Lake Catholic Wrestlers Prevail Over Mentor In Crosstown Meet

Lake Catholic and Mentor High School don't face eath other in football anymore or boys basketball.

However, their wrestlers still square off annually for a nonconference dual.

For the second year in a row, Lake Catholic came out on top in the crosstown throwdown.

The Cougars won 10 out of 14 matches for a 42-to-19 win.

Mentor pulled to a 9-3 lead after three matches but wins from Jimmy Szep and Kaz Struna began the momentum shift that helped Lake Catholic pull ahead.

The Cougars won all but two of the final 11 matches.

Lake Catholic's Anthony Tutolo, who was second in the state last year, put the nail in the coffin with a 20-5 tech fall against Mentor's Mark Molder.

After a strong start to the season in which Mentor beat Madison 42-21 and won six of seven weight classes, the Cardinals have now dropped two straight duals.

They lost to Perry 47-28 last weekend.

Mentor Coach Jim Capel told The News-Herald that his team's struggles were more mental than physical.

"We need to regroup and focus on some of the mistakes we've been making," Capel said. "I've got to get in their head and have them get over this loss."