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Kevin Christensen |
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| CHRISTENSEN PLACES 4TH AT STATE TOURNAMENT......... |
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Kevin Christensen |
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Record |
The 68th Annual State Wrestling Tournament proved to be a memorable tournament for Greenon Junior Kevin Christensen as he found out that the third time really is a charm as he etched his name in the Greenon record book in his third trip to the state tournament by defeating four opponents on his way to a school record fourth place finish in the 130 lb weight class. It was a clutch performance for Christensen as three of the wins were by a combined 4 points, and it was a redemption of sorts as he had fallen just short of placing at the State Tournament in both his Freshman and Sophomore seasons. The fourth place finish enabled him to tie a twenty three year old school record for best finish in the state tournament that was previously accomplished by Dave Helton in 1972 and Andy Folck in 1982. Christensen also became the first Greenon wrestler to place in the State tournament since Shannon Willits took 5th place in 1991.
In spite of all his success at the tournament, with a little bit of luck in the draw, Greenon could have potentially produced their first ever wrestling State champion. Unfortunately for Christensen, his draw placed him in the same bracket as both the projected and the eventual State champion. Coach Vondenberg's comments after the match pretty well summed up the situation "With the draw that Kevin had, I think he did very well considering that he had to wrestle two of his tougher matches earlier in the tournament". So just how tough was his draw? After a relatively easy 6-4 win in his first match, Christensen found himself matched up against eventual state champion Shane Friery (33-6) in his second match. The early round matchup turned out to be a close, exciting match that could have gone either way. Christensen fell behind 6-2 in the second period but came storming back with a 2 point reversal and two back points to tie the score at 6-6. The score was still tied at 6-6 with 30 seconds left in the match when his opponent was able to get an 8-6 lead with a take down of Christensen. Christensen was not finished scoring, however, as he scored 1 point on an escape with only 6 seconds left in the match to trail by a score of 8-7. That turned out to be the last points of the match as the eventual State champion held on to defeat Christensen by 1 point.
That loss sent Kevin to the consolation bracket against Robbie Michaels of Clyde High School. It turned out to be another tough matchup for Christensen as his opponent brought a 49-1 record into the tournament after winning the Akron Firestone District championship in his weight class the previous weekend. Another loss by Christensen at this point would have ended Kevin's season and sent him home without placing in the state tournament. Christensen started the match aggressively with a takedown and two back points in the first 30 seconds of the match to take an early 4-0 lead, and then he precariously protected his lead, and when he gave up a takedown with 1:20 left in the match his lead was reduced to a slim 7-6 margin. Christensen then increased the lead to 8-6 and he clinched the win by grabbing a decisive takedown with only 13 seconds left in the match to get the final points in a 10-6 win. Christensen then continued his trend of winning close matches against his next opponent, Kurt Shroyer (43-11) of Pemberville Eastwood High School. Although Kevin never trailed that match, after jumping out to a 4-0 lead heading into the final period, his opponent cut the lead to 5-4 with 30 seconds left in the match. Once again Christensen found a way to win a close match as he successfully prevented his opponent from getting a two point takedown in the last 30 seconds of the match to hold on for a 5-4 victory. Coach Vondenberg commented that "He wrestled very well, definitely kept his goals in sight and went after it. He did a good job of keeping his matches close and being able to win when he needed to". It was a trend that would bode well for his next match as he faced Justin Blevins (37-5) of Franklin. This match was a critical matchup as a win would guarantee Christensen no worse then a 4th place finish. This time Christensen fell behind by a score of 3-2 entering the final period, but once again he showed a knack to win in the clutch as he broke a 5-5 tie by escaping from his opponent with only 10 seconds left in the match to win the match by a score of 6-5.
The victory over Blevins enabled him to advance to the 3rd/4th place match against Beachwood's Jordan Lipp (30-1). Jordan came into the tournament as the projected state champion as he was a 3 time state placer and former state champion. Christensen once again engaged in a close match as he only trailed by a 4-3 score with just under 1 minute left in the match before losing by a final score of 8-4. The loss gave him a fourth place finish in the State tournament, and left him with a final record of 42-3. Next season Kevin will try to become the only 4 time State qualifier in school history and is a definite threat to improve on his school record 4th place finish of this season.
Below are the results for Kevin Christensen's matches at the State Tournament:
Kevin Christensen - 130 lb weight class (4th Place)
Match 1: Win by decision 6-4 over Nevin Brown (22-15) of Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit
Match 2: Lose by decision 8-7 to Shane Friery (33-6) of Parma Padua Franciscan
Match 3: Win by decision 10-6 over Robbie Michaels (49-1) of Clyde High School
Match 4: Win by decision 6-5 over Justin Blevins (37-5) of Franklin High School
Match 5: Win by decision 5-4 over Kurt Shroyer (43-11) of Pemberville Eastwood High School
Match 6: Lose by decision 8-4 to Jordan Lipp (30-1) of Beachwood High School
- The post season tournament was a vindication of sorts for Christensen. The Greater Miami Valley Wrestlers Association named their all area team last week and Christensen only received Special Mention. Unfortunately for Christensen, the vote for the all area team was taken prior to the post season matches. The three wrestler's named ahead of Christensen were Coby Boyd, Justin Blevins, and Jarod Klofta. Too bad the association did not wait until after the state tournament to vote as Kevin went 4-1 against those wrestlers in the post season and finished ahead of everyone of them in both the district and state tournament.
- There were 97 teams represented at the Division II State Tournament. Graham won the Division II State title with 163 points. Pemberville Eastwood was second with 99.5 points. Greenon finished in a tie for 38th with 11 points.
- Christensen finished the regular season undefeated at 28-0. It's believed that he is the second wrestler in school history to finish the regular season undefeated.
- Christensen's 4th place finish was the highest finish for a Clark County Wrestler at the State Tournament. Shawnee's WIll Thomure was the only other wrestler from Clark County to place as he took an 8th place finish in the 171 lb weight class.
- Christensen is now 8-6 in his 3 trips to the State Tournament.
- How tough was the 130 lb bracket that Christensen wrestled in at the State tournament? Consider the plight of 130 lb Brian Connelly (31-10) of Mentor Lake Catholic. The Junior was a two time returning state placer and he went 0-2 for the tournament.
- Kevin and older brother Sean are the only Greenon brother's to qualify for the State tournament. Their combined record at the State tournament is now 8-10.
- Greenon's Garrett Lay received Special Mention in the 103 lb weight class from the Greater Miami Valley Wrestlers Association.
