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Cardinals’ fast-rising Giordano signs with Cleveland State wrestling program
By Brian Dzenis
Canfield wrestler commits to Cleveland State
Video
Mason Giordano discusses committing to Cleveland State University.
CANFIELD
For for some of the football players on Canfield’s wrestling team, wrestling is simply something to do to stay in shape in the winter.
VIDEO: Giordino signs with Cleveland State
That’s how Mason Giordano’s wrestling story starts, but he ended up getting a lot more out of it than just new ways to work out. On Tuesday, the senior signed with Division I Cleveland State. The first-team, all-district defensive lineman had offers to play college football, but chose the Vikings’ wrestling program.
“After [football season] my senior year, I was always more football. I started to love the aspect of training for wrestling and how close the team is and all the bonds I’ve built,” Giordano said. “I like how it’s focused on yourself. There’s a team aspect, but you have to worry about yourself.”
His future teammates at Cleveland State include current teammate Georgio Poullas and Andrew Fairbanks of Austintown Fitch. What makes Giordano different from the latter is that he was in the sport for just three years while wrestling has been their sole devotion for years. Giordano was a junior varsity wrestler his sophomore year, he qualified for the state tournament as a junior and was a state finalist as a senior in March.
“I haven’t seen something like that on this level with that trajectory and level of success this soon,” said 18-year Canfield head coach Dean Conley. “High school sports are so competitive, especially in Ohio. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Giordano’s unusual origin as an elite wrestler translated to an unusual style. Canfield deployed Giordano as a 285-pound heavyweight, even though he was about 225 pounds. The coaching staff agreed they shouldn’t drop him to the 220 weight class.
“We had that conversation and he certainly was 225, but he wasn’t weak. He squats 550,” Conley said. “It’s not like strength was going to be an issue and we knew there would be some issues with different matchups, but he was so quick and so athletic that we felt his athleticism would be a positive.”
Even though Giordano didn’t win the tournament, he was the highest-scoring Cardinal in Columbus and the only wrestler in his weight class to pick up a win by major decision. Giordano’s energy made up for his lack of size against opponents who usually relied on scoring some early points and riding out the rest of the match.
“When you go against a really heavy guy, it’s really difficult,” Giordano said. “I knew I was in better shape than most of those kids and if I created an angle, I could get to the legs and use my speed, but it did affect me on bottom. That’s where it was really hard.”
Giordano went 37-9 his senior season. He accepted Cleveland State’s offer two weeks ago.
“It’s a shame that people only look at height and weight because a lot of people missed a really good one,” Conley said.
Giordano is looking forward to taking on the college ranks along with his Mahoning Valley teammates.
“It’s cool. We’re all friends and we’re going to try and bring the Youngstown mentality up there,” Giordano said. “We all want to train together and that played a big part in why I wanted to go to Cleveland State.”