WRESTLING SECTIONALS Fitch in first place heading into semis

Falcons, with eight wrestlers advancing, lead Madison by 15 1/ 2 points
AUSTINTOWN -- Fitch High School advanced eight wrestlers to the semifinals and leads after the first night of a Division I sectional wrestling tournament.
The Falcons scored 83 1/2 points Friday night, leading second-place Madison, which had 68.
Boardman, with six wrestlers in the semifinals, is fifth with 58 points, and Canfield, with three in the semis, is 10th with 38.
The Falcons who will be trying for championships today -- or at the very least, finishing in the top four to advance to next weekend's district meet at Massillon Perry -- will be Tony Jamieson at 103 pounds, Josh Pankewicz (119), Brian Weidenthal (125), Mike Westhead (130), Nick Bodnar (135), R.J. Donadee (140), Anthony Gigiliotti (145) and Dan Boseman (215).
For Boardman, Anthony Wills (112), Adam Chizmar (119), Jon Green (130), Nick DeMarinis (135), Mike Pasquale (189) and Justin Powell (215) advanced to the semifinals.
Canfield's wrestlers in the semifinals are Brad Benedict (103), Pat McCabe (171) and Nick Rousher (275).
Division II
BELOIT -- Host West Branch, with 84 1/2 points, leads this Division II sectional after one day.
Southeast (65 1/2) is in second place, Hubbard (64) third, Howland (63 1/2) fourth, Liberty (45) seventh, Salem (40 1/2) eighth, Girard (22) 10th and Poland (9) is tied for 11th.
Nine West Branch wrestlers are in the semifinals: Elliot Citino (103), Zach Miller (112), Eric Morrow (119), Brad Learn (135), Andy Lamancusa (140), John Karlen (145), Jeff Karlen (160), Scott Early (215) and Nathan Sharp (275).
For Howland, Paul Mauser (103), Steve Wall (112), Cody Leek (119), Zach McManus (140), Alex Wall (152), Kyle Gantz (215) and Rob Holbert (275) have advanced to the semis.
Hubbard has six in the semifinals -- D.J. Dripps (125), Adam Graban (130), Chris Spear (152), Rob Sullivan (171), Don Nadeja (189) and Brandon Rydarowicz (275).
Liberty and Salem have four wrestlers each in the semis. The Leopards have Stephen Ramsey (103), Zack Martin (112), Rob Webber (145) and Tod Rogers (152), and Salem has Sonn Hostetter (119), Brandon Quinn (125), Mike Manypenny (135) and Ben Andre (171).
Girard's Nick Coggins (171) and Bob Randall (215), and Max Pearce (125) of Poland have also advanced.
Division III
ROOTSTOWN -- Jackson-Milton and Brookfield were first and second, respectively, after the first day of the Division III sectional at Rootstown High.
The Bluejays scored 93 points and advanced 11 wrestlers to the semifinals. Brookfield, with 80 points, has 10 in the semis.
Also, Ursuline is sixth with 32 points and has three wrestlers still alive for a championship. Warren Kennedy is eighth (24 points) and has two wrestlers in the semifinals, and South Range is ninth (22 points) and advanced three to the semifinals.
Jackson-Milton wrestlers going for possible titles today are Jake Hambrick (112), Matt Mascioli (119), Joe Skaggs (125), Adam Gettman (130), Mark Gibbs (135), Nick Tomaino (140), Nick Dierkes (145), Mike Wiseman (152), John Rozum (160), Adam Keck (171) and Jeff Yaratch (275).
Brookfield's semifinal-round wrestlers are Tristan Thompson (112), Justin Miller (119), Brad Harnett (130), Nick Policastro (135), Dave Dillon (140), Ross Tice (145), Randy Hogue (152), Raymond Baum (171), Anthony Policastro (189) and Mike Lake (215).
For Ursuline, Tim Kovalscik (103), Sean Poole (152) and Bradley Parks (215) advanced to the semifinals. They will be joined by JFK's Jim Bluedom (171) and A.J. Seifert (275), and South Range's Nick Sheetz (103), Levi Hively (119) and Andrew Padach (125).