Staff photo / Preston Byers West Branch head wrestling coach Chris Dorris, left, smiles as he helps Beau Nezbeth with a bloody nose following Nezbeth’s EOWL championship win vs. Beaver Local’s Bobby Buchheit on Saturday at Austintown Fitch High School.

AUSTINTOWN — West Branch head wrestling coach Chris Dorris watched on as his two Eastern Ohio Wrestling League (EOWL) finalists found themselves in equally difficult positions Saturday.

For 150-pounder Beau Nezbeth, he trailed No. 1 seed Bobby Buchheit of Beaver Local 1-0 going into the third period, while Gavin Hang, the Warriors’ 215-pounder, had the early lead he had built against Louisville’s Jake Beard whittled down to a 3-3 tie entering the third. Both began the period on bottom, needing at least an escape to win or force overtime. And both got what they needed.

Nezbeth, who allowed an escape in the second period, managed to reverse a tiring Buchheit with 20 seconds remaining and ride him out to a 2-1 victory. Not long after, Hang achieved a similar feat. Having led 3-0 in the first period before a pair of stalling calls and escapes by Beard, Hang bided his time and then reversed Beard as he tried to execute a cradle, planting him on his back and pinning him with 47 seconds left.

“One thing that Gavin and Beau don’t do is panic,” Dorris said. “When they hit a little bit of adversity, they have that built in where they continue to fight.”

Nezbeth, in particular, battled the clock, fatigue and a bloody nose that worsened in the closing moments of the match. Hang, on the other hand, said he felt content with his situation despite surrendering a lead and facing overtime if he could not escape in the third period.

“I was kind of baiting him with the cradle. … I figured I’d play it out on bottom a little bit because I wouldn’t want to get out right away and then leave it to him getting a takedown with me having two stalling calls. So I figured I’d stay on bottom and win my match from there,” Hang said.

The West Branch duo were among the five local wrestlers who claimed EOWL titles Saturday. The others – Hubbard’s Markel Hackwelder (132 pounds), South Range’s Tyson Seesholtz (165) and Austintown Fitch’s Noah Bolen (285) – all won their championship matches handily, although the paths to victory were not as simple as a few of them would have liked.

Bolen’s win was the cleanest, as well as the quickest; the Falcons heavyweight took South Range’s Michael Uplinger and pinned him 36 seconds into the match to claim his second EOWL title.

“I went out there, and I knew he was going to try to throw me. I was expecting it,” Bolen said. “I was aggressive trying to get a takedown, sunk my hips when I felt he was trying to throw me and get him on his back.”

As for Hackwelder and Seesholtz, they each went the distance with their opponents despite a double-digit lead by the end.

Hackwelder had created a 9-2 advantage for himself against Louisville’s Liam Montgomery in the first period before a second in which Montgomery pulled within three points. The Hubbard junior responded well in the third period; he scored an early escape, then a takedown and earned four back points to go ahead 17-6. Montgomery escaped in the closing moments of the match to make the difference 10 points.

“So proud of him,” Eagles head coach Don Lehman said of Hackwelder’s bounceback in the third period. “He didn’t let it get him down, he didn’t let it set him back. He reset, he got back on his plan and executed the rest of the way. He actually picked up steam.”

Seesholtz, much like the rest of the weekend, largely controlled the action in his final vs. Canfield’s Tristan Miller. The returning state runner-up entered Saturday’s title match having scored 10 or more points in every contest in the tournament, and he finished it off with a 15-3 win against Miller.

The win marked the third EOWL championship of Seesholtz’s career, having previously won at 150 pounds as a freshman and junior, but the Drexel University commit said he is not focused on the results as much lately.

“The tournament was fun, and that’s kind of been my focal point lately, is just having a good time and enjoying what I’m doing,” Seesholtz said. “It can be very easy to get wrapped up in wins and losses and who’s this and who’s that, but I found the more important thing is just executing well. That’s all I can think about in my matches – how can I execute my techniques better, how can I get on my defense faster, feel my opportunities and get to my tie-ups and what not.”

LAST STOP

For many teams, the EOWL meet was one of their final individual tournaments before the postseason begins later in the month, making the league tournament all that more important.

“It’s vital,” Dorris said. “A tournament like this will tell you your shortcomings, it’ll tell you your strengths, it exposes some of your weaknesses and that kind of stuff. It lets you know what you need to work on for the upcoming sectionals, districts and obviously state. … This kind of atmosphere, this big atmosphere, kinda prepares you for that.”

Several teams will be preoccupied with the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association (OHSWCA) regional duals next Saturday; Fitch boys are competing at Massillon Perry, Canfield hosts Benedictine, Garrettsville Garfield is in Tuslaw and the Fitch girls host Massillon Perry.

After that, there will be minimal individual tournaments as teams try to fine-tune and improve their health ahead of sectionals, which are set to begin Feb. 28.

HALL OF FAME

Before the final matches Saturday, several people were inducted into EOWL Hall of Fame.

Jack DelGarbino (Girard), Jacob Esarco (Canfield), Anthony Marcelli (Pymatuning Valley), Dominic Cooper (Canfield), Nick Crawford (Canfield) and Brandon Matlock (Howland) were all honored, as were Allison and John Jones, the recipients of this year’s Davidson Memorial “Courage” Award.

The award is given annually to a member of the wrestling community that “has been a strong, positive influence” and in honor of Brian Davidson, a Salem alumnus who lost his sight as a child, achieved success in wrestling and died in 2007, three days after being inducted into the EOWL Hall of Fame.

Allison and John Jones were honored for their yearslong commitment to assisting not only the Fitch wrestling program and the EOWL, but the area’s wrestling community as well.

“John and Allison are always here, always supportive. They do so much for our program,” Falcons head coach John Burd said. “They’re the first ones to help us in any aspect. They’re here year-round, whatever I need, they’re so supportive of us. Great people, been around for a long time. Very dedicated, hardworking people.”

LOUISVILLE ON TOP AGAIN

It’s nearly become a yearly tradition for Louisville, as the Leopards claimed their sixth EOWL team championship in seven years Saturday. Louisville, which had an event-high five individual winners, finished the tournament with 291 points, 70.5 more than Division I runner-up Fitch. The Falcons are the last non-Louisville team to win the EOWL overall title, having done so in 2023.

Alliance (153.5 points), South Range (143) and Jackson-Milton (76) earned the respective Divisions II, III and IV team championships Saturday.

Jake Hughes of Beaver Local earned the tournament’s MVP honors, having rolled through the 157-pound bracket. He won each of his matches by at least nine points, including a 12-3 title win over Southern Local’s Rowan Wiley, while averaging nearly 14 points scored throughout the event.