1999-2000
The Mentor Wrestling team finished with one of their best seasons in the last ten years. They were Lake Erie League champs and an 11-3 record. They qualified more wrestlers to the district tournament then ever before, all 14. Placing at the sectionals were the following: Placing First: Keith Pollock, Joe Glavan, Chris Hommel, and Mike Ashby. Placing Second: Mike Jones, Nate Hough-Snee, Josh Sankal, Jared Mills, and Chris Myers. Placing Third: Josh Fulton, Nes Janiak, Bob Burris, and Scot McArthur Placing Fourth: Ryan Silakoski The wrestlers also did well at the District Tournament placing 5th, the highest in more then twenty years. The top three wrestlers in each weight class qualified to State. Mike Ashby, Keith Pollock and Jared Mills all placed high enough to qualify for states. Joe Glavan placed fourth and was the alternate at 119 behind three state placers. Jared "the General" Mills wrestled very well at the state tournament, placing fourth. Jared also broke the school record for most wins in a single season with 38. The team won more individual matches then any team in school history with 328. Congratulations wrestlers on an excellent season.
2000-2001
- December: The Mentor wrestling team wrestled well over vacation defeating rival Garfield Hts. 46-20 and winning the 24 team Midwest Classic Tournament against teams from all over the country. Placing at the tournament were: Josh Fulton 6th, Keith Pollock 1st, Joe Glavan 1st, Mike Jones 3rd, Mike Ashby 2nd, Nate Hough-Snee 6th, D.J. Gardner 5th, and Tom Enright 4th.
- January: Mentor beat Shaker Hts. and Benedictine this past weekend (1/6/01). The teams scores were 62-8 and 55-6. John Mancini was 1-1 winning by decision at Shaker. John Fulton was 2-0 win two pins. Scott Maslar was 1-0 winning by decision. Matt Estadt was 2-0 with two major decisions. Joe Glavan was 2-0 with one pin. Brad Anderson was 2-0. Allen Scholes was 2-0 with a tech. fall. Tony Hendershot was 1-0 with a decision. Nate Hough-Snee was 2-0 with a pin. Bob Vencl was 2-0 with a decision. Anthony Childs was 2-0. D.J. Gardner was 1-1 with a decision. Tom Enright was 2-0 with a pin. Chris Myers was 1-1 with a pin. The Cardinals won the Mentor Duals, beating Elyria, Fairmont, Nordonia, and Willoughby South. Winning four matches were: Keith Pollock, Joe Glavan, Mike Jones, Mike Ashby, Bob Vencl, and Tom Enright. Winning three matches were Josh Fulton, Nate Hough-Snee, and Chris Myers.
- February: The Cardinals traveled to Olentangy this past weekend, (2/3/01), for a tournament. They won the tournament beating state-ranked Sandusky Perkins by 14.5 teams points. Winning the tournament were: Keith Pollack, Mike Ashby, and D.J. Gardner. Placing second were: Nate Hough-Snee and Tom Enright. Placing third were Josh Fulton, Joe Glavan, Mike Jones, Brad Anderson, and Chris Myers. Allen Scholes placed fifth and John Mancini placed sixth. The team successfully defended their L.E.L. championship this weekend by defeating Cleveland Hts. 49-19. Come support the team in the following weeks in the tournaments.
- Tournaments: The Cardinals qualified seven of their wrestlers to districts and placed third as a team at sectionals. Placing at sectionals were Josh Fulton 3rd, Keith Pollack 2nd, Joe Glavan 1st, Mike Jones 3rd, Mike Ashby 1st, Nate Hough-Snee 4th, and Tom Enright 2nd. The Cards took third place at the district tournament, sending four wrestlers to the state tournament. Placing for the Cards were Josh Fulton 4th, Keith Pollack 1st, Joe Glavan 3rd, and Mike Ashby 1st. The Cards closed out their season placing 6th at the state tournament, the highest they placed since 1975. The Cards placed three of there wrestlers. Placing were Keith Pollack 2nd, Joe Glavan 4th, and Mike Ashby 5th. Josh Fulton also wrestled very well. He pinned two district champions and was one match from placing.
