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Boardman’s Dillon wins Top Gun wrestling tournament
After missing the opportunity to compete at the ultra-competitive Alliance Top Gun wrestling tournament as a freshman and sophomore, Boardman’s John Dillon was anxious to see what all the hype was about last weekend.
“It’s my first year here, so it’s kind of a big thing for me,” said Dillon, who is a two-time state placer. “Hopefully, I may go 119 at states, so wrestling bigger kids here at 125 will give me practice going against kids bigger than I am. I knew I’d have a couple of tough matches, but I’ve been in tougher brackets than this.”
After breezing through his first two matches, Dillon won his semifinal bout 3-1 over Strongsville’s Kevin Scholtz to face Brodie Scherer (Warsaw Riverview) in the 125-pound final.
Scherer finished seventh in the state at 112 pounds at last year’s Division II state tournament. Dillon was third at 103 as a freshman and fourth at 125 as a sophomore - both in Division I.
Dillon (14-1) won the finals match-up 8-2 to capture his first Top Gun championship.
The junior was one of two Boardman wrestlers to earn a spot on the awards podium. Sophomore Nick Mancini finished fifth at 103 pounds, improving his record to 16-2.
After winning his first three matches to advance to the semifinals, Mancini lost two in a row to fall to the fifth-place match. He beat Claymont’s Cody Burcher by default.
Boardman finished in 19th place with 72.5 points. The showing wasn’t quite as good as head coach Dom Mancini was hoping for. But he understands that with state powers St. Paris Graham, Massillon Perry, Walsh Jesuit and others in the field, the competition is fierce.
“It’s really baby steps for our kids coming here,” he explained. “Our goal was to place at least three guys. But for our younger kids, they need to score points, then win a match, then win a couple of matches. If you can win one match here, it’s a good day for them.
St. Paris Graham (286.5) edged Massillon Perry (235) to win the 41-team tournament.