Poland wrestlers place at junior high state

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Neighbors | Submitted.Poland's Anthony Audi controls his oopponent during last weekend's quarterfinal match at the OAC junior high state championships at the Covelli Centre.

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Neighbors | Submitted.Five Valley junior high wrestlers placed at the OAC state tournament last weekend. They are, from left, David Labra (Canfield), Anthony Audi (Poland), CJ Frost (Canfield), Mario Graziani (Boardman) and Alex Mackall (Austintown).

STAFF REPORT

Poland junior high wrestlers Anthony Audi and Matthew Cardello earned all-state honors during last weekend’s OAC Junior High State Tournament at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown.

“It’s exciting for me,” said Anthony Audi, 14, an eighth-grader from Poland Middle School. “I’ve never wrestled in front of so many people, and it was pretty nerve-racking.”

Audi handled the atmosphere well, finishing sixth in Ohio at 138 pounds.

His teammate Cardello finished two steps higher on the podium, taking fourth in the 78-pound bracket.

More than 800 junior high students throughout Ohio descended on the Covelli Centre to compete for state titles in 18 weight classes. The top eight finishers in each weight class advanced to Sunday evening’s finals.

The final competitors were introduced in a setting befitting major college championship games as they emerged through a smoke-filled entrance to the song “Final Countdown” and the cheers of families and friends.

Other Valley wrestlers placing at the tournament were Alex Mackall (Austintown), state champion, 108 pounds; Seth Hogue (Brookfield), second, 84; Mario Graziani (Boardman), fourth, 114, Matt Steer (West Branch), seventh, 120; David Labra (Canfield), fifth, 146; and CJ Frost (Canfield), sixth, 126.

This has become one of the premier wrestling events in the state and country, featuring some of the best wrestlers from Ohio and the United States.

The list of former Junior High state champions reads like the ‘who’s who’ in USA Wrestling, including four-time high school state champions David Taylor (Penn State), Logan and Hunter Steiber (Ohio State) and more.

This weekend, more than 1,200 wrestlers for all over Ohio will come to Youngstown to compete in the OAC Grade School State Tournament.

This will be wrestlers sixth grade and under. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. today and concludes with the finals tomorrow evening.