Poland middle school wrestlers dominate tourney

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Neighbors | Submitted.Poland's Johnny Berndt quickly pinned Boardman's Diniro in the first period at the Columbiana Challenege..Berndt claimed the 128-pound title and the outstanding wrestler award with this victory.

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Neighbors | Submitted. Poland White's Darren Goodin, left, and Poland Blue's Brett Nemeth faced off in the first championship round at the Columbiana Challenge..Goodin defeated Nemeth in overtime to claim the 80-pound championship title. 

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Poland | Neighbors.The Poland Middle School wrestling team competed in the first Columbiana Challenge..Poland Blue won the overall championship and Poland White finished in sixth place out of the 11 team field.

The Poland middle school wrestling team had a great showing at the first Columbiana Challenge wrestling tournament. The wrestling team entered two teams. Poland Blue won the championship and Poland White finished sixth out of the 11-team field.

Overall, the team brought home nine championships, two runner-up finishes, one third-place finisher, two fourth-place finishers, one fifth-place finisher and a sixth-place finisher.

Everybody on the team brought home a medal. State qualifier Johnny Berndt brought home the outstanding wrestler award.

The first two championship matches of the night featured Poland Blue against Poland White, as Darren Goodin of Poland White topped Brett Nemeth of Poland Blue 4-2 in overtime to claim the 80-pound championship.

The next title match was another all-Poland bout, as Dante Ginnetti pinned Luke Black in the third period to claim the 86-pound championship.

Poland had finalists in the next five weight classes with Bobby Murcko (92), Anthony Morrucci (98), Dylan Garver (110) and Matt Zaksek (116) all winning championships.

Bruno Spotleson took second and Nelson Figeroua took fifth place at the 104-pound weight class. Anthony Audi took third place at the 122-pound weight class and Matt Duran of Poland White finished in fourth at the 116-pound weight class.

In what was supposed to be match of the night, Berndt made short work of his Boardman opponent with a first period pin to claim the 128-pound title. That victory earned him the tournament’s outstanding wrestler award.

Trey Ellis claimed the championship at 134 pounds. Making his tournament debut with a fourth-place finish at 142 pounds was Josh Kulifay. Anthony Mancini (16-1) claimed the championship at 150 pounds with a second period pin over his Salem opponent.

Rounding out the place winners for Poland were Evan Brown at 160 pounds and Dan Cipriano at 172 pounds. Brown finished in second place in his first tournament appearance. Dan Cipriano, in only his fourth week of wrestling, claimed sixth place to conclude the day.