The OHSAA’s 89th annual boys’ and 4th annual girls’ state wrestling tournament was held at The Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus from March 13-15. This year witnessed some history again for the North Royalton wrestling program. For the first time in the modern era, North Royalton not only qualified three individuals to the prestigious end of season tournament, but all three stood atop the podium on Sunday evening after the conclusion of the finals.
State placers for the Bears were Senior Tyler Rowles (165#), 6th place; Junior, Nik Kofinas (190#), 7th place; and Senior Anna Tsirambidis (110#) who finished in 3rd place. In total, the North Royalton grapplers wrestled 17 total matches over the three-day tournament. For seniors, Rowles, an alternate last year and carrying a 38-9 record into the tournament, and Tsirambidis, who entered with a 34-7 record, first match jitters didn’t appear to be present.
Rowles, a district champion out of the Wadsworth district, carefully observed his opponent the entire first period scoring a takedown with less than ten seconds remaining and never looked back. The final was 6-1 and the afternoon of wrestling was complete for Tyler.
Tsirambidis, a two time state qualifier and district runner-up at Findlay, wasted no time dismantling her first opponent from New Richmond, winning by a technical fall score of 17-0.
For Nik Konfinas, the afternoon started out with a tough 14-3 loss to the eventual 6th place finisher of the tournament, but rallied to pin crosstown foe Chris Soeder from Brecksville with :30 remaining in the contest.
Day 2 at the state tournament is moving day for 3/4 of the field. Entering Saturday, anyone suffering defeat was left with winning and moving on, knowing they were guaranteed a place on the podium or possibly facing a second defeat and being knocked out of the tournament. For Kofinas, he picked up where he left off Friday night by wasting no time in pinning his opponent from northwest Ohio (Oregon Clay) in :53. And with the pin, Kofinas secured a spot on the podium. As for Rowles and Tsirmibidis, the quarterfinals were a reminder how tough the competition is at this point in the year. Both wrestlers came up short in their respective matches which meant quick turn around matches in the consolation bracket.
In the second round of consolation, Rowles won in a nail biter 3-1 (and stated after the match he almost passed out due to fatigue and hunger), while Tsiriambidis avenged a loss from her district final opponent the week prior. Anna won in a thrilling overtime tie breaker match with numerous blood time stoppages and stalemates. Personally, this was one of the grittiest performances by a North Royalton wrestler in the 26 years of coaching, watching, and covering them. With these wins, both Rowles and Tsirambidis secured their place on the podium. After the remaining consolation rounds, Tsirambidis powered her way to 3rd place finish, and a career record of 61-18 (not bad for wrestling only 2 years), Rowles took home a 6th place, capping off a stellar career with 132-54 record, and Kofinas finished in 7th place. Kofinas is only a junior and has high expectations coming into his final campaign. Congratulations to all the wrestlers in Columbus.
Submitted by Sean Drvenkar,
MA Biology, AP Biology, S&S Teacher, Winter Sports Club Advisor, High Jump Coach NRHS
