by Brent Hovey
Reporter
Aurora -- The 2008 Ohio High school wrestling tournament perfectly summed up the season for the Greenmen.
"The state tournament was strictly and totally an emotional roller coaster," said coach Dick Bliss. "It's a good analogy of the season."
In Columbus, Bliss and the rest of the AHS wrestling family were as happy as can be after the first round when all three state qualifiers -- sophomore Ty Mitch and seniors Johnny Papesh and Billy Painter -- pinned their opponents.
In the second round, Painter lost, but Bliss thought things would still be all right. When Painter lost his next match, ending the tournament for him, Bliss said everyone was devastated.
"In my mind, he's the third, fourth or no worse than fifth best in Ohio," said Bliss.
The roller coaster continued with Mitch winning, but that was quickly followed by Papesh losing in the semifinals.
"Johnny's done everything correctly to be a state champion, and to see his dreams shattered at that time was devastating again," Bliss said.
The emotional ride ended with good emotions, as Papesh was able to regroup and take third at 119 pounds.
"The way he was able to rebound and perform was like the way the kids on the team had to do all year," said Bliss.
To top the day off, Mitch became Aurora's first sophomore to win a state title -- seventh overall -- at 103 pounds.
"I'M SO damn proud of Mitch," Bliss said. "I'm so damn proud of all three. Johnny leaves us the winningest wrestler in the 51-year history of the program and a four-time state place winner.
"Billy did everything we asked of him. He caught a bad break and didn't get what he deserves, but that's OK."
So was the season for the Aurora wrestlers.
"I think we overcame a large number of challenges," Bliss said about the season.
"We came together as a group. We grew as a group, grew individually, and our skill level grew. We dealt with a lot of issues. They battled through it and I'm proud of them."
The Greenmen won only one tournament, but Bliss was pleased with how the team performed in all their invitationals.
"We had some real good performances," he said. "I'm not disappointed with second in the CVC. I'm not disappointed with third at Hudson.
"I'm not disappointed with ninth at the Top Gun or third at sectionals, sixth at districts or eighth in the state."
In addition to Aurora's "Big Three" of Mitch, Papesh and Painter, the Greenmen relied on a young supporting cast that needed to step up when their names were called.
"We had sort of a division between the three state-ranked guys and the rest of the team," said Bliss.
But in any season where someone captures a state title, you have to start with him. "That's no chopped liver," Bliss said about Mitch's state championship.
Next year as a junior, Mitch will have a lot to live up to as a defending state champion and as the team leader.
"TY WILL HAVE to take on the leadership role Papesh provided for three years," said Bliss. "I told him at the sports award that he has tough shoes to fill and this team needs him to step up and take care of them, and he will do that."
Papesh and Painter leave Aurora as two of the most accomplished wrestlers ever to come out of the program.
Papesh is AHS's career leader in wins (170), takedowns (496) and consecutive dual meet wins (43).
He is a three-time Aurora Invitational and CVC champion, four time Hudson Invitational and sectional champion and state placer, and two-time district champion.
"That's pretty impressive," said Bliss.
Painter finished third in career wins and set career records for 2-point near falls (105), 3-point near falls (175) and 3-point near falls in a season (65).
He is a sectional and district champion, two-time Hudson champion, two-time state qualifier and finished eighth in Ohio as a junior.
Bliss on Papesh: "What can you say about him. He's leaving behind a graveyard of records. When we have Johnny in the room we have an example of champion work ethic. He's like having another coach. We're going to miss him like crazy."
Bliss on Painter: "Billy brings a different perspective. His strength is he'll compete, he'll hang in there. I want the younger kids to learn from his love of the sport. His passion kept him going and made him the success he is."
There is one other senior leaving the team -- heavyweight Matt Costa.
"He'd agree with the statement that he is not the most blessed athlete, but he gave us everything he had for four years," said Bliss.
BLISS SAID Costa almost quit the sport after his freshman year, but came back and capped off his senior season as a second-team CVC selection and district qualifier.
"He said he'd never been that happy in a competitive situation in his life," Bliss said about Costa qualify for districts. "He was overwhelmed by his teammates who gathered around him. They all respect him and he is a great kid."
The only juniors on the roster are Eric Durell and Danny Parker. The latter earned second-team All-CVC and both contributed and won a lot of matches.
Three freshmen who stepped up and won more than 20 varsity matches were Ryan Cash, Danny McNamara and Brian Wells.
Sophomores T.J. Deininger and Kyle Brezovec had winning records, and Bliss expects a lot out of the "two really good young sophomores" next year.
Mark and Matt Korosec, Mike Ganoe, Mike Hansel, Andrew Badalementi, Jason Pavlick, Tommy Gallagher, Jake Smierciak, Pat Houlahan and Seth Veverka all made an impact at some point throughout the season.
"We were fortunate to have decent numbers, but we need to get a few more fat kids," Bliss joked.
"We're real excited about these kids. Hopefully, they are, too, and they do the things they need to do to make up a good team next year.
"We're losing three wonderful men, but I have confidence in who we'll have next year."
E-mail:
bhovey@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3115