Howland to defend EOWL crown

By John Bassetti

bassetti@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Howland, the defending champion for this weekend’s EOWL tournament, has eight returners from last year, but coach Bill Beasom is putting the emphasis on what’s beyond.

“As long as we go out and wrestle for six minutes and keep attacking, we should be all right,” the third-year coach said. “This isn’t the most important thing we do all season, it’s just a stepping stone to get our kids ready for state.”

The tournament begins Friday at 5 p.m., with Saturday’s action scheduled for 9 a.m. and the finals at 4:45 p.m.

Howland has already beaten Beaver Local, Fitch, Boardman and Canfield, and most recently the Tigers won the EOWL Div. I dual-meet season and All-American Conference top-tier honors, as well.

“I like our chances as long as everyone comes and wrestles as they have been,” Beasom said.

Canfield was runner-up in 2011, when the divisional champs were third-place West Branch (Div. II), sixth-place Jackson-Milton (Div. III) and fifth-place Pymatuning Valley (Div. IV).

Tournament director Brett Powell thinks Howland and West Branch will battle for the overall crown, while Girard may have the inside track in the lower divisions.

However, Girard coach Jim Cardiero has different thoughts.

“I think we’ve been under-performing all year, so I guess we’ll find out this weekend,” he said.

Cardiero said Poland and Liberty might be the teams to watch in Div. III this weekend.

“They have quality kids on those two teams, but we won’t go down without fight. Hopefully we’ll perform,” he said.

Grand Valley is the strongest of the Div. IV schools, with Py Valley not far behind.

Fitch was dealt a blow by season-ending injuries to seniors Jamie Jamieson and Korey Balog, leaving senior Lennie McGeachy (285) and Rick Ague (106) as the lone veterans.

Jamieson is done for his high school career after being diagnosed with an enlarged heart valve and Balog suffered a torn ACL at the Top Gun tournament.

Powell referred to Ague and McGeachy as his “bookends” because they represent the lightest and heaviest weight classes.

In the middle is senior Kyle Rocco at 138, while senior Donnie Feree also gives the Falcons a presence at 195.

“These are our leaders right now,” Powell said. “They’re the seniors.”

Connor Sharp, a junior whose record was 17-1 at 285, is a returning EOWL champion for West Branch, while seniors Aaron Page (24-2 at 170) and Mikey Estock (21-6 at 138) are other top wrestlers for coach Mike Helm, who is Ohio’s Div. II coach of the year.

“It’s nice for Mike because he’s has had a lot of successful teams and rightly so,” said Powell, the Ohio Wrestling Coaches Association president who is serving his first of three years in the office.

“It’s for his body of work, not just last year,” Powell said. “They’re looking at what he’s done over the seasons.”

Helm will be acknowledged by the OWCA before the semifinals at the state tournament in Columbus.

Sophomore Korey Frost was 25-2 at 113 pounds for Canfield, which was runner-up in the AAC and EOWL Div. I dual season.

Others Cardinals high on the list for coach Dean Conley are juniors Anthony Spencer (17-8, 120); Jake Dunbar (22-8, 126); John Poullas (19-6, 152) and Sam Conner (18-9, 195), and sophomores Stephen Daprile (106, 16-3); Shawn Williams (17-9, 145) and Curtis Burns (16-8, 220).

Poland coach Tony Stellato said this will be a good test.

“Despite Poland’s relative newness to the sport, the team is striving to make a statement within the wrestling community this weekend,” he said

Tad Duran (17-9, 120) was fifth at 112 last year and A.J. Shields was fourth at 119. Shields (21-7, 132) was also fourth at the Hephner this year, when Anthony Mancini (16-11, 138) placed sixth.

Howland returns several top performers, including Robby Klose (145) and J.R. Perry (120).

Howland had no state qualifiers in 2011, but Klose was fifth and Perry sixth at the Mentor district.

Perry (19-1) now wrestles at 120 and Klose is 22-6 at 145. Another senior captain is Andrew Hamilton (132, 20-5).