Hunter Andel, Keegan Sell snag first state titles for Garfield wrestling

COLUMBUS — The G-Men entered the weekend toward the top of the list of Ohio high schools with the most state placers without a champion.

That all changed Sunday night.

Senior Hunter Andel delivered Garfield's long-awaited first state championship Sunday, topping Rootstown's Cody Coontz in a heavily anticipated all-Portage County Division III title match at 165 pounds.

"He wrestles every day," G-Men coach Dan Andel said. "He puts so much time into this sport and I couldn't be prouder. He's worked so hard for this."

Minutes later, Garfield junior Keegan Sell made it two titles with his victory at 190 pounds.

"It feels great," Sell said. "It feels even better winning it with Hunter, too. I feel like that's just kind of the way it had to be. Once I saw he won his, I was thinking to myself I got to win. We can't have just one."

Maybe 30 minutes after, perched on the edge of Mat 4, where both Garfield wrestlers made history, Dan Andel was still trying to process a program going from zero titles over its existence to two championships in a night.

"It's still surreal," Andel said. "It's the shock and awe of it, but they've worked so hard. I mean, to me, they deserve it. They put in the time, both in season and out of season, and I'm just glad that hard work and everything worked out for him, because with wrestling, you can be the better wrestler and not win the match as we've seen throughout the season.

"So I'm just happy for both of them, and things couldn't have worked out any better for us."

That the G-Men's first state title came from his son, and that Andel got to present his son with his gold medal on the podium after, only added to Sunday's unforgettable nature.

The match was unforgettable, too.

For the third time this season, Andel and Coontz put forth an absolute doozy.

Each repelling the other's shots with remarkable dexterity through two scoreless periods.

"This was a match I was worried about," Dan Andel said. "This is the sixth time we've wrestled Cody. He's a great wrestler. He dominated through this bracket."

Finally, Andel broke the ice with an escape to start the third period and got a takedown in the final 40 seconds to truly take control.

"I knew it was going to be close since we've wrestled so many times," Andel said. "It's almost like wrestling Keegan in the practice room every day. We just figured each other out so well, but I knew it was going to be close and I knew it was going to come down to the final takedown, and that's what I needed to do to secure that win."

While Andel-Coontz was a chess match, fitting for all the classics they put on this year, Sell also won his state title in typical fashion, with blazing speed.

"Coach is always telling me wrestle my match," Sell said. "Don't change how I wrestle because it's a different kid."

A blazing fast takedown in the first.

An even more absurd takedown in the second, in which Sell tripped up Wyat Ripke, with the Archbold junior almost skidding out of bounds and out of trouble, before Sell, like a linebacker filling the gap, took him down.

"Stuff like that, you realize you can't miss opportunities like that," Sell said. "Takedowns win you matches, especially at this level, so I realized I had to get on there as fast as I can."

Sell held that lead for a 6-4 state championship victory at 190 pounds.

"Same thing on the football field — he's pretty explosive," Dan Andel said. "For a 190-pounder, he's definitely very agile, and that's one thing that makes him when you can wrestle like a lightweight."

That was the second time this weekend Sell shined against a highly ranked foe in a tight match after he plowed through the first two rounds with a pair of major decisions.

"We had a pretty tough schedule, so he's been exposed where he's had a couple of losses this year," Dan Andel said. "So we knew some weaknesses and areas to work on, and so I think wrestling a tough schedule throughout the season definitely put him in a position to where he's ready to shine and ready to peak at the state tournament, and that's what he did. He was here on a mission."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Hunter Andel, Keegan Sell win Garfield wrestling's first state titles