Middle school wrestlers fare well at dual tourney

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Neighbors | Submitted.Luke Black (top) pns his opponent from Boardmam during SAturday's dual meet tournament. Black went undefeated (5-0) at 86 pounds.

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Anthony Morucci (left) shakes hands with his opponent prior to their match. Morucci won all five of his matches for Poland Midsdle School on Saturday.

The Poland Middle School wrestling team started the season off right with a 4–1 record at the Canfield Duals on Saturday.

The Bulldogs opened up with victories over Hubbard and Boardman Glenwood before dropping a hard-fought match against Alliance. They bounced back with a victory over Boardman Center and a win over South Range.

“It’s hard to say who really stood out, because our whole lineup wrestled great every match. We came together as a team very well,” said coach Matt Galchick.

“It’s hard giving up four weight classes and not having one of your key wrestlers (Johnny Berndt), but the team stepped up, our light guys bumped up in weight and we still produced results.

PMS was without Berndt, a returning state qualifier, who was out with illness.

Winning all five of their matches for Poland were Darren Goodin (80 pounds), Anthony Morucci (98), Dante Ginnetti (92) and Luke Black (86).

Bobby Murcko, Bruno Spotleson, Matt Zaksec, Anthony Audi, Trey Ellis and Anthony Mancini all went 4-1. Josh Kulifay and Evan Brown made their wrestling debuts and finished with 3-2 records.

“I really have to give Murcko, Spotleson and Mancini credit. They had one loss, but they were up at least one weight class and went against state qualifiers,” said Galchick.

“Bruno [Spotleson] gave the returning state champion the best match he had the entire weekend. Anthony [Mancini] was already up one weight class for the event and I bumped him up another against a really tough guy from Alliance.”

The PMS wrestling team returns to action Jan. 5 for a tri-match against Brookfield and Jackson-Milton.