For the past decade and a half, Olympic Heights High School has been molding a wrestling program full of perseverance, strength, and motivation among athletes. The program was established by Mr. Frank D’annunzio, OH assistant principal, who coached approximately 13 years. In continuing Mr. D’annunzio’s legacy, Coach Leevy Mears has worked to elevate the wrestling program for the past 16 years. Both of these coaches have played an important role in helping student-athletes become their best on and off the mat.
These athletes have shown their excellence through their prosperous achievements. “Our wrestling team has a great history with 43 state place winners for the boys and 11 state place winners for the girls,” Coach Mears shares. The Olympic Heights wrestling team continues to demonstrate talent and dedication throughout these accomplishments. This year’s group of athletes helped to uphold these high standards by putting on a performance that yielded four state-place winners. Not only does this show the remarkable coaching and dedication among these athletes, it also ties to be the second-highest number of state-place winners in the history of the Olympic Heights wrestling program.
Within this wrestling team, there is a diverse variety of different weight classes. Athletes of all shapes, sizes, and heights are able to participate because of this flexibility. For the male class, there are 14 different weight classes ranging from the 106-pound weight class all the way to the 285-pound weight class. This allows every competitor an equal chance and opportunity to be fairly matched with competitors. Similarly, the female division has 14 different weight classes, which start at the 100-pound category and increase in intervals to the 235-pound division. Every member on the team is able to thrive and compete within their own comfortable category. In addition, with the FHSAA officially sanctioning the sport two years ago, women’s wrestling has grown incredibly and has influenced many young women to participate in the newly sanctioned sport.
The 2023-2024 wrestling team accomplished outstanding victories. From the District Duals to the Viper Classic, the team thoroughly competed against and defeated its competitors. Furthermore, the team placed 13th in the state, which is a great accomplishment. The Lions beat the Wellington Wolverines 30-28 in the District Duals to be crowned the district champions. Four players on the team were titled state-place winners. These wrestlers include Alex Schnobrick (113), Adriel Pina (132), Matt Archambault (150), and Stefan Povsic (165). Stefan Povsic was the only wrestler who had wrestled all four years of his high school career. The students under Mears’ coaching are not only exceptional wrestlers, but they also are great academic students.
Wrestling is a very active sport that requires focus and strength to overcome physical – and mental – obstacles in order to win. Coach Mears describes the sport as being filled with “fun and [challenges].” He also relays that the sport does require great heaps of “self-sacrifice and discipline,” but once the wrestler’s body is able to endure the pain and suffering, athletes will do nothing but thrive in the Olympic Heights Wrestling program, especially under the wing of Coach Mears.
