COLUMBUS — There are 18,809 seats inside the Value City Arena at Ohio State’s Jerome Schottenstein Center, but neither the venue nor the stage was too big for Crestview’s Caleb Cunningham.
Cunningham, a 285-pound senior, completed perhaps the most dominant performance ever by a local wrestler at a state tournament.
Cunningham pinned Harrison Central’s third-ranked Landen Thomas in the first period of their Division III state championship match.
It was the fourth pin in as many matches for Cunningham, an eighth-place finisher at 215 a year ago.
“When we first got here for weigh-ins, we had freshman Qwintin Howard and freshman Naomi Gearheart,” first-year Crestview coach Nate Godsey said. “The Schottenstein Center is big and you could see their wide-eyes.
“Caleb casually says to me before he goes to weight in, ‘This arena seems small.’ That told me he was in such a good mindset. He was determined, he was ready, and he was on a mission to win a state title.”
Mission accomplished.
Cunningham opened the tournament with a second-period pin of Cincinnati Madeira’s J.J. Hoeffel to reach the quarterfinals.
He need only 1:14 to dispatch Conneaut’s Scotty Edwards in the quarterfinals before sticking Dalton’s Cohen Riggenbach in the third period of Saturday evening’s semifinals, providing fans with one of the most memorable moments of the three-day spectacle.
The unmistakable thump of Riggenbach hitting the mat echoed around the arena and brought fans to their feet.
That set the stage for Sunday’s championship match.
Thomas, who beat 2023 285-pound state runner-up Dallas McCracken in Saturday’s other semifinal match, never stood a chance. Cunningham had already taken Thomas down a couple of times before pinning him in 1:38 of the first period.
It feels great,” Cunningham said. “I just went out there and did what I do and competed.”
All wrestlers dream of winning a state championship.
For Cunningham, the dream became a realistic possibility at the Kenston Invitational Tournament in late December when he lost to Painsville Riverside’s Antonio Bottiggi in the finals. Bottiggi wrestled for the Division I state title Sunday night.
“I had a close match with him and he ended up pinning me in the last 10 seconds because I had to score to win,” Cunningham said. “I knew then I was good enough.”
Remarkably, Bottiggi was the last wrestler to score a takedown against Cunningham.
Two weeks later, he beat Galion’s Alex Griffith 10-0 in the finals of the J.C. Gorman Invitational. Griffith was a third-place finisher in Division II on Sunday.
“The kid put the work in,” said Crestview assistant and former head coach Steve Haverdill. “We’ve traveled hours and hours to different states. All the getting up early and going through disappointments as well as cheers has all paid off. This is what it’s all for.
“I’ve got a big lump in my throat right now.”
While Cunningham cemented his legacy Sunday night, two other north central Ohio wrestlers added to their growing résumés.
Ontario’s Aiden Ohl and Galion’s Gradey Harding finished as state runners-up.
Ohl, a 105-pound sophomore, fell to Bexley’s Marius Garcia 5-4 in a rematch of last week’s Norwalk district title match. The two traded four-point moves late in the first period. The only other point came when Ohl kicked out Garcia to start the third.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to ride him and I didn’t want to waste time,” Ohl said.
As a freshman, Ohl was a fifth-place finisher at 106.
“I’m happy about it, but at the same time I know I could have done a lot better,” Ohl said. “I know it’s a tough way here and I’m happy I made it this far.
“I need to come back next year stronger.”
Another of the area’s talented sophomores, Harding fell to Medina Buckeye’s Colyn Limbert 3-1 in a rematch of the J.C. Gorman finals. Limbert beat Harding 1-0 in January at Mansfield Senior.
“It feels alright. I was close, but not where I wanted to be,” Harding said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Like Ohl, Harding was a fifth-place finisher at state as a freshman.
“I was close, but not close enough,” Harding said. “It’s time to step it up a notch and go get it next year.”