Bluejays having fun at state meet

By Joe Scalzo

Jackson-Milton is guaranteed to have all five qualifiers place in the top eight in their weight.

COLUMBUS — With a crutch under one arm and a noticeable limp in his step, Jackson-Milton High wrestling coach Dave Tomaino took a breather alongside a back hallway of the Schottenstein Center after a long, hectic, stressful, grueling, wonderful day.

“I’m floating on Cloud Nine right now,” said Tomaino, who is guaranteed to have five state placers for the first time in school history. “There’s hardly any pain in my hip.”

Tomaino had his hip replaced last June, the first of five surgeries following a nasty bout with a staph infection, and his doctor would rather see him sitting in a recliner than coaching wrestlers.

But, then, he would have missed all the fun.

The Bluejays are in 10th place in Division III after Friday’s second day of competition at the state wrestling meet. They’ve never been on the board before and for much of the day, they were listed as NJ Jackson.

“I made sure they put up Jackson-Milton to represent both communities,” said Tomaino. “Plus I’m a Milton Township trustee, so that may have had something to do with it.”

For the second time in school history, Jackson-Milton qualified five wrestlers for state competition. All five are guaranteed a top-eight finish — two better than the school’s previous best.

One of those wrestlers, senior Dan Clawson, won his first two matches and still has a chance to finish as high as third, provided he wins twice today.

“I was so stoked when I found out we’d have five guys place,” he said.

“That’s something to be crazy excited about.”

Particularly at a school like Jackson-Milton, which has struggled lately in sports such as football (which Clawson plays) and basketball.

Wrestling is a point of pride, both for the wrestlers and the district.

“Even on the down years, we qualify a couple guys for state,” said Clawson, who could play defensive end in college. “I’d love to see the football team jump up on the state level and get Jackson-Milton on the map.”

Clawson won his first 215-pound match on Friday before falling to Delphos Jefferson standout Stuart Miller in the championship semifinals.

Senior Santino Pizzuto (119) also won his first two matches this weekend before falling in the semifinals, while sophomores Vinnie Pizzuto, Tim Wiseman and Johnny Matacic also advanced to today’s final day of competition.

“When they were coming up, I knew this class [of sophomores] was going to be special,” said Tomaino. “But I didn’t think it would happen this soon.

It happened a year early.”

Jackson-Milton has a sign inside its gym listing its state qualifiers.

It’s full, a testament to the program’s strong tradition.

“We’re either going to need to make it bigger or get a new board,” said Tomaino, “because it’s about to grow a bit.”

Clawson attributes the program’s success to its consistency. The same coaches have been their for ages, coaching athletes from kindergarten through high school. Clawson wrestled from kindergarten to third grade, then abruptly quit. He got bigger and stronger over the years and, in eighth grade, started wrestling again.

“I fell in love with the sport again,” he said.

Also in eighth grade, he drew a picture of the Batman logo surrounding the Superman logo with the Spider-Man insignias on the corners, a tribute to his love of comic books and superheroes. In the week before wrestling started this fall, he had the picture tattooed on his back shoulders.

If nothing else, it proves Clawson knows how to deal with pain and how to make his mark, two things that come in handy in a winter sport like wrestling, which requires more dedication than basketball but doesn’t have all the fun and glory.

Well, except at Jackson-Milton.

“This is great,” said Tomaino. “I’m really excited.”

And it’s all due to good coaching, right?

“No,” he said, smiling. “They’re good kids.

“You win with horses.”

scalzo@vindy.com