K.O. DRUGS Tournament's halfway point is Wednesday

Seven of Boardman High's 11 boxers will be in the upperclass division.
HUBBARD -- Wednesday night at the Hubbard High School gymnasium there will be 50 bouts, including 18 underclass and 32 upperclass, for the third night of the K.O. Drugs High School Boxing Tournament.
This marks the midway point of the tournament and is the last of the double-elimination portion. Next week is the semifinal round.
Of the 100 fighters scheduled to compete, there are 11 each from Boardman and Austintown Fitch, with nine coming from Campbell Memorial, eight from Pennsylvania, 21 from the Trumbull Athletic Conference and 14 from the Metro Athletic Conference.
Heavyweight clash
A top upperclass heavyweight bout has Hubbard's Dave Phillips against Josh Milick from Boardman, after both had victories last week in exciting bouts.
Upperclass cruiserweight bouts have Mike Marvin from Liberty, back after a first-week win, against Corey Pabst from Austintown Fitch, and Matt Kunkle from Mathews -- who lost to Marvin in a tough fight and then gained a default win last week -- against hard-punching Jose Mateo from Campbell Memorial.
Among the light-heavyweights in the upperclass is Campbell's Dan Stucky in his first bout this year after winning the underclass light-heavy crown last year.
Another champion from last year is Dwayne Pompey from Woodrow Wilson, who won by default last week and will be in action in an upperclass middleweight bout against Anthony Girardi from Austintown Fitch.
Seven of the 11 Boardman boxers will be upperclassmen with plenty of K.O. Drugs experience. Junior middleweight Kiez Smith, super lightweight Cameron Cimino and lightweight Marc Schiavoni headline the group. They are all former tournament champions; Schiavoni returned as a senior following a two-year hiatus after he won an underclass title when he was a freshman. If he wins his lightweight bout with Jeremiah Bowser from Sharpsville, who was a finalist last year, and if Nele Booth from Boardman also wins his lightweight bout, a pair of Spartans could be fighting for a title.
Eyeing second wins
Among the underclassmen are Tom Peluso from Struthers, David Castronova from Fitch and Rob Cox from Boardman in junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight fights, respectively. All are going for second victories, as is one of last year's underclass champions, Mike Rosa of Chaney, a slugger who came away with a light-heavyweight win last week.
The doors open at 6 p.m. with the first bout at 7. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for students.