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Fitch sends two wrestlers to districts
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Fitch's Lennie McGeachy (top) applies pressure to Twinsburg's Willie Williams during their sectional tournament match last weekend.
It’s been a long season for Fitch wrestling coach Brett Powell. But thanks to two of his wrestlers, it will last at least one more week.
After advancing three to districts last season, the Falcons will have two representatives this weekend. Heavyweight Lennie McGeachy won a sectional championship last weekend with a 6-4 victory in the finals over Twinsburg’s Willie Williams.
It will be his second straight trip to the Division I Mentor district, where he went 0-2 last season.
“Len had a mission here,” Powell said. “He tailors his match to who he’s wrestling. He had a bear hug on him and used his power and his hips to get on him. He used his weight and finished strong.”
A lot of those skills transferred over from the football field to the mat. McGeachy is also a Falcons defensive lineman.
“Football has helped me stay lower and get stronger,” he said. “A lot of the footwork has gotten me quicker for wrestling.”
Rick Ague finished fourth in the 106-pound weight class to punch his ticket to the district tournament. He earned the right to advance after beating Hudson’s Billy Buehl 3-0 in the consolation racket semifinals. Ague later lost 3-0 to Solon’s Daniel Clement in the bout for third place. But the top four in each weight class move on.
Nearly making it to districts was Fitch’s Donny Ferree, who came in fifth for 182 pounds. He will serve as an alternate.
“This was the toughest sectional in years, especially at 138 and 160 where two state qualifiers from last year did not make it back to the district, let alone the state tournament,” said Powell. “The team did OK in the end – poor start on Friday, but we wrestled better Saturday. Two qualifiers is a low number for Fitch standards.
To still have two wrestlers competing is a victory in itself for Powell. The squad’s numbers have been down this season and the injury bug has bitten hard.
Returning district qualifier Jamie Jameson was lost for the season when he was diagnosed with an enlarged heart valve. Another top wrestler was forced to the sidelines when 2011 district qualifer Korey Balog was injured.
“It’s been a crazy year – maybe something great can come out of this and we have two Falcons wrestling at state next week,” said Powell.