Those associated with Team Ohio arrived at the 16U National Duals with guarded optimism about their freestyle squad and its chances of hauling home a title. 

State leaders selected the best roster they thought they could assemble from Ohio’s talent-rich territory. But a COVID-scrambled schedule during the past year added another layer of cloudiness to a team championship picture that’s already murky in most years at this level. 

“It’s not easy to put these teams together,” Ohio coach Todd Haverdill said. “You go to 16U and you don’t know what to expect. We didn’t have a Fargo last year, we didn’t have an Ironman or Beast (of the East). You don’t always know everybody’s lineups. We thought we were bringing a good team, but we weren’t sure.” 

Good might be an understatement. 

Ohio’s Red squad throttled the field during the two-day freestyle tournament in Westfield, Indiana, winning 91 of its 119 individual matches on the weekend while outscoring its seven opponents by a combined 376-127 count on its way to the state’s first freestyle title at the 16U National Duals. 

Ohio completed its title run Sunday with three wins, punctuated by a 41-32 victory in the finals against New Jersey. 

“(Saturday) in the pools, maybe they were a step above those teams and they did their job,” Haverdill said. “But I think (Sunday), when you get into the matches — against Pennsylvania (on Saturday) and (the rest of the Gold/Silver pool on Sunday) — I think they were super-gritty and tough.” 

Ohio got contributions all throughout its lineup, but the upperweights especially helped the Red squad create a tidal wave of momentum. 

Luke Vanadia (182), Carter Neves (195), Max Shulaw (220) and Aidan Fockler (285) each posted a 7-0 record on the weekend and sparked an Ohio run of six consecutive wins that tipped the scales in the finals against New Jersey. 

New Jersey reached the finals by pulling out a 38-34 win against Oklahoma and a 38-32 victory against California. 

“I think our guys competed extremely hard,” New Jersey coach Joe Galante said. “They were faced with a lot of adversity and overcame the majority of it. In the finals, we got outgunned a little bit, but it wasn’t a lack of effort.”