While it might not have been the place he was hoping for, Northmor sophomore Cowin Becker was able to reach the podium for the second straight year in the Division III state wrestling meet — and with a better placement than as a freshman.

Competing at The Ohio State University’s Jerome Schottenstein Center, Becker took sixth place in the 120-pound weight class to finish the year with a 45-7 record.

Becker, who followed his two brothers — three-time placer and state runner-up Conan and two-time placer and state champion Conor — in the Northmor program is still on pace to be the first member of the family to be a four-time state placer, a fact not lost on head coach Scott Carr.

“It’s an accomplishment for sure,” he said. “He’s disappointed, but maybe in a couple weeks he’ll realize what kind of season he put together. It’s kind of bittersweet.”

Part of the reason for Becker’s disappointment was rooted in how his lost his first match on Sunday to wind up in the bout for fifth and sixth place.

Competing against Trevor Wilcox of Otsego, Becker fell into an early hold and found himself trailing 10-0 early in the third period. However, he was able to get out of that predicament and put Wilcox on his back, where he held him in a pinning predicament until the referee stopped the match due to ruling that the Northmor wrestler was cutting off the flow of air to his opponent.

“We had him on his back with 25 seconds left,” said Carr. “The kid’s tapping out and nothing ever changed. The explanation I got was that the kid on the bottom made an adjustment and that put our arm over his throat. Well, our arm was over his throat for 25 seconds. There was nothing to change. Cowin doesn’t get emotional often, but he was pretty emotional and upset after that one.”

He then went against Nathan Attisano of Legacy Christian, who had defeated him in the quarterfinals on Saturday. While the rematch was a bit closer, the end result was the same, with Attisano winning 9-3 to put the Northmor wrestler in sixth place.

To get to that point, Becker went 3-1 in his first four matches in the state meet, with the first three of those contests all being decided by major decision. He opened with a dominating showing against Drew Matthews of Liberty Center, racing out to a 6-0 lead in the first period and increasing that to an 11-0 win.

However, his first match with Attisano didn’t go his way. Late in the first period, the Legacy wrestler hit a five-point move and would then build upon that over the second and third periods in winning by an 11-1 count.

Becker was able to bounce back against Joe Dennis of Black River, though. He tallied five points in the first period to stake himself to a lead. Then, after a scoreless second period, he picked up a reversal and three more back points to win by a 10-0 count.

On Saturday night, he would tally a 4-0 win over Trent Sigler of West Salem Northwestern to assure himself of a higher spot on the podium than in 2022.

While Sunday didn’t go Becker’s way, he’ll still have two more seasons to keep moving up the podium. Teammate Carson Campbell, a freshman, will have three seasons to reach the podium after falling just short at 138 pounds.

Campbell went 1-2 to finish his year at 42-8. Carr felt that the enormity of the moment may have gotten to his athlete, who entered high school after winning a middle school state title as an eighth grader.

The meet got off to a good start for Campbell, who handled Leon Harrison of Cleveland Central Catholic in the opening round. After scoring a takedown to lead 2-0 after two minutes of action, he blew open the match with an escape, takedown and two sets of back points in the second period.

Leading 10-0 going into the third period, he would win 13-3 to make the quarterfinals. However, things would get tougher for Campbell on Saturday.

Against Brayden Brown of Legacy Christian, he suffered a 19-7 loss by major decision. The score was only 2-0 after the first period, but Brown recorded eight takedowns over the final four minutes of the match. He would then suffer a 7-3 loss to Owen Miller of Oak Harbor to see his tournament end.

Carr added that he has optimism for the future of the Northmor program, as there is a very good young nucleus in place with sophomore Becker and a trio of freshmen in Campbell, state qualifier Brady Carr (who was a scratch) and state alternate Ethan Amens.

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS