19 High School State Titles in One Weight
If you had to guess the weight class we were going to cover, what would you have guessed? Well in case you guessed 78 pounds, you guessed correctly! Again, here we have another stacked weight class at 78, this year being 2005. Alone in this weight class, this particular year. There are a total of 19 OHSAA High School State Titles. Yes, you read that correctly 19! I think out of all of the weight classes we have covered, this one has the most by a long shot. There are some names in this bracket, that when you take a look at where they finished it will make you shake your head and say to yourself “How is that even possible”. So again we are going to start off with 8th place and work our way to the champion. So let’s get started.
8t:h Ty Mitch(Aurora High School) Ty finishing in 7th place might be a surprise to you and wait until you see who beat him for 7th & 8th. Ty would go on to become a 3 time OHSAA State Champion. He later attended Virginia Tech to continue his wrestling career. He now coaches at Lake Catholic High School where he is continuing to give back to our sport.
7th: Johnni DiJulius (Walsh Jesuit High School) Johnni and Ty wrestled for 7th and 8th. Hard to believe they both are from the same exact town. Had Johnni not gone to Walsh, these two would have been wrestling for Aurora together. Pretty neat to think they both could have been on the same team together in High School. Johnni, like Ty would go on to become a 3 time OHSAA State Champion. He then went on to The Ohio State University where he became a 3 time NCAA Qualifier for the Buckeyes. Johnni now continues to give back to the sport of wrestling as well as jumping off of cliffs and out of airplanes. He leads quite a life of excitement!
6th: Erik McLaughlin(Canal Fulton Northwest High School) Erik would go on to become a 2 time OHSAA State Placer finishing 7th and 4th. He was a 3 time qualifier though.
5th: Cam Tessari(Monroeville High School) Cam would go on to become another one of Ohio’s 4 time OHSAA State Champions. He attended Ohio State for a short time before transferring and wrestling at Hofstra. From Hofstra he later attended Lindsey Wilson College where he would win a National Title finally.
4th: Conner Dempsey (Westlake High School) Conner would go on to become a 2 time OHSAA Qualifier and placed 7th as a senior.
3rd: Gus Sako(Lakewood St.Edward) Gus would become a 3 time OHSAA State Finalist and winning 2 Titles and one Runner-Up Finish. He attended The University Of Virginia where he was a 2 time NCAA Qualifier. Gus , is now an assistant coach at St.Edward High School and helps his father run “Defense Soap”.
2nd: Hunter Stieber(Monroeville High School) To even think for a second that Hunter lost a match in Junior High is incredible. Let alone himself and Cam being in the same bracket at Junior High State and they both later became 4 time OHSAA State Champions. Hunter attended The Ohio State University like his older brother Logan. Hunter would become a 2 time NCAA All-American. Hunter now helps coach at The University of Oklahoma aside from Lou Rosselli.
1st: Jamie Clark(Lakewood St.Edward) Jamie would go on to become a 4 time OHSAA State Finalist. He won 3 State Titles and finished Runner-Up as a freshman. Jamie later attended The University Of Illinois. He transferred to Kent State University where he continued his career for a short while.
Over all to think 19 OHSAA State Titles came from this weight and this year alone is incredible. 4 of these young men ended up being on the same High School wrestling team. Gus Sako and Jamie Clark each attended St.Edward High School. Cam Tessari and Hunter Stieber each attended Monroeville High. Between those 4 there is 13 of the 19. Then you throw in that Johnni and Ty both being from the same town, just different high schools. What a truly unique bracket. I am privileged to say I competed at this Jr. High State Tournament that season. I was defeated by a young man by the name of “Christopher Phillips” another 4-time OHSAA State Champion from Monroeville. I was in 8th grade and he was only a 6th grader. That is a story for another time itself.
Follow @DrewBlogzCLE on Twitter and on DrewBlogzCLE.Wordpress.Com for more blog postings and updates around the sport!
Do you have a memory, opinion of the toughest weight or OAC pics? Feel free DM or tag us and use #oaclegends. Facebook Ohio Athletic Committee; Twitter @OhioAthleticCom; Instagram @ohioathleticcommittee
