Reflect with Rosenblum | Watching great people achieve great things at state wrestling

COLUMBUS — In the twilight hours of the state tournament, as a mass of wrestlers awaited their turn at the podium following three days of intense competition, a number of Portage County placers lingered on Mat 4.

Why not?

Mat 4 had been good to Portage County.

In a rapid sequence, from 165 to 215 pounds, local wrestlers scooped up three of the four Division III championships contested on that mat.

It started with senior Hunter Andel making history for Garfield in the 165-pound championship match, securing the program's first title and against a fellow Portage County wrestler no less in Rootstown senior Cody Coontz.

There was a weight class between their match — a riveting battle in which Andel scored the lone three points of the bout in the third on an escape and a takedown — and Andel's teammate, Keegan Sell, at 190 pounds.

When it was Sell's turn, he delivered another state title for the G-Men, thanks in no small part to his electrifying speed.

And then Mogadore senior Tyler Shellenbarger delivered a remarkable cap to a remarkable tournament for Portage County. After losing his 5-2 lead in the final 10 seconds of regulation on an escape and a takedown, Shellenbarger came back with the sudden-victory takedown.

As the Wildcats senior raced off the mat, he screamed.

He then took down Duane Funk, sending his coach sprawling onto the mat.

(Funk, an Army veteran, laughingly noted that it wasn't a pin, but conceded Shellenbarger would get five points for the takedown and the near-fall.)

"I think it's great for Portage County," Funk said of the three championships Sunday. "We came down here and represented."

It was an incredible night for Portage County.

Three unforgettable moments in quick succession, the kind I never quite got from my first two trips to the state tournament.

You see, my first two trips to state were like appetizers.

They were great, and I saw a lot of great wrestling. (Trust me, no one likes appetizers more than I. Appetizers are a big reason why I can't seem to lose weight.) But I had never quite gotten that signature state moment.

After all, my first state wrestling tournament was at Marion Harding in 2021, moved from Value City Arena to a high school gymnasium in a strange post-COVID scene, and there were no local champions there.

My second state wrestling tournament was back at Value City Arena, but I was only in charge of Division III coverage, so I technically didn't get to cover Aurora's Dylan Fishback and Tyler Lillard as they won titles.

Don't get me wrong. I got plenty of great stories last year, including Mogadore senior Michael Lowe's surprise run to the 215-pound title match, and several other local wrestlers fared well in the third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches earlier that morning, but there's nothing quite like that scene of watching a wrestler live out their dreams on Sunday night.

Well, Sunday evening, Portage County wrestling fans and I got to watch that moment play out three times.

What made it even better is that for all three state champions, it was their first time wrestling in the title match, let alone winning it.

And for all three, there was something unique about the opportunity.

Andel and Sell were chasing Garfield's first state title.

Shellenbarger was chasing Mogadore's first championship since 1997 and looking to avenge Lowe's loss in that same 215-pound title match a year prior. Moreover, Shellenbarger was trying to complete a remarkable turnaround, from 1-2 in his first state trip a year prior to 4-0.

And for fellow finalists like Streetsboro senior Donovan Paes and Coontz, they had similarly compelling stories. Coontz had one win at state before this past weekend, when he tallied three to make the title match. Paes had never advanced past the quarterfinals until this past weekend.

For all five finalists, then, this weekend marked uncharted waters.

But the truth is that was just part of what made Sunday so special.

The best part for me is these are the kind of student-athletes I could lean over to the reporters next to me and say, "They deserve this moment."

Because they are more than great wrestlers. These are the kind of student-athletes any coach, teammate, opponent and reporter would rave about.

And don't just take it from me, because, sure, most student-athletes will at least try to be nice to the reporters giving them coverage.

Take it from the coaches, who I've heard rave about all five wrestlers, whether it's their own kid or their opponent that night, over the years.

Watch their matches, how clean they are.

Listen to what the people who know them say about them.

"We know all of them," G-Men coach Dan Andel said. "It's a small community, the wrestling community. They're good kids on and off the mat, and I think that there's something to that. Good things happen to good people and they just surround themselves with good people, and I can't say anything bad about any of the Northeastern Ohio wrestlers here. They are class acts on and off the mat."

That makes nights like Sunday that much sweeter.

Look, I'll write about triumphs and tribulations, no matter what.

That's my job.

But it's extra special when the student-athletes are great off the mat.

These are the kind of student-athletes who you want to write about.

The kind of wrestlers in whose footsteps you want young kids to follow.

"Every shirt we've had since I started coaching [says], 'Respect all, fear none,'" Funk said. "All the kids do that. Keegan, Hunter, Cody, those guys are all good kids to talk to, they're nice to other people, other wrestlers."

Indeed, I've been told about just how much Shellenbarger has taken younger wrestlers under his wing throughout the season.

And I remember talking to Paes earlier this year about that mix that all five have clearly mastered — of fury on the mat and kindness off it.

That's in moments good and bad, as proven Sunday, when Paes dropped a heartbreaker in the 132-pound state title match. When my colleague Michael Leonard came back from interviewing Paes, he said, without prompting, that Paes was "classy." As always, he added.

Coontz is the classic example of a humble, determined student-athlete who made the most out of his senior season. He remembered the tears he cried in a Value City Arena hallway a year ago and vowed to change the narrative with hard work. And he did, on the gridiron and the mat, all while maintaining an unusually affable and easygoing vibe.

His opponent, Andel, always struck me as thoughtful, mature beyond his years, a carbon copy in many ways of his father, coach Dan Andel.

Funk noted, too, how Hunter Andel, then a junior, helped warm up his son, Brady, at last year's state tournament.

"That's the type of kids they are," Funk said. "That's the type of kids you want on your team."

As for Sell and Shellenbarger, I call student-athletes like those two "mayors," because both have wonderfully lively personalities, with the talkative nature and charisma that could make for a successful career in politics.

And those are just the finalists.

There were so many other great personalities who made the trip from Portage County to Columbus this past weekend.

Personalities that remind people like me why we're in this field.

I do this job, and really most sports reporters do this job, because it's great to see great people accomplish great things.

This weekend at Value City Arena, that was most certainly the case.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Reflect with Rosenblum | Watching great people achieve great things