Josh Hephner Memorial serves as a tribute and a tourney tune-up

Some of the region’s top wrestling teams will face off in the annual meet.

Fitch High’s Brett Powell is a big, gruff wrestling coach but when you ask him about the Josh Hephner Memorial, he can get downright softhearted.

“It brings our whole community together for one weekend,” said Powell, whose school hosts the annual tournament, now in its 17th year. “Nobody comes here with an ax to grind, there’s a lot of respect for people, there’s no bad feelings or ill will.

“It’s what all our athletics should strive to be.”

The tournament serves as both a tribute to Hephner and a postseason tune-up, with some of the region’s best teams battling in a meat-grinder format.

The top athletes wrestle eight matches over two days, compared to the five-match, three-day setup they’d see at the state tournament.

“This is a real endurance test,” said Powell. “It’s kind of like the final test before you get to the end of the season and into the tournaments.

“That’s what everyone’s working for.”

Fitch is one of 27 teams competing this weekend. The other area schools are Brookfield, Girard, Hubbard, Jackson-Milton, Warren JFK, Liberty, Salem, Southeast and South Range. Jackson-Milton should be in the mix for the team title, as will Medina, Louisville and Hickory, Powell said.

A bevy of 2009 state qualifiers will compete and Powell believes the challenging setup is just as much a mental test as a physical one.

“The teams that come here say they really like the endurance aspect, with progressively harder competition,” said Powell. “You get tired at the district and tired at the sectional and you might not feel like wrestling that fourth or fifth match, but you can think back to two weeks earlier and say, ‘I wrestled eight. I can do this, too.’ ”

This weekend’s tournament, which began in 1994, honors the former Fitch wrestler who died in a car accident in July of 1993.

It’s one of the last major tournaments before the postseason — the sectional tournament begins Feb. 19 — and the event raises money for the Fitch wrestling program and for college scholarships for individual wrestlers.

“People in Austintown have a sense of ownership about this tournament,” said Powell. “A lot of invitationals or sectional tournaments are about trying to make money but with this one, a lot more emotion goes into it.

“It’s all about sportsmanship and community spirit.”

The tournament will honor Canfield youth coach Dave Crawford, who has been with the Hephner Memorial since its beginning, as well as Jackson-Milton coach Dave Tomaino, who is a finalist for Ohio’s Division III wrestling coach of the year.

scalzo@vindy.com