PERRY—Independence had two of its seven wrestlers earn a spot on the podium at the 2023 Chagrin Valley Conference wrestling championships on Saturday.
Sophomores Charlie Meyer and Charlie Puklavec both finished among the top six in their respective weight classes.
Meyer became a two-time CVC placer when he finished second at 126 pounds. He was fourth last year at 120.
“I was very satisfied with my performance,” Meyer said. “Everything worked out how I wanted it to. I came in thinking I would be competing for first and that’s how it ended up.”
Meyer opened the tournament by pinning Harvey’s Corday Campbell in 1:30 and then he pinned Lakeside’s Derek Briggs in 3:45 in the semifinal round.
He closed out the tournament with a rematch against Crestwood’s J.P. Wrobel, a two-time state qualifier.
Wrobel recorded a 19-2 technical fall, but it was progress for Meyer, who was pinned by Wrobel earlier this season at the North Coast Classic.
“I know J.P. is a great wrestler and he’s so much faster than I am,” Meyer said. “My mindset was that I will not let him pin me.”
Meyer, who improved to 24-10, is confident he’s on track to accomplish his goals now that the postseason has started.
“I’ve been working hard all season and I’m looking forward to going further than I did last year,” he said.
Charlie Puklavec placed sixth at 138 pounds.
After receiving a first-round bye, Puklavec pinned Trinity’s Mario Muniz to advance to the semifinals, where he was pinned by Lutheran West’s Nehemiah Sanderfer in 2:00.
Puklavec then recorded back-to-back pins in the consolation bracket before falling to Berkshire’s Johnny Heiden in the consolation semifinals, 4-1. Sanderfer then pinned Puklavec again in the fifth-place match in 2:25.
Manoli Fourtounis went 2-2 at 120 pounds, Colton Franko was 2-2 at 132, Jonah Valenti went 1-2 at 144, Jake Vitron was 2-2 at 165, and Tommy Erdman finished 1-2 at 215.
