Fitch battles to the lead in first day of EOWL meet

The Fitch Falcons put eight
wrestlers into the semifinals today.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

CANFIELD — Despite not entering a wrestler at 130 pounds due to illness and losing potential points due to six first-round byes, the Fitch High wrestling team found a way to move to the top of the team standings after the first day of the EOWL Tournament Friday at Canfield.

The Falcons, ranked sixth in the state in Division I, have the most semifinalists with eight. Howland and West Branch each advanced seven, while Boardman takes six into the semis.

An overall team champion will be crowned tonight as well as titles for the top team in each division. In Division II, West Branch leads the field, while Girard is tops in Division III and South Range is at the head of the class in Division IV.

Regardless of division, the top five schools are Fitch, Howland, West Branch, Boardman and Girard.

“Our whole team’s been sick with that flu that’s going around,” Fitch coach Brett Powell said. “We only had six varsity kids wrestling Thursday night against GlenOak. Three days ago, I didn’t know if I’ve even have six kids here.

“But the kids are showing a lot of heart being here and the ones that are here are wrestling hard for the ones that couldn’t make it. That’s what the kids on this team do — they take care of each other.”

For the most part, the higher seeds in each bracket prevailed. Thirteen of the 14 top seeds won their first-round matches. It is still feasible that all but one weight class final could feature the top two seeds in each bracket.

Hubbard’s Nick Nadeja pulled off the biggest upset of the day Friday, knocking off Beaver Local’s Mitch Thompson in the 119-pound bracket. Thompson finished eighth in the state in Division II last year.

“Everyone told me he was good, but I thought I was capable of winning,” said Nadeja. “He’s a senior and I’m a freshman, so this really gives me confidence. I knew all he wanted to do was tie up, so I thought if I could avoid that I could win.

“They call me a ‘barman’ because I like to lock up on top and use a lot of arm bars and chicken wings. I seem to get a lot of pins that way. I’ve worked really hard this year and I just expect myself to win.”

Day Two of the tournament begins today at 10 a.m. The finals will begin at 6 p.m. after the induction of the 2008 EOWL Hall of Fame.