Fitch's Jameson riding high after win over Rini

His rival from Massillon Jackson is looking forward to a rematch.
BY ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AUSTINTOWN -- Easily the most anticipated match of the entire Josh Hephner Memorial Invitational wrestling tournament was Saturday's 119-pound championship bout between Fitch's Tony Jameson and Massillon Jackson's Dante Rini.
Both are returning Division I state placers from 2005, as Jameson won the state title at 103 pounds as a freshman and Rini took third in the same class.
Going into the Hephner final, the rivals had battled four times before, with each winning twice. This was the first meeting between the grapplers this season. Rini beat Jameson in the district finals at Massillon Perry last year.
This time around, Jameson rallied from a 4-2 deficit to earn a thrilling 5-4 victory. The sophomore was the aggressor throughout, but Rini pulled ahead 4-2 with a takedown at the 1:09 mark of the second period.
The match swung Jameson's way with 19 seconds left in the second when he scored an escape point and took Rini down to pull ahead 5-4. He fought off Rini in the final period to preserve the win.
"I expected to beat him, of course," said Jameson. "But I'm not happy that it came down to the final 10 seconds. He almost got me down there at the end, but I was able to scramble out of it. If I hadn't, that would have been it for me.
"I was down, but I had to keep my composure and keep pressing him. The most special thing about this win is that my mom, who just had knee surgery, got out of the hospital today and was able to be here to watch."
While the win keeps Jameson undefeated on the season and registers as just another victory, he believes that it also puts him in a good position for a run at his second straight state championship.
Gains confidence
"If I had lost I'd be disappointed, but obviously I could still win state," he said. "But in my mind, beating him tonight just ensures my chances of winning a state title. In my mind, I'm one step ahead of him at this point. But only winning by one point makes me want to work even harder for next time."
Rini, a junior, is eagerly anticipating getting another crack at Jameson. He believes that should the two meet again in the district or state tournament, the outcome might be different.
He basically said as much to Jameson as the two stood on the awards podium following their title match on Saturday.
"I told him the refs were bad and the match easily should have gone to overtime," said Rini. "There's no way my one two-pointer should have been waived off. He was in his home gym and since he's a defending state champion, no one wanted to see him lose.
"I dominated the match and took him down twice. I gave him three of his five points and the only time he took me down was off my mistake. But we're friends or whatever, so I'll train harder and hopefully we'll both make it to the state finals."