Johnni DiJulius (No.5 @ 130) had tears of joy in his eyes after he captured his third-straight Division II state championship Saturday night.
But they came way after his victory.
It wasn’t until close friend and Walsh Jesuit teammate Nate Skonieczny (No.3 @ 135) captured his first state title that DiJulius couldn’t control his emotions.
“I started to cry when he won,” DiJulius said. “I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen that Nate Skonieczny is that hardest working kid in the country. He really deserved this win.”
For the past three seasons, Skonieczny has had to watch his good friend pull down state titles while he fell short. The junior said DiJulius’ performances were certainly inspirational.
“He’s a big motivator for me,” Skonieczny said. “We’re really good friends. We go out to eat together, we hang out with girls together … we pretty much do everything together.”
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s Nathan Tomasello (No.1 @ 103) grabbed his second-straight crown by beating Chanel’s Aaron Assad 7-4.
With the score tied in the third period, the sophomore gained an escape and took his Firebird foe down for the three-point victory.
“It feels amazing to get number two,” Tomasello said. “This whole season I’ve been wrestling the best I could and focusing on doing my best to win that second title.
“It’s a great honor to be here and wrestle my best. I don’t think about winning four that much. I just want to go out there and wrestle my match. If I get my offense going, I can win any match.”
For Complete Article by Shaun Bennett and Brad Bournival, Sports Ink
