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KO Drugs win one for family
By Greg Gulas
Youngstown
When her father passed away in an industrial accident in 2006, Warren Harding’s Julianna Currier-Queen knew things would get a tougher for her family.
She always had the support of her mother and brother, but wanted to make them extra proud of her accomplishments so despite never having fought before, entered the K.O. Drugs H.S. Boxing Tourney last year with the hopes of winning a belt for her efforts.
She was disappointed in her 1-2 mark last year, but that didn’t deter her from coming back this year to give it one last shot at a belt.
Ranked seventh overall in her graduating class, she’ll attend the University of Pittsburgh this fall and major in pre-med and at the urging of her mom and brother, she’s now glad that she gave boxing one last try.
On Friday at the ITAM Banquet Center, she defeated defending champion Shayla DeMar of Austintown Fitch (DeMar was 6-0 overall in her K.O. Drugs career and the defending champion) by split decision to capture the female junior welterweight crown, retiring from the fight game with a perfect 3-0 mark this year.
“This is truly amazing. I’m fighting for more than myself. This is for my mom and brother but especially for my dad who isn’t around to see this.
“I trained really hard and knew that if I worked hard, then I would have a chance at the belt.
“My mother has been especially strong through all of this so I am really happy to dedicate this to her,” she said.
In underclass super lightweight action, Te’Quan Rushton of East moved to 3-0 this year and 6-0 all-time in the tourney as he defeated Cody Haas of Beaver Local by unanimous decision, while in a super welterweight clash, New Wilmington’s Corey Downing won by unanimous decision over Edwin Figueroa of Poland.
Rushton, the defending champion in his weight class, noted that his hard work and dedication is paying off.
“I’ve been working really hard so I feel like I am in excellent shape right now. He [Haas] was a good fighter and pinned me into a corner several times in the first round. That’s when I knew that I would have to be more aggressive if I wanted to win,” he said.
While Rushton is looking to defend his title, Downing readily admits that each time out for him is a new and different experience.
“I’ve never fought before and just started to train a couple of months ago. It calms me down and I get to release all of my anger. This is tougher than I thought and quite frankly, I was more than a little nervous tonight.
“I knew that this would be a good fight and I had my jab working so I’m really excited to be able to move on and fight for the title,” he said.
In upperclass division action, Mooney’s Sam Congemi scored a split decision over Boardman’s Noah Patoray in a heavyweight match-up while Edwin Centofanti of Springfield scored unanimous decision over Mohamad Mojahed of Chaney in middleweight action.
In another female division bout, Champion’s Angell Lipps went straight from the softball diamond where she pitched the Flashes to a 7-2 victory over Newton Falls earlier in the day to the welterweight championship as she scored a unanimous decision over Sarah Schaver of Neshannock.
“I play varsity football and softball so boxing is just something else to do. I want to make my mom proud of me when she says that’s my little girl in the ring,” she noted.
Next Friday, 25 boys fights are on tap as the doors will open at 6 p.m. with the first bout hitting the bell at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the event are $10 each.