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Lightweights take spotlight at Hephner Memorial
AUSTINTOWN
Jackson-Milton senior Mitch Tikkanen had just lost a 3-2 lead with less than 15 seconds remaining in the 113-pound championship match of the Josh Hephner Memorial Invitational Wrestling Tournament.
Andre Lowery of Shaker Heights recorded a two-point takedown in the closing seconds and edged Tikkanen by decision, 6-4. The Bluejay senior was replaying the match in his head when a man approached him and congratulated him.
“Great match,” he said. “It’s always torture watching you and Andre — he’s my son.
“I don’t look forward to it. You know each other so well, you’re just waiting on each other. But you wrestle really well,” said Andre’s father, Mark.
Tikkanen thanked him and seemed to be genuinely grateful.
“It’s always fun,” Tikkanen said. “I always learn a lot wrestling him.
“I actually smiled through the whole thing, which I’ve never done.”
Tikkanen was probably still smiling from earlier in the day, when he recorded the 100th win of his wrestling career at Jackson-Milton. He claimed to have no idea he was approaching the milestone.
Good thing his mom was counting.
“She pulled me aside and was like, ‘Do you know what match that was?” Tikkanen said.
“I was like, ‘The end of the pool play? She said, ‘No, that’s your 100th win.’”
She also had T-shirts prepared for the occasion and he was announced as ‘100-win Mitch Tikkanen’ for the championship match.
“It’s a little pressure, but it’s fun,” he said. “It’s all practice for the end, which is the state tournament.”
CALCULATED VICTORY
According to his coach, everything Andrew Fairbanks does is calculated.
So when the waning seconds were ticking off the clock in the final round of the 120-pound championship match, the Austintown Fitch sophomore had his opponent right where he wanted him. Fairbanks was able to hold off Ravenna senior Brogan Lovejoy for a tactical 4-2 decision.
“This guy’s calculating everything — every minute of his day,” said Fitch coach Brett Powell. “Whether it’s what his GPA is, or how many calories he’s gonna eat, his brain is working.
“He’s like a college-mentality guy with a lot of things that he takes an approach to.”
In a brief moment of vulnerability, Fairbanks’ coaches were yelling at him to stay low and into position. Like most things, he was quick to rectify that.
“When I get tired I come high a little bit,” he said. “I sometimes get a takedown because of it.”
Fairbanks’ win also earned his coach his first individual tournament champion in a while. Powell, who is stepping away from the Falcons’ wrestling program after 30 years, was just happy to see Fairbanks’ hard work pay off.
“He’s really a sharp, smart individual,” Powell said. “He’s going to be successful no matter what he does.
“He’d rather listen and learn than tell you what he knows. That’s gonna take him a long way in life.”
MORE WINNERS
Five local wrestlers won third-place matches in their weight class: Boardman senior Vince Mancini (106), Poland junior Dante Ginnetti (113), Girard junior Chris Morgan (138), Boardman senior Anthony Mancini (160) and Austintown Fitch junior Isiah Jackson (170).