Saturday, December 20, 2008
Fitch’s Powell wins 200th: Fitch coach Brett Powell won his 200th career dual match last Saturday when the Falcons defeated rival Boardman. Powell is in his 23rd season as a head coach and is a member of the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame.
EOWL standings: Howland (2-0) defeated Fitch and Boardman last Saturday to take the early advantage in the Division I standings. Fitch (3-1) already has faced each big-school opponent. Canfield is 1-1 with a win over Beaver Local (0-2), which is tied with Boardman (0-2).
Back on the mat: Former state champion Justin Powell (Boardman) will finally be back on the mat for Ohio University on Dec. 29 after being out of action last season because of multiple concussions and a staph infection. The redshirt freshman has wrestled just 1 1/2 college matches since graduating from Boardman in 2007. He was just released to begin wrestling and will report back to campus on Dec. 26.
Coaching carousel: There are several new coaches on the mat this season. Mike Nemkovich has taken over as the head coach at Brookfield and Darren Ross has the top post at Warren JFK. Among new assistant coaches, the biggest name is Derick Fletcher, who has joined the Canfield staff. Fletcher comes back to the Mahoning Valley after eight years as the head coach at Ravenna. He coached the Ravens to Division II runner-up honors in 2006-07 and has mentored 16 state qualifiers and 10 state placers, including two state champs and two state runner-ups.
Fletcher was a state placer when he wrestled for Fitch High and he was inducted into the EOWL Hall of Fame in 2008.
No wrestling at Ursuline: Wrestling has been on-again, off-again at Ursuline for several years. The Irish fielded a team in 2007-08, with several wrestlers advancing to districts. But this season, there will be no wrestling at Ursuline. The reason for not fielding a team is up for debate, but a school official said the school could not field a complete lineup. The school will address the status of the wrestling program on a yearly basis.
Building for the future: United Local High School does not offer wrestling as a winter sport, but that could change in the next few years. The community has a youth wrestling program that is drawing a lot of interest. The biggest obstacle the district is facing in adding wrestling as a varsity sport is the lack of facilities. According to school officials, “We just don’t have the room right now, I think it’s just a matter of time. We need the facilities for it first.”
Eric Hamilton