It's a tradition that never gets old.
"They wrestled really tough today," said Clay first-year coach Ralph Cubberly, only moments after the Eagles extended their run of Division I sectional team championships to five in a row.
Clay, which qualified 10 wrestlers into the sectional finals matches, had practically locked up another sectional title long before Eagles 113-pound freshman Rich Screptock scored the first of seven individual sectional championships for Clay on Saturday evening in the Eagles' gym.
"We had seven out of 10 wrestlers win in the finals," Cubberly said, "And we qualified 14 for district. That is pretty impressive. All are moving on.
"I'm really happy."
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Mike Screptock (126 pounds), Jacob Conine (132), and Angelo Amenta (138) won sectional championships to help the Eagles stake claim on four of the first six championship matches. Devin Dominique (160), Jarred Gray (220), and Garrett Gray (285) also earned sectional titles to help the Eagles close out the competition with 302.5 points.
Elyria finished as runner-up with 231 points, followed by Amherst Steele with 171, St. John's Jesuit 116, Southview 112, Springfield 98, Whitmer 94, St. Francis 90, Anthony Wayne 71, and Northview 51.
"It felt great to come out here and walk through it and win another sectional championship," said Garrett Gray, a senior, who pinned Elyria's T.J. Halstead in 1:01 in the final championship match of the day.
Rich Screptock scored a 6-0 victory over Anthony Wayne's Christian Yates in the 113-pound title match. Mike Screptock, a senior, followed his brother, Rich, a freshman, and won the 126-pound championship by defeating Steele's Bryan DeRuchie 4-0.
"It was a little tougher this year with wrestlers from Amherst and Elyria coming here this year," said Mike Screptock, who earned his third straight individual sectional title.
Conine secured the 132-pound title for the Eagles with a 7-3 decision over Elyria's Brandon Egnor. Amenta came through with Clay's third consecutive weight class title by recording a 15-0 technical fall victory over Steele's Alex Funderburg.
Clay's Devin Dominique scored a 6-4 victory over Steele's Mike Wearsch in the 160-pound championship match, and Jarred Gray topped Whitmer's Nick LaPoint by a 7-2 count.
Whitmer's Jacob Opial and Clay's Nick Stencel made the 145-pound championship match the most competitive among the finals matches. Opial scored a narrow 7-6 decision over Stencel, who had the upper-hand early in the match and had Opial in trouble on his back in the second period.
However, Opial refused to give in and survived the period and went on to claim the one-point decision.
"I just had to fight through the whole time," Opial said. "[Stencel] was really strong."
Springfield's Ross Lonsway stopped Clay's Carmelo Amenta by a 6-3 decision to take home the 182-pound title. St. John's Ted Schoen became the 195-pound sectional champion by recording a 15-0 technical fall victory over Elyria's Ricky Jones.
Elyria's Armando Torres commenced the finals matches by scoring a 6-4 decision over Clay's Jared Davis to claim the 106-pound title. Torres' teammate, Matt Canon, recorded a 9-4 win over Steele's Mark Matos to secure the 120-pound championship. Elyria's 152-pounder Devan Price topped Steele's C.J. Basinski by an 11-6 count.
Elyria's Connor Kamczyc scored a technical fall victory by a 19-3 count over Springfield's Mike Kohlhofer to collect the 170-pound championship.
Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.