January 21st, 2008
AKRON — At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Tyler Houska looks nothing like Mariano Rivera, but on Saturday you couldn’t find a better closer than the Highland junior.
With his Hornets wrestling team trailing Akron Kenmore by two points at the 21st annual Bill Dies Memorial Tournament and needing one huge win to clinch the title, the two-time district qualifier sent Highland home happy with arguably the biggest victory of his career.
The stage was set one weight class earlier when Kenmore’s Cody Lamberg beat Apple Creek Waynedale’s Jared Neff to bump the Cardinals ahead of Highland 188-186 in the team race.
That put things in the hands of Houska in his third-place match against Stow’s Kris Maruna. Win by regular decision and the Hornets would at least tie for the team title. Beat Maruna by major decision, technical fall or pin and Highland would claim its first Dies title in school history.
“You know being 215, I’m usually the last one to wrestle,” said Houska, who overcame an injury to his knee in the semifinals. “Sometimes I rise up to it, sometimes not, but I like it. It gets me pumped up. I would have loved to finish in the top two, but I’m glad we won as a team.”
Continued...
