Dillon, Balog are second at Top Gun

Staff report

ALLIANCE

Boardman had three place winners and Austintown Fitch had two at the Top Gun wrestling tournament, hosted by Alliance on Friday and Saturday.

The Spartans’ John Dillon was runner-up at 126 pounds, while Nico Grazziani was third at 160 and Nick Mancini finished fifth at 106.

Dillon won four straight matches, including three by pin, before losing to Micah Jordan of St. Paris Graham, 7-4, in the finals. Jordan is the defending Division II state champion at 119 pounds.

Dillon won his opening match by pin in 27 seconds over Austin Morrison of Carrollton.

Graziani went 5-1 over the weekend, losing only to Graham’s Isaac Jordan (a two-time defending state champion) in the semifinals. He won his opening match over Zach Williams of Medina by technical fall, and defeated Josh Arrendale of Massillon Perry 3-2 in a tie-breaker.

Mancini went 4-2 over the weekend, winning three matches by pin, and decisioning Devon Brown of Steubenville 11-5 in the finals.

For Fitch, Korey Balog was runner-up at 182 and Lennie McGeachy was sixth at 285.

Balog went 4-1 on the weekend, winning two matches by pin and two by decision, including his semifinal over Charlie Dear of Massillon Jackson in overtime. Balog defaulted to Huston Evans of Graham in the finals.

McGeachy won his first two matches and finished 4-3 for the tournament. He won three matches by pin — all in 1:24 or lesss — and one by decision.

Poland’s AJ Shields won two matches at 132, and teammate Mike Audi won a pair at 160, including one by pin. He was defeated in the semifinals.

St. Paris Graham won the championship with 274.5 points, followed by Massillon Perry (202.5) and CVCA (180.5).

Boardman tied for 14th place with 81.5 points; Fitch tied for 22nd (62) and Poland was 43rd (18).