Lorain County All-Star Wrestling: Elyria's Jaelyn Green named Senior Girls Wrestler of Year

AVON LAKE — Elyria senior Jaelyn Green could have felt snake-bit and quit wrestling after season-ending injuries her freshman and sophomore years.A broken collarbone sidelined her for the postseason her freshman year. A torn meniscus short-circuited her postseason hopes as a sophomore.Resolve wouldn't allow Green to hang it up. She came back more determined and dedicated than ever.The commitment paid off with two state-qualifying performances, including a fourth-place finish at 145 pounds Sunday in Columbus.For her efforts Green was honored as the girls recipient of the Paul Reynolds Trophy for Senior Wrestler of the Year on Wednesday at the 44th annual Lorain County Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association All-Star Meet.Green was also recognized with two other awards. She was the county's female pin champion with 38 this season, and one of seven scholarship winners thanks to her 3.4 gpa."It feels good. I actually wasn't expecting all these awards. It's kind of a shock but it feels pretty good," said Green. "The thing that sticks out is how I've adapted, how wrestling has changed me. It taught me a lot of lessons. I don't look at the wins and losses as much as how far I've come since my freshman year."Green was tested right down to the wire.She suffered a sprained right ankle running wind sprints at practice March 11, just 48 hours before the start of the state tournament at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center."It changed me a lot. I overcame injuries," Green said of wrestling. "It made me tougher, made me a better athlete, made me a better person. It just did a lot for my life."Elyria girls coach Paul Felton was especially concerned after Green turned the ankle."We weren't even sure that she was going to wrestle at state," said Felton. "We had her on crutches from Wednesday night until weigh-ins on Friday. She had a golf ball-size bruise on her ankle. It bruised her whole foot. We went to the trainers at Ohio State and they taped her all up. Our trainers at the school did a great job of working with her hours after hours trying to get as much pressure out as they could so she could be able to walk. You wouldn't know she was injured the way she wrestled in the tournament."Green wasn't going to let anything derail her mission at state."After my sophomore year, especially after seeing how much improvement I made, I could tell that I had a lot to go on this journey. I just decided that I had to keep on pushing," she said. "It (to be on the podium at state) felt great. It felt like my hard work paid off."Green finished the season with a 55-9 record, which included a 3-2 mark at the state tournament on the way to fourth place."I definitely wasn't as scared this year coming out of the tunnel. I knew what to expect," said Green, who plans to wrestle at John Carroll. "I just got it done this year.""Jaelyn actually had two very good seasons her first two years," said Felton. "Neither one of the injuries did she cry. That was tough. I didn't know if she was going to come back after that."With two major injuries like that she could have easily hung it up. She could have hated the sport after that. She's a good softball player as well. I think if anything it helped her dial in a little bit more. It made her work a lot harder. She had to come back from those injuries to play softball. She did a good job coming back and both times didn't miss the full softball season."Winning sectionals and districts, plus a top-five finish at the state duals, were huge accomplishments for the Elyria girls. For their efforts, Felton was recognized as Lorain County Girls Wrestling Coach of the Year."The seniors have meant a lot to the program," he said. "Seraiah (Jackson), Kira (Maassen) and Jaelyn have been with the program four years. Emilie (Conley) came in as a sophomore, Khloee (Washington) as a junior. Those girls have meant a lot to the program. They helped to build a huge foundation for our team."Avon senior Eian Englehart (215), Buckeye senior Blake Bartos (138) and Columbia senior Michael Frye (120) were the Divisions I, II and III wrestlers of the year on the boys side. Lorain's Dan Findley (Division I), Elyria Catholic's Mick Burnett (Division II) and Black River's Blake Owen (Division III) won coach of the year.Englehart along with Keystone's Justin