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Matlock ends Leopards’ state tournament drought
By Brian Dzenis
AUSTINTOWN
There’s a new twist to Hadi Hadi’s annual trip to the state wrestling tournament.
In previous years, he’s gone to the Jerome Schottenstein Center as a fan and freelance photographer. This year, he’ll go under his normal title: Liberty’s wrestling coach.
For the first time since 2001, a Leapords wrestler is going to Columbus. Zion Matlock will be competing for a Division III state title at 160 pounds. Tyler Wilson (138) has a chance to compete as an alternate.
Last Friday, Matlock dropped his opening bout in district play, 8-7, to Smithville’s Chase Keener. On Saturday, the senior worked his way through the consolation bracket, wrestling four bouts to take the fourth and final bid out of the Garfield Heights district. A 10-5 win against Independence’s Nick Rossi in a consolation semifinal broke the skid.
“There was about four seconds left in the match and I put my face in my hands and started walking onto the mat. Ijust wanted to give him a hug because he knew he had it locked up,” said Hadi, who is in his eighth year as the Leopards’ coach. “He couldn’t stop grinning. He was smiling non-stop.”
Matlock is a three-sport athlete who plays football and was a state qualifier in track last spring. To him, this is his biggest feat in his favorite sport.
“It’s No. 1,” Matlock said. “It’s the sport that I’m best at and I’ve put more time into this sport than any other sport.”
Liberty’s stateless streak was a curiosity in the Mahoning Valley, where most wrestling teams don’t go more than a few years between state bids if they even miss out at all. Liberty consistently carries around 20 wrestlers, it won its first sectional team championship as a program this season and Hadi has 103 dual victories across his eight seasons. It had everything but state qualifiers in recent years.
“We just to kick it up in the room this year,” Wilson said. “We worked harder. We had more dedication to get to where we want to be and we set our goals to make the state tournament.”
Matlock will open the tournament Thursday against Bridgeport’s Mason Kunef.
“Obviously, the expectations are as high as possible. We want to see Zion in the finals wrestling for first and second. I don’t think there’s a single coach going down there with a negative attitude,” Hadi said. “Records don’t mean anything when you get down there. You have to be on your game. You can’t be flat out there for one minute. It can cost you a place in that tournament.”
Another senior getting his first state tournament bid is Boardman’s Mike O’Horo (170), the first Spartan in Columbus since Mario Graziani in 2016.
The No. 18 wrestler in the state was the district runner-up in North Canton Hoover after not being able to participate last year because he missed weight. In his sophomore season, he had a subpar district tournament after having surgery to remove his appendix.
Even though he has a scholarship to play quarterback at Saginaw Valley State, he didn’t want to have his high school career end without going to state.
“Those two seasons have haunted me with the way they’ve ended,” O’Horo said. “No matter how this season ends, those past two still suck. I’m a competitor and that thing never sits well with me.”
The lessons from those setbacks will travel with him to Columbus and beyond.
“It’s overcoming adversity in life and in sports and every aspect of it,” O’Horo said. “You have a toughness that you can take anywhere — not a toughness like a fighting thing — but a mental toughness that you can get through anything and you know you’ve pushed yourself to the limit.
“You’ve gone through the hard cuts. You’ve gone through the practices and wrestled the tough wrestlers. It helps you know where you are and that you can get through anything.”