Bees’ Herman crowned state champion wrestler

by Martin McConnell

The 2022-23 Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Bees wrestling team is, by all statistical measures, one of the best teams in the United States. Ranked as 16th in the country, the Bees excelled under head coach Todd Haverdill throughout the past season.
The team finished third overall at the Ohio High School Athletic Association state finals this season and Haverdill said that throughout the entire season, the team was one of the best he’s ever coached coached during his tenure at BBHHS.

“It was a good year,” he said. “We were a very senior-based team, so we had some veterans. It was a group of kids that we knew, coming up, were pretty special.  The kids were able to perform at the end of the year and we’re super proud of them.”
Haverdill explained that for the third year in a row, his team finished as the state runner-up in the dual-meet portion of the tournament.

Additionally, the school had four finalists at the state tournament, including newly crowned state champion, senior Brock Herman.
Herman, who Haverdill said has experienced a winding road to his state title, was also named the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the state of Ohio. The equivalent of a Mr. Football or Mr. Basketball award, Herman is the first Bee to win a state award of that caliber in any sport, Haverdill said. “(Herman) ended the year, I think, 46-1,” he said. “And his one loss, he avenged that loss in the state semifinals. Brock was able to flip that loss and I think that says a lot about Brock as a person. Any time you can flip a loss, I think it says something about you mentally, and how you handled your training.”

According to Haverdill, the state of Ohio is one of the best states for high school wrestling in the country.
“I don’t want to knock any other state, but if you win a title in Ohio, it’s something special,” he said. “(It was special) just to see Brock kind of get the weight off his shoulders in the semis and avenge that loss and be able to wrestle free in the finals.”

Along with Herman, senior Max Vanadia finished as a state runner-up, as did ninth-grade star Rylan Seacrist and freshman female phenom Anna Madi. Haverdill spoke highly of all of his finalists, but specifically singled out Madi’s work as a freshman women’s wrestler with the Bees. He called Madi truly “special,” and a trailblazer for Brecksville’s program.

“I don’t know how to put it into words,” he said of Madi. “I think we’re truly blessed to be dealing with Anna in terms of embarking into this women’s wrestling world. It’s the fastest growing sport in our country right now.”
Madi, who trained with the male wrestlers for the entire year, is shaping up to be one of the faces of the women’s wrestling movement in Ohio. Still only a freshman, Haverdill says he has high hopes for the young athlete as she continues to improve.

“I could talk about [Madi] for hours,” he said. “She’s different, in a good way. She’s special. Not to put our program on a pedestal, but she’s training with boys that are on a team that’s ranked in the top 16 in the United States of America.”

Freshman Rylan Seacrist, at 106 pounds, took second in the state to sophomore Ethan Timar of St. Edwards with a score of 5-3.

At 215 pounds, BBHHS senior Max Vanadia took second in the state to senior Dylan Russo of Olentangy Liberty High School with a score of 7-0.

Other placers include 113-pound junior Brett Stanley, seventh place; 132-pound senior Kaden Jett, fifth place; 150-pound junior David Zambounis, eighth place; 157-pound sophomore Evan Rizzo, fifth place; and 175-pound senior Luke Vanadia, third place.

Other state qualifiers include freshman Jace Jett, senior Chase Pluhar and sophomore Riley McPherson.  ∞