Pins lead Canfield wrestlers to win

By Eric Hamilton

The Cardinals defeated the Boardman Spartans, 42-25, in a dual meet.

BOARDMAN — For the Canfield High wrestling team, winning isn’t enough.

After listening to their coaches harp on the importance of looking for opportunities to pin their opponents, the Cardinals executed that strategy well Saturday against Boardman.

Canfield won eight matches against the Spartans — including five by pin — to outscore host Boardman 42-25 and earn an EOWL dual victory.

“We drill that to the kids every day in practice,” Canfield coach Dean Conley said. “We tell them to always look for the pin. You can be losing a match 14-0, but if you can catch a guy, you can get the pin and the win.

“This was a big win for us,” Conley said. “We’re a little banged up because of our tough schedule in December, but I think Boardman was, too.”

The Cardinals won the first four bouts of the match — all by pin. Canfield got pins by Vince Dangerfield (152 pounds), Aron Brenner (160), Phil Dastolfo (171) and Cody Hartman (189).

That run gave Canfield a commanding 24-0 lead out of the gate.

Boardman trimmed the deficit to 24-12 with pinfall wins by Noah Patoray (215) and Tim Taumopeau (275).

Two Canfield victories stretched its lead back out to 33-12 heading into the meat of the Boardman lineup.

The Spartans’ top wrestlers each delivered victories at 119, 125 and 130 pounds. Junior Jerry Pasquale defeated Alex Benedict 4-2, senior Chris Lorimer notched a 9-0 triumph over Rob Reed and Ricky Zupko beat Leo Daprile 4-2.

That victory got Boardman within 33-22 before Canfield won two of the final three bouts to secure the victory.

“I think our team has done great so far,” said Brenner, who recently placed at the highly-regarded Medina Invitational. “We’ve had some young guys step up and win matches.

“In my match today, I was more going for the pin to try to get us the bonus team points. It’s just a matter of hitting the right moves. I feel pretty good — I have a few bumps and bruises, but I’m ready to keep going.”

Brenner’s victory came against tough competition in Boardman senior Weston Rajkovich, who was a placewinner at last week’s Kenston Invitational.

“That was a big win for Aron over a good wrestler,” Conley said. “We were sort of counting on a win there, but not necessarily a pin.”

Canfield is 2-1 in EOWL Division I dual matches while Boardman fell to 0-3.