Howland duo seeking first state titles today

Kyle Leek (125) and Greg Ryan (135) are both one win away.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

COLUMBUS — Howland wrestlers Kyle Leek and Greg Ryan had a sleepless night in the hotel room they shared Thursday night.

They weren’t up watching television or playing video games. Instead, they were fighting about the room temperature. One was too cold; the other was too hot.

“One of us would turn the air conditioning up and the other would get up and turn it down,” said Ryan. “I’ve shared everything with this kid. We’ve shared every hotel room this year. We even both buy different kinds of food and share it, so we don’t have to spend as much.”

As it turns out, the duo will share more than food and a room — they will share the spotlight in the state finals.

Leek (125) and Ryan (135) both won two matches Friday and will compete for state championships tonight at the 2008 state tournament. It will be the first trip to the finals for both wrestlers and marks the first time Howland has had two finalists in the same season.

“It’s amazing,” said Leek, who will meet St. Paris Graham’s Tucker Armstrong in the final. “I’m this close to my dream and I’m not going to let anyone take it away from me. I knew this was possible if I worked hard. I beat two sectional champs last week and so far here I’ve beaten two district champs.

“I always underestimate myself and think I’m worse than I am. After I lost at districts, I just didn’t take it too hard and I knew everything would be OK. I just did what I had to do.”

Leek almost didn’t make it to the state tournament — again. After falling one point short of Columbus his freshman and sophomore seasons, Leek was determined to change his fortunes this season.

He took a big step in the right direction two weeks ago by winning the West Branch sectional title and moved on to the rugged Akron Firestone district. It was his first time competing there after having wrestled the previous two seasons in Division I.

But any momentum he had from sectionals came to a halt at Firestone, as Leek was knocked off in his first round match by Benedictine’s Ricky King. It looked like another disappointing end to a good season for Leek.

Well, not so fast.

Leek went on to win four straight matches at districts to earn the fourth and final state qualifying spot and finally make it to the show. But that’s just the beginning.

As a No. 4 placer at districts, Leek’s reward in Columbus was a first-round match against two-time state placer and projected state champion Jacob Vaughn of St. Francis DeSales. Although the task was daunting, Leek was up to it, pulling off the upset 9-6 Thursday.

Friday morning, Leek continued his hot streak by defeating Eastwood’s Justin Flores with a pin at 5:12 to climb into the semifinals Friday night. Then, he beat Ravenna’s Scott Meyer 3-0 in the semis to move into the finals.

Ryan’s track to the finals started with a 13-2 major decision over Rossford’s Jordan Wray in Thursday’s first round. Friday morning, the senior pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory over Richmond Edison’s Andy Stine.

In the semifinals, Ryan beat Alliance’s Manuel Cintron 6-2 — an opponent he defeated in the West Branch sectional, but had lost to at the EOWL tournament five weeks ago.

“I was confident, but I had in the back of my mind that he had beaten me at EOWL,” said Ryan, who meets projected state champion Chase Skonieczny in the final. “I knew he was aggressive and that it would be a dogfight and it was. I just wasn’t going down.

“My expectations were to get top three out here, but now I have nothing to lose, so we’ll see what happens. This has been a great experience — especially in my senior year.”

The pair hit some career milestones this weekend. Leek’s semifinal victory was the 100th win of his career. For Ryan, he broke the school record for single-season wins with 42 and also owns the career wins mark with 127.

True to form, Leek and Ryan were even trying to upstage each other in the interview room.

“Yeah, thanks for getting your 100th win in my senior year,” said Ryan.

“Oh, you’re just mad because I have a shiner and you don’t,” Leek retorted.

With any luck, they won’t have to share one state championship trophy — maybe they will each have one of their own.