Buckeye’s Kaden King early, but King rallied to win 12-8. The Irish also had 138-pounder Braden Dunlap and 215-pounder Bryson Getz advance by taking third place.

Greater Akron also got titles at Garfield Heights from Copley’s Javaan Yarbrough (106 pounds), Streetsboro’s Anthony Perez (120), Woodridge’s Steven Duffy (165) and CVCA’s Kyle Snider (190).

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Bryce Skinner leads STVM to district runner-up finish at Garfield