Greco-Roman wrestling is back in Ohio!

Not that it ever left, but the Buckeye state made a statement with 16U national champions in Loc Webber (100 pounds) and Alex Taylor (215) and runners-up in Eli Esguerra (157) and Danny Zmorowski (215).

“Team Ohio is really good and Greco is really growing,” Webber said. “I love how Team Ohio is bringing all these coaches together and making it bigger.”

Those coaches are making it better as well with 12 All-Americans between the 16U and Junior teams.

If that sounds like a lot, it’s the most for Team Ohio since 2005 (16) and ranks fifth behind 2002 (15), 2008 (15) and 2001 (14).

Weston Borgers (4th, 120), Michael Boyle (5th, 190), Chandler Moore (5th, 190) and Caige Horak (8th, 165) were All-Americans in the 16U bracket.

“It is an exciting time for Ohio Greco right now,” Team Ohio Greco director Art Kallai said. “Greco-Roman wrestling was a bit of an afterthought for a while in Ohio. I was elected to this position in the fall of 2022 and told the coaches I was dedicated to bringing Greco back. With the help of a core group of hardworking coaches, we are developing a system throughout the state. 

Dmytro Chubenko (3rd, 138), Maksym Chubenko (3rd, 144), Mustafa Woodi (4th, 285) and Jonathan Sims (8th, 175) added to the great weekend with All-American performances at the Junior level.

There was even an All-Buckeye with Taylor and Zmorowski. Taylor, who also won 16U freestyle, won 3-1 to close out the tournament for Ohio.

“We had more champions than freestyle,” Taylor said. “Ohio Greco is taking off. We’re headed in the right direction.”

That’s hard to argue with Team Ohio grabbing a dozen stop signs for the second straight year.

“We are speaking the same language and teaching the same techniques and it is paying dividends,” Kallai said. “We have wrestled in the Junior National Duals the last two years and finished in the top 10 this year and our U14 team were National runners-up. This is only the beginning for Greco in Ohio and I look forward to continue helping these kids be successful on the national level.”