It was a historic night at Southview on Friday night. The Saints celebrated Senior Night with a 48-21 win over North Ridgeville and two wrestlers senior Uland Ralston and junior Cisco Inchaurregui picked up their 100th wins.
The Southview coaching staff wore t-shirts commemorating the 40 years of the Southview program. Before the dual against North Ridgeville, longtime coaches Dan and Tom Ternes were recognized as was assistant coach Pepe Ruiz who has been around since the beginning in 1969.
It was fitting that the opponent was North Ridgeville as head coach Buzz Haller goes way back with the Ternes.
"I went to college at Bowling Green with Danny and Tommy where we wrestled," Haller said. "We go back to the Elyria Shore days."
Haller said he enjoys wrestling Southview.
"We like wrestle each other," he said. "There are good wrestlers here and it helps us. This will help at conference."
Ralston lost on Wednesday to fellow state qualifier Davion Caston.
“Wednesday night was tough," Ralston said. "I watched the match a few times on video.There were a few things I need to work on and a there were a few calls that didn’t go my way and I allowed that to frustrate me. So in practice I refocused on the technical things that could help me win and prepare mentally. If calls don’t go my way I have to wrestle smart. If I would have kept my head in the game, I know it would have gone different. It was a learning experience.
Ralston said it was surreal to think he was wrestling on his Senior Night. He has been with some of his teammates for a long time.
"I have known everyone since eighth grade," he said. "A lot of us started wrestling in the third grade. I started in wrestling in kindergarten and been with some of these guys since the bitty program. We have known each other since birth. Our parents went high school together. My dad coached us all the way up. For it to be finally over it sort of surreal. I still know next year when it comes to practice the kids who graduate this year will still be there at practice. This is my senior night and it is surreal."
Inchaurregui was impressed with the rest of his team.
"You can see the improvement," he said. "We didn’t give up a lot of pins. We put the match out of reach early."
A key match was Joseph "Poohie" Charlton winning 3-2 over Brandon Mundell at 152.
"That kid had beat him twice before," head coach Billy Kopp said. "We knew it would be a tough match. Poohie made a couple mistakes in the losses previously. He corrected those mistakes. Give him credit he is a tough kid."
The night started with Dominic Diaz getting six takedowns and earning a technical fall 19-3.
"He is starting to come along well," Diaz said. "He is only a second year wrestler. He is picking it up at the right time."