Wrestling: Hartley Hawks tuning up for season's biggest tournaments
As he prepared for his semifinal match at 215 pounds in the Catholic Invitational on Jan. 15 at Newark Catholic, Griffin Halenar articulated clearly what needs to be his biggest area of growth.
The Hartley junior wrestler ended up losing 6-1 to Lakewood St. Edward’s Nate Gregory but bounced back to beat Cincinnati Moeller’s Will Adkins 6-4 to finish third.
“I just need to get better on my offensive game,” Halenar said. “One of my favorite shots is the ‘fireman,’ but people are catching on and defending it well and I don’t really have anything else in my offense. I’m trying to learn low singles, underhooks (and) overhooks.”
Halenar’s continued growth figures to be vital to any type of team success the Hawks hope to have over the coming weeks.
On Feb. 3, Hartley begins defense of its eight-year CCL title run when it faces Ready and St. Charles at Watterson. It then will wrestle Watterson and DeSales on Feb. 9 at Ready to conclude the dual tournament.
The Hawks hope to have sophomore Cooper Rathburn back from an injury by then, but the 2021 state qualifier hasn’t competed since early December.
Halenar, who finished 29-9 a year ago, including 1-2 at the Division II district tournament, helped Hartley score 98 points to finish second in the 12-team small-school competition at the Catholic Invitational. Watterson captured the title (119.5) and Ready was fourth (67).
The Hawks also feature juniors Dylan Newsome (165) and Eyan Jackson (190), who were first and fifth, respectively, at the Catholic Invitational. One of the top newcomers is freshman Aiden King (120), who placed third.
Newsome was runner-up at 170 at last year’s state tournament and Rathburn was seventh at 113, while Halenar is the only other returning district qualifier. Jackson finished fifth at 182 at sectional.
Newsome was 22-0 and Jackson was 18-9 after the Jonathan Alder Invitational on Jan. 21 and 22. Halenar was 17-9 and King was 15-4.
“I’ve gotten stronger and my technique is better,” Jackson said. “I just want to get my conditioning in shape. I’ve had a couple good tournaments.”
Hartley doesn’t have any wrestlers at 106 or 113 but has depth at the middle and upper weights with seniors Isaac Asiedu (heavyweight), Ryan Hannah (157) and Malachi Penn (175) and freshman Vincent Mertz (150).
“I feel like (the season has) been going pretty well,” Halenar said. “I’ve beaten a couple ranked guys throughout Division I and II, which is pretty good. Last year I had a lot of trouble with the taller, stronger kids and this year I feel like it’s not as difficult. The coaching staff at Bishop Hartley is really good and it benefits us a lot.
“We have a lot of new guys on the team, which is kind of a challenge, but I feel like they’ve progressed a lot since the beginning of the season. It’s been pretty fun. Leadership has been a big, key part this year with all of the younger wrestlers we have.”
The postseason begins with sectional competition Feb. 26 at Licking Valley.
Newsome has dropped to 165 after the 170 weight class was eliminated.
“It kind of stinks not having Cooper since the first tournament of the year,” coach Kevin Petrella said. “Griffin and Eyan are doing well and having good years. It would be a disappointment if both of those guys weren’t trying to compete to go to the state tournament. As a coaching staff, that’s where we see them. I think (Newsome is) doing pretty well (at 165). Initially we didn’t anticipate him doing that and I think he can still beat those guys at 175, but it also opened up another spot for another guy to move in.
“I’d say Watterson or DeSales are probably the teams to beat (at the CCL tournament) this year (since) we can’t fill all the weight classes.”
julrey@thisweeknews.com
@UlreyThisWeek
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Wrestling: Hartley tuning up for season's biggest tournaments
