Reer wins sixth straight OAC grade-school state title

YOUNGSTOWN — Edison Middle School wrestler Cohen Reer, 12, won his sixth straight Ohio Athletic Committee grade-school state wrestling championship on Sunday at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown. Wrestling at 80 pounds in Division IV, Reer went 5-0 to win the state title. The event came on the heels of the junior high state championships on March 19 where he also went 5-0, giving him 10 straight wins inside the venue over consecutive weekends. He opened his tournament with a 16-1 technical fall over Alex Papp, followed by an 8-0 major decision over Sawyer Breslin. He pinned Damian Kemble in the quarterfinals, then won another major, 10-0, over Mason Mamich in the semifinals. In the state title match, Reer then won a 4-3 decision over Bradley Bauman. Reer, a sixth-grader who trains with Burnett Trained Westling at the Ohio Dawgz facility in Milan, is also a three-time Tulsa Nationals champion and has 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.