2001-2002
- December: The team began the season placing eighteenth in an extremely tough field at the Walsh Ironman Classic. The next week the team competed at another nationally ranked tournament, the Worthington Midwest Classic, where they placed ninth in the team standings. "A" pool placers: Mike Jones 1st, Allen Scholes 7th, Dexter Hough-Snee 7th, Paul Burger 4th, and Anthony Childs 4th. "B" pool placers: Jake Distler 2nd, Brad Anderson 2nd, Dan Thompson 3rd, Nathan Hough-Snee 1st, and Bob Vencl 1st. The team is currently 1-2 in dual meets after dropping a tough match to Garfield Hts. and then soundly defeating Nordonia but coming up short versus Mayfield at the Nordonia Triangular. Winning records from the duals are: Jake Distler 2-1, Mike Jones 2-1, Brad Anderson 2-1, Payton O'Bryan 2-1, Mike Piatak 1-1, Allen Scholes 1-0, Brett Glavan 2-0 (filling in nicely for the injured Nate Hough-Snee) Paul Burger 2-1, Kyle Nichols 1-1, and Anthony Childs 1-0. The Team traveled to the 42 team Brecksville tournament on the 29th and 30th and had three placers. Dexter Hough-Snee placed 4th, Mike Jones 6th and Jake Distler 6th.
- January: The team finished the month undefeated in the LEL, second to state ranked Kenston in the Mentor Duals and fourth at the CVCA Dauls. The Cards defeated Hoban and state ranked CVCA at its duals while dropping very close matches to Solon and North Canton Hoover.
- February: The team started off February placing a close second at the 10 team Olentantgy Tournament. Placing for the Cards were: Mike Jones & Brad Anderson 1st, Paul Burger 2nd, Jake Distler, AJ Carl, Payton Obryan, Dexter Hough-Snee, Nate Hough-Snee, Anthony Childs & Jason Deitrick all 3rd, Bob Vencl 4th, and Allen Scholes 5th. The team completed the regular season by defeating Cleveland Hts. 46-12 to go 6-0 in the conference to win the LEL championship.
- Tournaments: The team started off the tournaments well by placing second in the Mayfield sectional, qualifying 12 to districts and 1 alternate. The Qualifiers were: Jake Distler, Mike Jones, Brad Anderson, A.J. Carl, Payton O'Bryan, Mike Piatak, Dexter Hough-Snee, Nate Hough-Snee, Bob Vencl, Anthony Childs, Paul Burger and Sean Cybulski. Craig Bucurel finished 5th and will be an alternate. The team also wrestled very well placing 5th at the Mentor Meat grinder District with 7 placers and 3 state Qualifiers. Qualifying to State were: Mike Jones, Nate Hough-Snee and Sean Cybulski. Also placing at districts were: Payton O'Bryan, Dexter Hough-Snee, Anthony Childs & Paul Burger.
2002-2003
- December: The Cardinals started off the season in fine fashion at several different sites of competition. First and foremost, the varsity provided strong performances at three different tournaments. The team won 1st place at the Solon Invitational. Those placing first at this tournament for the Cardinals were Brad Anderson, Payton O'Bryan, Dexter Hough-Snee, Nathan Hough-Snee, and Sean Cybulski. AJ Carl placed 2nd, while Ralph Victor and Chris Kalina placed 3rd. Rounding out the Solon Tournament for the Cardinals were Matt Lerer, Jake Distler, and Paul Burger who all placed 5th. The varsity squad then put in a strong performance at the Worthington Midwest Classic, placing 3rd in a field of over 30 teams. Level 1 placers included Paul Burger (1st), Dexter Hough-Snee (2nd), Sean Cybulski (3rd), Matt Lerer (4th), Nathan Hough-Snee (4th), Ralph Victor (6th), Brett Glavan (6th), AJ Carl (7th), and Brad Anderson (7th). Level 2 placers at Worthington were Mike Piatak (2nd), Payton O'Bryan (3rd), Jake Distler (3rd), Dan Lastoria (3rd), and Chris Kalina (3rd). The team then took a break from tournament competition to wrestle Eastlake-North and Lake Catholic in a tri-meet at home. The Cardinals did not disappoint their hometown crowd, soundly defeating both teams. The team finished off the month and the year by traveling to Brecksville for the prestigious Brecksville Holiday Tournament which hosts a field of over 40 teams. The team placed 4th, with strong performances from Paul Burger (2nd place), Nathan Hough-Snee (2nd place), Sean Cybulski (4th place), Brett Glavan (6th place), Matt Lerer (7th place), and Chris Kalina (8th place).
