If you looked real close, the CVC championship banner won by the West Geauga wrestling team back in 2008 was probably getting a little dusty over time. The 2025-26 Wolverines have taken care of that problem. With a dominating performance in the CVC tournament on Jan. 31, Coach Joe Joltin’s team wo n the program’s first league title in 17 years. Sure, West G has won a handful of divisional championships over the years, but this is the first time the Wolverines have won the whole shebang — including all divisions — since Joe Marino was piloting the program. “I think we came to wrestle and we did what we thought we could do,” Joltin said. “The kids showed up, the kids battled, they scored points, attacked and kept it our brand of wrestling. When we do that, I feel we’re as good as anybody.” The Wolverines crowned four champions — Caden Kaleal at 120, Zander Joltin at 138, Danny Sizler at 144 and Brian Denamen at 165. Two others, Nikita Vlasenko at 132 and Austin Wheatley at 175, placed second, while Daniel Russell (150), Dean Horvath (157) and Blake Welker (190) were third. Maveric Milnar was fourth at 285. Caden Klingman of Berkshire celebrates winning his weight class at the CVC tournament on Jan. 31. (Brian Fisher - For The News-Herald) The mentality going into the tournament was to win it all, and West G did that in dominating fashion. Their 274 points easily outdistanced second-place Perry (201), third-place Berkshire (168) and the rest of the field. “Our coach says to attack, attack, attack if you want to get it done,” Kaleal said after his technical fall win in the finals. “Our guys did that all day yesterday and today.” The dominating performance was a preview of sorts of next weekend’s Division II regional duals. West G and Perry are two of the three teams participating in the Division II regional duals pod on Saturday, Feb. 7 at West Geauga. The third-seeded Pirates face sixth-seeded Padua in the first round, with the winner moving on to face second-seeded West Geauga. The winner of the three-team pod advances to the state dual meet tournament on Feb. 14. “They’re a good team. They’ve depth in every weight class,” said Perry senior heavyweight Trent Taylor. “It’s going to be a great battle next week.” Perry had a strong performance in finishing second in the CVC tournament. The Pirates placed seven wrestlers in the top four, with Cooper Schlauch (126) and Taylor (285) winning individual titles. PHOTOS: CVC wrestling tournament, Jan. 31, 2026 Among the other Pirate placers was senior Chance Schlauch at 157. A fifth-place finisher at the Division II state tournament last year, Schlauch bumped up to 157 from 150 this weekend for the sole purpose of facing Beachwood's Caleb Greenwood, the top-ranked Division III 157-pounder in Ohio. Greenwood held on for a 15-11 win, but said it was anything but easy — and he tipped his cap to Schlauch. "It's always a dog fight," Greenwood said. "I love to scrap with the best, and he's right up there." While reluctantly relinquishing the CVC title to West G, Perry coach Dan Trentanelli said he was pleased with his team's showing and was looking forward to the head-to-head duel next weekend. "I know they want to get back at us after we beat them last year," Trentanelli said. "I'm a West Geauga alumni and I can say this is the best team they've ever had. I love the challenge. It's going to come down to a couple key matches. We'll see which way they go." Fourth-place Berkshire crowned two champions in Caden Klingman (132) and Danny Tiller (190). For sophomore Klingman, it was the first time he's ever wrestled in a high school championship match. He defeated the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds to win his first tourney title. "I love it," Klingman said. "I wasn't expected to win it. I was seeded fourth. I beat the first-seeded kid and kept going harder and harder every time." Fifth-place Madison was led by two champions — Jordan McCullough at 113 and Chase White at 215. White scored a late reversal with six seconds left to top Jefferson's Matthew Webster, 3-2. "He got really good," White said. "I beat him last year pretty good at districts. He got really big and good. It was a good match. (I was thinking) I've got to win it. I beat him before so why not beat him again." Beachwood placed sixth and had three champions — Phoenix Peters at 106, Justin Elwell at 150 and Greenwood at 157. "Last year I came here and didn't place," Elwell said after winning by pin in his final. "It feels great to see the progress from my work." In girls wrestling, Madison won the team title with 179.5 points and Harvey placed second with 108.5 ...read more read less