South Range wrestling honored for historic season | News, Sports, Jobs

BEAVER TOWNSHIP — The South Range Raiders’ wrestling team won every one of its dual matches during the recently completed regular season, copping their third straight NE-8 Conference and fourth consecutive Division IV EOWL – Eastern Ohio Wrestling League – titles en-route to the program’s first ever and school’s second overall state championship.

Their postseason run was anything but a breeze, according to first-year head coach Dave Markulin.

“I knew this group was something special six years ago when they were part of our youth program,” Markulin told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “We wanted to keep them together, were able to do so and the result is what every high school works toward and that is a state championship. Everything just came together for us at the right time.”

South Range’s season unfolded by winning the Jackson-Milton Tournament for the fourth straight year, the Waterloo Tournament a third-straight time, swept their sectional and district titles then defeated the Edison Chargers, 38-36 for the Division III state crown.

“Our program is barely two decades old and was started in 2000 as a youth club by Hugh Hively,” added Markulin, who joined the program a year later and served as its youth coach until 2015. “We had a team loaded with state caliber wrestlers, a group that tested each other in practice every single day. They beat each other up but when practice ended told one another how much they loved them.”

Markulin served as the program’s junior high coach from 2016-17 then became a varsity assistant coach before assuming the program’s reins this past season.

“My son, Michael, helped me assemble this group of wrestlers 10 years ago and they stuck together,” Markulin stated. “Our team motto this year was ‘stick together’ and that is exactly what they did. Before a match it was 1-2-3 together and after a match they all shouted that same thing. This really was a close-knit unit.”

The eight Raiders’ wrestlers competing individually at state included Hunter Newell (junior, 106 pounds), Clayton Kramer (senior, 126), Ray Cmil (senior, 132), Michael Markulin (senior, 138), Jacob Richardson (junior, 144), Jake Starkey (junior, 157), Logan Cormell (senior, 165) and Chris Colucci (junior, 215), who pinned Edison’s Jacob Thompson midway through the second period to give the Raiders the eventual title.

Individually, Cmil finished runner-up in his weight class with both Newell and Cormell placing seventh.

Markulin’s son, Michael, called the Raiders’ state championship run an unbelievable ride.

“To accomplish this with my father is absolutely surreal,” he noted. “He has been with me every step of the way dating to our time together with the youth program. He believed in not only me, but all of us when we didn’t believe in ourselves. We didn’t go to state to lose and while anything can happen, we had supreme confidence in ourselves.

“My dad told us just to do what we did all season long and we would be fine. It still hasn’t totally sunk in. When we get the state championship banner and it is hoisted to the top of our gymnasium rafters, maybe it will sink in then and we’ll all finally realize just how special an accomplishment this truly was.”

Assisting Markulin this season were Chuck Colucci, Frank Giordano, Don Newell, Sr., Don Newell, Jr., John Richardson, John Tomaino, Chad Turcetta and Jeremy Welker.

Next Monday, Drae Smith, YSU assistant director of athletics who serves as the play-by-play voice of the Penguins’ women’s basketball team, will serve as guest speaker.