FARGO, N.D. – If you thought the Perry High School wrestling team was good last season, now might be a good time to pay attention to the Panthers in advance of the 2024-25 campaign.
Caige Horak (165 pounds) finished eighth in the 16U Greco-Roman Tournament on Saturday to avenge his blood round loss earlier in the week in freestyle.
The placing gave Perry four All-Americans in the FargoDome this week.
“Overall, we are pleased with how our guys competed at Fargo this year,” Panthers coach Brent McBurney said. “We won a lot of matches and competed very hard.
“When you wrestle the best competition, it exposes your weaknesses and gives us more things to work on to get ready for next season. Having four All-Americans is huge.”
Perry's Liston Seibert (120) was a 16U runner-up in freestyle and Brennan Warwick (157) was seventh. Perry's Carolyn Geckler was impressive in the women’s 16U freestyle with a fifth-place finish at 118.
“It’s pretty big for us,” Horak said. “It shows us what we can really do and how much damage we can cause in Ohio and at the national level. We were pretty high last year, but I think we will be even higher next year. Our younger guys keep getting better and better.”
Twinsburg resident finds way to 16U Greco-Roman National final at Fargo
Lake Catholic sophomore Danny Zmorowski, who resides in Twinsburg, made it to the championships at 215 in the 16U tournament but couldn’t figure out Alex Taylor of Mount Vernon.
The final featured two stars from Ohio, but Taylor was able to win 3-1 to win the weight class in both freestyle and Greco.
Still, Zmorowski was able to beat four seeded wrestlers, including two-time state placer Mason Koehler of Iowa.
"This moment right now is going to replay through my brain," Zmorowski said. "I'm watching him right now with two octagons in his hands (the shape of the Fargo championship trophy). It's a hard feeling. To get the finals here, I'm going to take that next step next year."
Fargo Greco-Roman All-Americans from Ohio
- 16U Greco Tournament: First – Loc Webber, Dublin Coffman, 100; Eli Esguerra, Coffman, 157; Alex Taylor, Mount Vernon, 215; Second – Danny Zmorowski, Lake Catholic/Twinsburg resident, 215; Fourth – Weston Borgers, Coffman, 120; Fifth – Michael Boyle, Columbus Bishop Watterson, 190; Chandler Moore, Trotwood Madison, 285; Eighth – Caige Horak, Perry, 165
- Junior Greco-Roman: Third – Dmytro Chubenko, Worthington Kilbourne, 138; Maksym Chubenko, Worthington Kilbourne, 144; Eighth – Jonathan Sims, Brush, 175; Mustafa Woodi, Shaker Heights, 285
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
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