Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
No. 3 in the state, Canfield's Robby Reed wrestles Howland's Gabe Stark at Canfield High School Wednesday evening. Reed won the 125 lb. division match.
GAME TIME:
Next: Canfield at EOWL Championships, Feb. 4-5.
Next: Howland at Wadsworth Grizzly Invitational, Saturday.
Canfield edges Howland for titles
CANFIELD
The scoreboard read 103, which could have represented Fahrenheit during Anthony Spencer’s match against Nico Lucarelli.
But 103 was the weight class of the night’s final match which decided Canfield’s 33-28 victory over Howland for the combined Eastern Ohio Wrestling League (Division I) and All-American Conference Red Tier championships on Wednesday night.
“We knew they had some really good upper weights,” Canfield coach Dean Conley said of four straight match victories by Howland (171, 189, 215 and 285) that cut Canfield’s 30-9 lead to 30-28 entering the final bout.
Conley recalled that last year’s championship match came down to the final weight — 112.
“It was the same thing last year,” Conley said of the close finish in 2010, won by Howland.
Spencer pulled out the win for Canfield with his 9-5 decision.
“We were pretty excited because he’s one of our better kids,” Conley said of Spencer, a sophomore. “He’s wrestled year-round for two years, so he does all the extra things that make a kid good in this sport,” Conley said of Spencer’s willingness to compete in every possible tournament he can.
“That Lucarelli’s a really tough kid. We knew if we could get on our feet — motion on our feet — we thought we’d have a chance. Their kids are tough as nails, but I’m so proud of my eight seniors,” Conley said of his special group on Senior Night.
But Canfield turned to freshman Curtis Burns to face a bullish senior, Charles Sayre at 215.
“To be honest, we like our 215. We think he’s a tough kid,” Conley said of Burns. “Their 215 [Sayre], obviously, we know is tough, but those are the kinds of matches we need to learn from. I’ll put out my 215 out there against theirs any day. That’s not to discredit their 215 because he’s a good football player and a tough kid, but we think our kid’s got a bright future here.”
Sayre won by pin in 1:35.
Howland coach Bob Beasom felt confident with his upper-weight kids — Bryce Tricker, Sayre and Cody Reesman.
“Are all seniors, so we do look for them to do big things and to come back and try to be leaders,” said Beasom.
Beasom said because some wrestlers were banged up, others weren’t in their right weight classes, so adjustments were made.
“We should be ready by the EOWL,” Beasom said of his team’s next big goal, Feb. 4-5.
“This was a minor setback, but Canfield, obviously, came ready to wrestle. It was Senior Night and we just came up a little short.”
Beasom said that Lucarelli lost to Spencer last year, but the disparity in that outcome was much greater.
“He got beat pretty good [by Spencer in 2010]. I thought Nico gave me 110 percent and wrestled his butt off,” said Beasom. “He actually made it a better match today. Last year, I think he lost, 12-0, or something like that. That’s how much he’s improved.”
At 119, Howland’s J.R. Perry decisioned Zach Kay, 8-2, in a match of two wiry athletes.
“He was hanging onto my arms, but coach told me that was his plan,” Perry said. “My reaction was to keep moving and don’t get caught with dumb moves.”
At 140, Lucas Daprile pinned Andrew Hamilton in 5:37 to give Canfield a 24-3 advantage.
“He came out strong, but then I started finding my shot,” Daprile said. “I felt that, as the match went on, I had the advantage in conditioning.”
Canfield’s eight individuals celebrating Senior Night were Alex Benedict, Lucas Daprile, Michael Flanagan, Robert Gleichert, Paul Hido, Eric Mirto, Richard Rapone and Robert Reed.
Many wrestled in the Canfield gym since they were 6-years old in the community’s youth program. Gleichert was introduced as a triplet — with his two sisters also receiving applause from Cardinal fans. Rapone is an identical twin.