Rounds and Sage O'Brien (145) were scholarship winners.Elyria Catholic freshman Grady Moos (106), the Panthers' first state champ since Scott Burnett in 1996, '97 and '98, was also honored at the all-star meet. Moos won the Division II state title Sunday with a 14-7 win over Wapakoneta junior Zane Russell."That was probably the most fun I've ever had wrestling," Moos said of the state tournament. "There were a lot of people watching. I wasn't even really that nervous honestly. I knew that all the work was done. I did a lot of work over the span of a year. I knew that I was ready for that moment. Win or lose my family is still going to have my back, my friends are going to have my back."Moos finished the season 41-4."It's been amazing," he said. "All the support has been super overwhelming. I'm just super glad. It's super cool. I wish I could have wrestled tonight but I'm still super banged up from the weekend. It's super cool all the support from all the people all over, not just from Elyria Catholic but all the schools in the area."A lot of people are never able to do what I was able to do as a freshman. To go out and win it was a super cool moment."Burnett was extremely proud of his standout freshman, particularly how Moos battled a lingering flu bug."Right before districts Grady got very sick," said Burnett. "Last year he wrestled at 88 pounds. He worked hard all summer and bulked up to 110. Then he got sick right before districts. It was like a flu thing where he couldn't keep anything down. He got back down to 105. On the third day of the tournament those guys have all weighed out. The guy he wrestled at the tournament probably weighed 120 pounds and Grady was 105. To deal with being 15 pounds down it can be intimidating. He didn't let that get to him."He handled it like a champion. He got his payoff. He got what he works for. It doesn't always work out like that. I'm super happy for him. I'm super happy for his family. Little kids that are wrestling, he is somebody that is a great role model to look up to and see how he does things."Three individuals were honored as inductees to the Lorain County Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame.Dean Wright (Wellington, class of 1991) was second at state at 140 and 89-31-2 for his career. JJ Miller (Wellington, 1989), was third at state at 189 and 59-17. Ben Darmstadt (Elyria, 2016) was a two-time state champ, an All-American at 195 and went 175-17.Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.BOYS1st place106: Otero (Lorain) def. Valerino (Avon Lake)113: Rosario (Lorain) def. Huston (Clearview)120: C. Bartos (Buckeye) def. Grieger (Avon Lake)126: McKee (Buckeye) def. Morris (Midview)132: Tomecko (Lorain) def. Bristow (Avon Lake)138: Lademann (Avon Lake) def. Williams (Clearview)144: Letner (Buckeye) def. Gill (Avon Lake)150: Patterson (Avon Lake) def. Hassler (Elyria)157: Ieropoli (Avon Lake) def. A. Kyser (Vermilion)165: Peace (Avon Lake) def. K. Hendershot (Black River)175: Ware (Buckeye) def. Laboy (Lorain)190: Koberna (Black River) def. Kunzelman (Avon Lake)215: I. Kyser (Vermilion) def. Llado (Brookside) 285: Weitzel (Avon) def. Moskal (Black River)3rd place106: Joy (Buckeye) def. Schabel (Avon Lake)113: Bockmore (North Ridgeville) def. Elton (Avon Lake)126: Gannon (Avon Lake) def. Szjoka (Black River)132: Juszczyk (Vermilion) def. Costlow (Midview)138: Sumpter (Wellington) def. Herrick (Black River)144: Greenhill (North Ridgeville) vs. Gill (Avon Lake). result unavailable150: Florczyk (North Ridgeville) def. Lopez (Brookside)157: Burke (Cloverleaf) def. Bernath (Elyria)165: Schumacher (Avon) def. Locker (Buckeye)175: Nagy (North Ridgeville) by forfeit190: Patton (Brookside) def. Davila (Lorain)215: Young (Lorain) def. D. Hendershot (Black River)285: Amsden (Avon Lake) by forfeitGIRLS100: Otero (Lorain) def. Cabot (Avon Lake)105: Jordan (Avon Lake) by forfeit110: Campbell (Elyria) def. Rosario (Lorain)115: Feltis (Vermilion) def. Sanfilippo (North Ridgeville)120: Craig (Avon Lake) def. Costlow (Midview)125: Frederick (Vermilion) def. Craddock (Cloverleaf)130: Guidicelli (Elyria) def. Post (Avon Lake)135: Hawkins (Elyria) by forfeit140: Phillips (Lorain) def. Willig (Cloverleaf)145: Ryncarz (Cloverleaf) def. Habermehl (Vermilion)155: Owen (Black River) def. Wilson (Keystone)170: Jackson (Elyria) def. Kirkpatrick (Midview)190: Maassen (Elyria) by forfeit 235: Washington (Elyria) by forfeit