State success was in grasp of the Valley

By Joe Scalzo

Jackson-Milton had five wrestlers place and earned its first top-10 finish.

COLUMBUS — For the last match of his high school wrestling career, Jackson-Milton senior Santino Pizzuto found himself in a new place against an old face, staring across from Garrettsville Garfield senior Travis Harbert.

The two had met more than 10 times through the years and their final meeting would come in a third-place 119-pound match at the state tournament on Saturday morning in Columbus.

Harbert, who placed fourth at last year’s state meet at 112 pounds, had been this far before. Pizzuto, who lost his only two matches in Columbus last year, had not.

“Before the match, he told me, ‘I know what you’re gonna do, you know what I’m gonna do,’” Pizzuto said. “You’ve just got to execute.

“I’ve wrestled him so many times in my high school career, it’s crazy.”

Pizzuto won 2-1 — although Harbert was the better wrestler early in their careers, Harbert said they’re pretty much one-point apart either way now — to finish the day as the highest-placing Bluejay.

“I got the best of it,” said Pizzuto, whose dream had been to place in the state tournament and get his name on the wall inside the school’s gymnasium. “We’re good friends and everything, but it was awesome for me. Awesome.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Pizzuto’s younger brother, Vinnie, placed sixth at 119 pounds, senior teammate Dan Clawson was sixth at 171 and sophomores Tim Wiseman (112) and Johnny Matacic (125) each took seventh, giving Jackson-Milton its first top-10 finish. The Bluejays took eighth.

“We have a lot of tough kids,” Santino said. “They can compete against anybody in the state.

“We’re leaving on a good feeling. There’s no better weekend to have it all come together than in the state tournament.”

Pizzuto saw plenty of familiar faces this weekend as 19 of the Eastern Ohio Wrestling League’s 27 state qualifiers placed. The top eight in each weight class earn a medal and a spot on the podium.

Four other area wrestlers placed third — Boardman freshman John Dillon (103) in Div. I, Beaver Local junior Dylan Ice (140) in Div. II and Brookfield senior Dan Miller (140) and South Range senior Beau Bowden (171) in Div. III.

No area wrestlers finished in the top two.

Bowden’s finish was the best in school history as he became the first Raider to place at the state meet. Ice improved on last year’s fifth-place finish by pinning Howland senior Kyle Leek in the third-place match — the first pin of Leek’s career.

Girard (Tony Cardiero and Niko Francis) had a pair of wrestlers place seventh, while Beaver Local had three placers (Ice, John McComas fifth at 103, Arizona Miller sixth at 112). Hubbard (Robbie Lias, fifth), Southeast (Shelton Morris, fourth) and West Branch (Jake Mellinger, sixth) each had one.

With his lip bloodied, Brookfield’s Miller avenged his second round loss with a third-place victory over Marion Pleasant senior Cody Coomes.

“It was fun,” said Miller, who celebrated with a small fist pump when it was over. “I went all out, did all my stuff. It was the last match of my entire career and I just gave it all I had.”

Coomes won their first matchup 4-2 in the championship quarterfinals.

“I thought I had him early in the tournament, but he came out on top” Miller said. “I decided it was my turn.”

Miller had never won a match at the state tournament before this weekend and he used last year’s performance to fuel him this winter.

“Just living up to my own expectations,” he said, when asked the difference between this year and last. “A different motivation.

“It was my senior year. I knew it was my last shot. I knew I could do it.”

scalzo@vindy.com