Reer wins first junior high state championship

YOUNGSTOWN — Edison Middle School wrestler Cohen Reer, 12, won his first junior high state championship on Sunday at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown. A three-time Tulsa Nationals champion, Reer, a sixth-grader, won five matches at the 78-pound weight class on March 17-19. Grades 6-8 are eligible to wrestle at the yearly event. He opened his tournament with a bye, then won by technical fall (18-3) over James Trentanelli, followed by another technical fall win (15-0) over Carson Wissinger. A third straight TF win by a 15-0 score in the quarterfinals over Bennett Wachter advanced him to the semifinals. Reer won his semifinal, 7-1, over Chance Wuhr, then claimed a 3-0 decision over Bradley Bauman in the state championship match. Reer, who trains with Burnett Trained Westling at the Ohio Dawgz facility in Milan, has also won two prestigious Trinity awards. To be eligible for the Trinity Award, a wrestler must win the Tulsa Kickoff Classic in November, the Tulsa Nationals in January and the Reno Worlds in April — all in the same calendar season. Reer won the Trinity in 2019 and 2021. Earlier this season, Reer — the son of Zac and Lisa of Norwalk — won the 2022 Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals on Oct. 30 in Des Moines, Iowa; the Powerade Junior Nationals on Dec. 28 in Canonsburg, Pa.; and the Tulsa Nationals on Jan. 22. Up next for Reer is the chance at a sixth Ohio Athletic Committee grade-school state championship, set for this weekend (March 25-26) back in Youngstown.