- January: The Cardinals continued their winning ways throughout January. They opened the month with a series of dual meets, in which they were victorious in each instance. They defeated Euclid 76 to -1, Lorain Southview 55 to 12, Shaker Heights 64 to 6, and Lakewood 62 to 7. This set up a showdown against Division I state-ranked Garfield Heights, in which Mentor again came out victorious by the slimmest of margins, winning 24 to 23. The Cardinals then went on to win their own Mentor Duals. Here, the varsity squad defeated Elyria 40 to 19, Franklin 62 to 12, Beachwood 59 to 13, Hudson 59 to 9, and Kenston 33 to 26. The victories over Kenston(Division II) and Beachwood (Division III) marked the second and third times this month that the Cardinals defeated state-ranked opponents. It was then off to the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Duals, where Mentor again crushed the competition and took home another championship. The Cards defeated Olentangy 65 to 8, CVCA 65 to 14, North Canton Hoover 69 to 9, Strongsville 55 to 13, and Solon 28 to 20. On January 31, the Cardinals headed down to the Olentangy Invitational to participate in their last tournament before sectionals. The team did not make the long drive for nothing, amassing a total of 282 points, more than 90 points ahead of their closest competition. The Cardinals placed in every weight class. Placers were:Matt Lerer 1st 103 lbs., Jake Distler 2nd 112 lbs., Dan Lastoria 2nd 119 lbs., Ralph Victor 5th 125 lbs., Brad Anderson 1st 130 lbs., A.J. Carl 1st 135 lbs., Dan Thompson 3rd 140 lbs., Mike Piatak 3rd 145 lbs., Payton O'Bryan 2nd 152 lbs., Dexter Hough-Snee 1st 160 lbs., Brett Glavan 5th 171 lbs., Nate Hough-Snee 1st 189 lbs., Paul Burger 1st 215 lbs., and Sean Cybulski 1st at heavyweight. The Cardinals' Varsity Gray , Junior Varsity, and Freshmen teams also did well in the month of January. The Gray Squad placed 3rd as a team at the Mentor Duals, 2nd at the Bedford Invitational, and 1st at the Admiral King Duals in which they competed against the varsity squads of several local high schools. The J.V. team placed 6th out of 21 teams at the Nordonia J.V. Tournament and squeaked out a win at the North Royalton J.V. Invitational, placing first over state-ranked Massilon Perry (Division I) by just one point. The Freshmen also did well, placing first at the Chardon Freshmen Tournament and soundly defeating Strongsville in a dual match.
- February: The Cardinals finished off their regular season with a tri-meet against Admiral King and Cleveland Heights. The team defeated Cleveland Heights 57 to 6 and Admiral King 80 to 0. This was also Parents' Night for the seniors. Next came the sectional tournament at Mayfield High School. Mentor managed to score 219 points, but came in second to host Mayfield who scored 271 points. Still, the Cardinals ended up sending 12 to districts, two of which who were originally alternates! The following wrestlers made it through:Matt Lerer, 5th at 103 lbs. (alternate), Jake Distler, 5th at 112 lbs. (alternate)Dan Lastoria, 3rd at 119 lbs., Ralph Victor, 3rd at 125 lbs., Brad Anderson, 2nd at 130 lbs.A.J. Carl, 1st at 135 lbs., Dan Thompson, 3rd at 140 lbs., Mike Piatak 3rd at 145 lbs., Payton O'Bryan, 3rd at 152 lbs., Dexter Hough-Snee 3rd at 160 lbs., Nate Hough-Snee 1st at 189 lbs., and Paul Burger 2nd at 215 lbs. Mentor brought this strong contingent home to the "Meatgrinder" District, where the Cardinals kept up their winning ways. The team placed a respectable fourth with 127.5 points, behind perrenial state powers Mayfield, Garfield Heights, and St. Edwards. The Cardinals sent six of their wrestlers down to Columbus, the most ever by a Mentor squad. One of the highlights of the tournament was Mentor freshman 103-pounder Matt Lerer, an alternate to districts, who ended up placing 2nd to Lance Palmer, the eventual state champion from St. Edwards . The following Mentor grapplers also made it through, turning in excellent performances in the process: Brad Anderson, 4th 130 lbs, A.J. Carl, 2nd 135 lbs., Dexter Hough-Snee, 3rd 160 lbs., Nate Hough-Snee, 2nd 189 lbs., and Paul Burger, 3rd 215 lbs.
2003-2004
More info coming soon!
2004-2005
More info coming soon!
2005-2006
More info coming soon!