Canfield youth wrestlers advance to districts

Members of the Canfield Youth Wrestling Club had a strong showing in last weekend’s OYWA Sectional Tournament.

The Cardinals captured seven titles, seven runner-ups, seven third-place finishes and one fourth.

“The boys continued to wrestle real well this weekend. They have worked hard at practice all season and now is where it really pays off. We will see some good competition this weekend, and it will be good to see how we measure up,” said coach Dave Crawford.

Earning their second sectional championships were Christian Wayt (56 pounds) and Will Dawson (82).Winning their first sectional title were Nathan Whitehead (86), David Crawford (95), Braxton Madison (100), Georgio Poullas (105) and Hunter Mersing (132).

Finishing second were Alec Herman (52), Ethan Fletcher (60), Hunter Helminiak (70), Andy Garr (73), Carter Myers (79), Nick Crawford (82) and Daniel Kapalko (95).

Third-place finishers were McCoy Watkins (56), Leo Finsen (76), Dominic Cooper (90), Victor Labra (105), Terry Adkins (132), Michael Rubesich (150) and Michael Dudash (175).

Carmen Zena (175#) finished fourth.

All 22 qualifiers will compete at Fitch High School this Sunday for a chance to go to the OYWA state meet in Akron the following week. Wrestling begins at 8:30 a.m. with the top four advancing to state.