Cornell cousins part of PC's record group

PORT CLINTON — Port Clinton will be sending its largest-ever contingent to the district wrestling tournament. It helps that three of the bunch are Cornell cousins, part of a big PC extended family that has been prepping them for moments like these essentially their whole lives. "When I was in kindergarten, everybody was older than me besides Jace, so I got beat up a little bit," Gavin Cornell said. "But now, we're all pretty even. We all go back and forth." The three district-qualifying Cornells are junior Josh, sophomore Gavin and freshman Jace. They were part of a wrestling room this season that included Josh's senior brother Skyler and the fathers of both Josh (also Josh) and Gavin (Dustin) as assistant coaches. "It's always fun with them," Josh said. "We always beat each other up." Port Clinton is sending eight wrestlers to the Division III district tournament on Friday and Saturday at Rossford, where the top four finishers in each weight class advance to state. Malakii Pinkelton (165), Dagan Meyers (215) and Bryce Copeland (285) were all sectional champions, like Gavin (132). Reilly Laird (175) and William Jackson (144) are also part of the octet still competing. "The kids have done the work, and it's grown each year," PC coach Adam Hicks said. "We snuck a few in that nobody was expecting. Dagan and Bryce's (sectional) championship matches were just electric." Having a bunch of talented relatives in the same wrestling room, especially so close in weight, can get quite chippy. They don't like losing to each other. "I hate losing to family," Josh said. "Losing to family, it bothers me sometimes," Gavin added. "Somedays we come in and start fighting... Just getting beat by each other sets us off really bad." In the long run, though, it's the kind of thing that has to make each of the Cornells better. They've watched their family that came before them, and they've been there to push each other in all forms of competitions since as long as they can remember. "It's nice, because I pick up off of the things that they do and I learn off of them," Jace said. Josh is a returning state qualifier who ranked in the top 10 in the state at 120 pounds for most of the season. He placed third at the sectional in a tough weight class, giving himself a little extra work to do to make it back to Columbus. "It's just have fun," Josh said. "Make every opportunity count." BoroFanOhio.net currently projects Josh to be one of three state qualifiers to come out of just that Oak Harbor sectional, along with Otsego's Trevor Wilcox and Oak Harbor's Bodee Miller. "Josh's biggest thing is just to believe in himself," Hicks said. "Once he has confidence and goes out, you can see the difference in him. When he goes out and believes and trusts in his offense, he's hard to beat." Gavin, at 132, could get a rematch at some point with Lakota's Lane Thacker, who defeated him in the SBC final. St. Paul's Casper Caizzo also looms large at 132. "(Gavin) is really coming into his own," Hicks said. "His championship match at sectionals is probably the best that we've seen him." For his part, Gavin is peaking at the right time. "When I'm on top, I'm pretty good," Gavin said. "Coaches are preaching that I need to shoot more, because I don't shoot that much." Jace is taking this first varsity postseason as a learning experience. "I want to go in there, possibly win a couple, but if not go in there knowing I made it as a freshman, which is still a huge deal," Jace said. "If I lose, I lose. if I win, I win. It is what it is." The freshman is in a strong 126-pound bracket but could benefit from the idea that he doesn't yet know what he doesn't know. "He's playing with house money," Hicks said. "... He's another kid that is wrestling his best right now. The pressure is off." It's just the start of late-season accomplishments for this trio of Cornell cousins, which will be intact next winter, too. Another whole season of wrestling one another can only lead to even bigger things. And no matter what happens on those district mats, they'll always have the chance at various kinds of pride amongst one another. "Once you beat them, you get bragging rights until we wrestle again," Jace said. "It's nice." --- Port Clinton district qualifiers Weight&emsp;Wrestler&emsp;Record 120&emsp;Josh Cornell&emsp;36-7 126&emsp;Jace Cornell&emsp;21-18 132&emsp;Gavin Cornell&emsp;35-8 144&emsp;William Jackson&emsp;29-19 165&emsp;Malakii Pinkelton&emsp;34-8 175&emsp;Reilly Laird&emsp;32-15 215&emsp;Dagan Meyers&emsp;35-7 285&emsp;Bryce Copeland&emsp;16-8