Strong teams, wrestlers vie for EOWL titles

By Eric Hamilton

This weekend’s EOWL wrestling tournament has the potential to one of the most competitive in recent memory, as the field includes several strong teams and a host of returning state placers and qualifiers.

Several weight classes are shaping up to be as loaded as a district tournament.

“It’s definitely anybody’s tournament to win this year,” said Fitch coach Brett Powell, whose team is the defending champion. “It will come down to the second day for sure. I think one of three teams are right up there, but it’s going to come down to who gets the most third and fourth places.

“West Branch is very balanced in their lineup and Howland has a lot of kids that have really gotten better since the beginning of the season. We are a combination of those two teams and if we show up ready to wrestle, we’ll be in the mix.”

Fitch returns two individual champions — Louis Greco (152) and Chris Miller (215). Greco is the top seed at 145 pounds, while Miller is the favorite to repeat at 215.

Shawn Ague is the top seed at 103 pounds, a weight class that will be very competitive. The bracket includes a group of district qualifiers, as well as a state qualifier (Hubbard’s Tanner Thompson) and a junior high state champion (Boardman’s John Dillon).

Another brutal lightweight class is at 119, where the top three seeds have all qualified for state. Brookfield’s Tyler Thompson, a 2008 state placer, is the top seed, followed by 2008 state qualifier Santino Pizzuto (Jackson-Milton) and 2007 state qualifier Jerry Pasquale (Boardman).

At 140 pounds, three of the top four seeds were state qualifiers, including state runner-up Kyle Leek (Howland), who is the No. 1 seed. No. 2 seed Dylan Ice (Beaver Local) is a state placer and No. 3 seed Dan Miller (Brookfield) is a state qualifier. Fitch’s Jake Peterson is the No. 4 seed.

Some of the heavier weight classes will be wide open and will include mostly wrestlers that placed at sectionals and districts in 2008.

The group at 215 is the one that stands out the most. Returning EOWL champion and state qualifier Chris Miller (Fitch) is the bracket’s top seed. District placer Rob Lias (Hubbard) is seeded second.

West Branch will be the favorite to repeat as the team champion in Div. II. The Warriors will fight for the division championship with Alliance, Hubbard and Salem.

The Div. III team title will come down to Girard and Jackson-Milton, which each boast a handful of big-point scorers. The Indians and Blue Jays will get competition from Liberty and Brookfield.

In Div. IV, the championship will be a battle between defending champion South Range and 2008-09 regular season dual meet winner Pymatuning Valley. Warren JFK will seek to play the role of spoiler.

The tournament begins at 5 p.m. on Friday at Fitch High School. Action will continue on Saturday, with the finals slated for Saturday night after the introduction of the 2009 EOWL Hall of Fame class.