GRANGER, Ohio — Each year just before the final stretch of the wrestling season there’s an easy place to see defending state champions, hopeful state qualifiers and some of the best high school wrestling Ohio has to offer: the Suburban League tournament.

This season’s tournament was no exception as Division I powers Brecksville-Broadview Heights (576 team points) and Wadsworth (534) paced a field that included more than 50 wrestlers ranked in BoroFanOhio.net’s top 25 weight class rankings.

“The tournament was fun,” Brecksville Senior Brock Sherman said. “It was a tough tournament, there’s great teams out here and our team came to wrestle. We came here to win it and we won it.”

Nordonia (347), Stow (295) and Aurora (285.5) rounded out the top three.

While the Bees and Grizzlies dominated the team score, athletes understand that Saturday’s competition will be some of the best they see until the postseason begins.

“The Suburban League is an awesome tournament,” Wadsworth senior 190-pounder Coen Grimm said. “We have the deepest league in Ohio. We have guys ranked top five through 20 in every weight class and the finals were all pretty much top 10 in the state matchups ... it’s just awesome to be part of such a deep league and to compete against teams like that on the regular. I think that’s part of why Northeast Ohio is so good because all the teams are good, they all have good kids, they all compete and they all see each other a lot.”

Grimm avenged a loss from earlier in the season against Brecksville’s Riley McPherson in the title match. As the postseason rapidly approaches Grimm understands that he and the rest of the Grizzlies still are not in their final form.

“I think the one thing that we do great is peak at the right time,” Grimm said. " Over the course of the year we’re obviously trying to get better and win matches and win tournaments, but in the end it doesn’t matter if you win some random tournaments at some gym or if you lose a match in a dual. All that matters is in March.”

Sherman echoed that sentiment, adding that the work that was done early shows down the line.

“We’re ready. It’s postseason time,” Sherman said. “Big tournaments matter. Ironman, Beast (of the East), Brecksville Holiday, those were all the big tournament where we could work on our detailed stuff that we needed to work on. So now, we’re ready for the postseason. It’s go time.”

Match of the day

126-pound championship: Jace Jett, Brecksville, Freshman vs. Kade Mellon, Wadsworth, Junior

Jet had his back against the wall early on after trailing 2-1 at the end of the first period. He was hit with a stalling call in the second, but still was able to ride Mellon out to stay down just one point. Then, with an escape just under 30 seconds into the final period, Jett forced overtime.

Mellon was on bottom to start the first overtime period. He didn’t get an escape, but Jett’s second stall gave him a 3-2 lead. No problem for the freshman, Jett got up quickly in the next overtime, but after scrambling with Mellon for the remainder of the period the match needed an ultimate tiebreaker. Mellon again chose to go down, and once again, Jett completed the ride out to win the match.

“In the first match against him this year (at the Wadsworth vs. Brecksville dual) I rode him out, and I rode him out that match, so I knew I could do it again,” Jett said. ”I knew I could ride him out, I just had to stay tough. It got a little scrambly there at the end, but I gutted it out.”

Suburban League Tournament winners

106- Javan Yarbrough, Copley, Junior

With pins at 1:31 and 1:52 to make it out of the pool stage Yarbrough battled through wrestlers from Wadsworth and Brecksville to claim the title. He took a 9-1 major decision in the semifinal before holding off Brecksville’s Rylan Seacrist to win a 6-4 decision in the title.

113- Johnny Green, Aurora, Junior

A 37-second pin and a pin in 2:30 got Green out of the pool rounds. Then he took just 49 seconds to get a pin in the semifinal, and won the tournament with a 5-1 decision over Brecksville’s Brett Stanley.

120- Jack Dinwiddie, Wadsworth, Sophomore

Dinwiddie made it out of the pool stage with a 55-second pin and a 3-0 decision. He cruised to the semifinal with another pin, this time in 1:49, and claimed the league crown with a 3-2 decision over Brecksville’s Harrison Haffner.

126- Jace Jett, Brecksville, Freshman

A pin at 1:26 and a pin at 21 seconds sent Jett into the semifinal, where he picked up his third pin of the day in 1:33. He won the most exciting match of the day with a 4-3 ultimate tie breaker over in the final over Wadsworth’s Kade Mellon.

132- Jaxon Joy, Wadsworth, Junior

Joy needed just one period in the pool stage to advance, earning a pin at 2:00 in his only match of the early rounds. He worked a little more in the semifinal, earning a 22-5 technical fall before a 6-1 decision over Brecksville’s Kaden Jett in the final.

138- Chase Pluhar, Brecksville, Senior

A trio of pins (2:55, 1:04 and 3:27) got Pluhar out of the pool stage. Then he nearly picked up a technical fall with a 13-0 major decision in the semifinal, and he won the tournament with a 5-1 decision over Aurora’s Kyle Bizjak

144- Brock Herman, Brecksville, Senior

The Ohio State commit downed his first two opponents with ease, pinning the first in 44 seconds before a 46-second pin got him out of the pool stage. He did it again in 1:43 to win his semifinal match, and worked his way to a 7-1 decision over Nordonia’s Israel Petite in the final.

150- Jacob Keirn, Wadsworth, Senior

A pair of pins (1:11 and 1:27) catapulted Keirn into the semifinal. He got a 5-2 win over Brecksville’s David Zambounis in the semifinal and claimed the league title with a 7-2 win over Highland’s Creed Hill.

157- Chris Earnest, Wadsworth, Senior

Earnest got pins at 44 seconds in each of his first two matches to advance out of the pool stage. He won an 8-2 decision in the semifinal, and capped the tournament with his second straight league title after a 4-0 win over Brecksville’s Evan Rizzo.

165- Aiden Stuczynski, Twinsburg, Junior

After pins at 1:03 and 1:05 Stuczynski moved into the semifinal. There he got his third pin in 1:36 before winning the title with a 4-1 decision over Wadsworth’s Hunter Buckland.

175- Luke Vanadia, Brecksville, Senior

Vanadia had his way early on, pinning his first two opponents in 1:50 and 28 seconds, respectively. He took a 12-3 major decision over Wadsworth’s Louis Schaefer in the semifinal and was too much for Nordonia’s Jeremy Olskzo in the final, winning an 8-4 decision there.

190- Coen Grimm, Wadsworth, Senior

Grimm got pins at 1:11 and 3:33 in his first two matches to get out of the pool round. He won a 7-2 decision in the semifinal, and avenged an prior loss to Wadsworth’s Riley McPherson with a 7-1 decision in the final.

215- Max Vanadia, Brecksville, Senior

After pins in 2:34 and 44 seconds in his first two matches Vanadia found himself in the semifinal. He got a pin in 3:15 to make the final. Vanadia held off Stow’s Teddy Gregory to win the title on a 3-1 decision.

285- Aaron Ries, Wadsworth, Junior

Ries needed just a single pin (1:32) to advance into the semifinal. He got a pin in 2:28 there before winning a 3-1 sudden victory against Barberton’s Roosevelt Andrews in the last title match of the day.