Wrestlers Peterson, Brenner advance; Austintown female eliminated

By Mark Miller

Sarah Guerrier is the first Fitch High girl in to compete in a sectional tournament.

AUSTINTOWN — For the second time this season Jake Peterson of Fitch High School pinned Curtis Overholt of Kent Roosevelt, winning in 1 minute, 5 seconds in a second-round match at the Division I sectional wrestling tournament Friday in the Falcons’ gymnasium.

There were four rounds in the first day of competition with Twinsburg taking the lead with 92.5 points. Fitch, the defending champ, was second with 79. Solon was third with 77 and Canfield was fourth with 62 in the field of 12 schools. Action continued this morning at 9 a.m. Championships and consolations were set for 3:30 p.m.

A 140-pound senior, Peterson (31-8) also pinned Overholt two weeks ago in the Josh Hephner tournament. He takes on Canfield’s Joel Amendolara in a semifinal match today. Peterson beat Amendolara 5-3 earlier this season.

“I need to win that match and hopefully go on to win the sectional title,” said Peterson. “Amendolara is strong, has improved a lot and it should be a good match.”

Peterson placed sixth at district last year, just missing a trip to the state tournament, and said that his main goal all season has been making it to and placing in the top two at state.

“Most of our team are upperclassmen, mostly seniors and juniors, and we’ve known each other and wrestled together since the sixth grade,” said Peterson. “We are good friends and hang out together after each match.”

Aron Brenner, a senior at Canfield, got off to a good start in the 152-pound class. He pinned Nathan Davis of Lakeside (1:12) and Nick Stofan of Riverside (3:59) to reach the semis where he’ll go against Justin Hall of Hudson.

“It felt real good getting those pins, said Brenner (33-3). “I wrestled good and I am healthy and that counts a lot.

“We have seven guys with a lot of potential and would like to win the team title and send as many as possible to district,” said Benner. “We are very close, good friends, always pushing everybody.”

Sarah Guerrier, a sophomore, is the first girl to wrestle varsity for Fitch in the sectional tournament. She lost twice at 103 pounds and was eliminated on Friday.

She lost a major decision to Canfield’s Ethan Olson, 15-3, and was pinned by Anthony Guy of Stow in 2:30.

“It was awesome when I was told by my coaches I would wrestle in the sectionals,” said Guerrier. “I didn’t know it was that big.

“Being the first Fitch girl to wrestle in the sectional, the guys were kind and supported me because they knew how dedicated I am about wrestling.

“I had been wrestling junior varsity at 112 pounds, but dropped down to 103 to wrestle varsity.”

Guerrier won the 103-pound championship at the Eastern Ohio Wrestling League’s junior varsity meet last week.

She carries a 3.8 grade point average and will be competing in a girls wrestling league starting next week and she also runs cross country and track at Fitch.

Other area athletes reaching the semis were John Dillon (8-0) of Boardman at 103; Shawn Ague (25-6) of Fitch at 112; Jerry Pasquale (23-5) of Boardman at 119; Robby Reed (29-8) of Canfield at 119; Chris Lorimer (21-9) of Boardman at 125; Scott Satterlee (23-11) of Fitch at 125; Rick Zupko (24-11) of Boardman at 130; Nick Graziani (13-10) of Boardman at 135; Louis Greco (34-3) of Fitch at 145, Vince Dangerfield (14-10) of Canfield at 145; Weston Rajkovich (19-7) of Boardman at 160; Andy Koch (15-10) of Fitch at 171; Joe Perkins (14-11) of Fitch at 189; Cody Hartman (28-8) of Canfield at 189; Chris Miller (33-4) of Fitch at 215 and Bobby Phillips (15-12) of Fitch at 285.

miller@vindy.com