Poland Wrestling

POLAND WRESTLING

For years, the Poland High wrestling program consisted of two brothers — Max and Ben Pearce. Each not only carried the school’s banner by themselves, but even qualified for the state tournament. The trail they blazed has finally paid off - Poland now has a wrestling “team.”

The Bulldogs are fielding a varsity squad for the first time this winter, already finding success. Poland is currently 4-4, having won its first two matches against East Ohio Wrestling League opponents Brookfield and Warren JFK.

“We kind of knew at the end of last year that we might have enough kids for a full team,” said coach John Saxon. “We had a few kids wrestle at sectionals last year and we had a good group coming up from middle school. We even have some seniors who are wrestling because they are excited that we have a program.”

Poland’s numbers are good for its first season, with 22 wrestlers on the roster. Of those, 10 are freshmen. With the majority of his team inexperienced, Saxon says that the season’s goals are pretty basic.

“For the couple kids that wrestled last year, they just want to improve on last year’s records,” said Saxon. “We’d like to see them place at the EOWL tournament and maybe make it to districts. We know we probably won’t have a winning record, but I want these kids to see what the sport is about. I keep telling them that this is football — without the ball or the pads.”

The Bulldogs wil be led by veterans Adam Shields (119 pounds) and Dan Kreastsoulas (171). Shields competed at sectionals last season and took sixth in his weight class (top four advance to districts).

“We have some kids who have wrestled very little and wouldn’t know a wrestling mat if it smacked them in the face,” said Saxon. “But a few others have wrestled a bit. We’re trying to keep a little bit of a balance there in practice.”

Poland will compete in Division II of the EOWL along with West Branch, Alliance, Hubbard and Salem.

SWIMMING TEAM

The Poland High boys and girls swim team will look to continue its success this winter with a squad of 32 competitors, including 26 girls. The program lost several seniors from last year’s squad, but return several district qualifiers.

The team is paced by district qualifiers Becca Stewart (200 IM), Brian Cowles (200 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay, 200 frestyle relay) and Ian Harker (100 fly, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay).

“We lost a lot of seniors, but we have a lot of junior girls back,” said coach Kelli Hunter, who enters her fifth year as the Poland swim coach. “Our times are better right now than they were at this time last year. We’re using these early meets as building blocks for the big sectional meet. We’re just trying to improve our times every time out.”

Poland had one state qualifier last season in Tricia Valinger. She placed sixth in the state in the 1 meter diving event as a junior. She’s back this winter hoping for a shot at a state championship in the diving event.

The Bulldogs compete in the NE Ohio district this year at the University of Akron. The state meet is contested at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton.