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Canfield wrestlers second at EOWL championships
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The Canfield wrestling team celebrated its runner-up trophy after last weekend's EOWL tournament
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Canfield's Eric Spencer received a special award propr to the EOWL finals last weekend. He is pictured with his coach Dean Conley.
Canfield grapplers John Poullas and Sam Conner won individual EOWL championships as the Cardinals finished second to West Branch at the 20-team league wrestling tournament last weekend in Boardman. The Warriors scored 236 team points, followed by Canfield’s 204. Howland, Austintown and Beaver Local rounded out the top five.
Prior to the fnals on Saturday night, Canfield senior Anthony Spencer was recognized with the Brian Davidson Courage Award. Also, Canfield grad Klynt Maston was enshrined in the EOWL Hall of Fame, along with Canfield Middle School assistant coach Jay Neopolitan.
On the mat, Poullas improved to 38-3 on the season en route to the 170-pound title. Poullas registered his third pin of the weekend, sticking Poland’s Michael Audi 35 seconds into the second period.
Sam Conner narrowly won his first two bouts before reaching the finals with a technical fall. In the finals at 195, Conner defeated Whiteacre (Hubbard) 6-3 for the title.
Freshman Jacob Esarco pinned his first two opponents and then used a 13-6 victory over Cody Bucher (Liberty) to advance to the finals where he fell to West Branch’s Logan Sharp. Esarco’s runner-up performance improved his record to 30-10.
Matt Dunbar and Curtis Burns (37-5) battled through the consolation brackets to capture third-place finishes. Dunbar pinned Fitch’s Austin Stevens at the 2:51 mark, while Burns registered a first-period pin over Hubbard’s Tyler Daniels. Finishing fourth for the Cardinals were Shawn Williams at 138 and Hayden Smith at 182.
Smith (23-6) advanced to the consolation finals with a thrilling 16-14 overtime victory, while Williams (20-13) pinned Girard’s Garrett Bass in the first period.
Stephen Daprile ran his record to 28-14 with a fifth-place finish. Bryan Batton advanced to the championship semifinals before falling to eventual champion Gabe Stark (Howland) and finishing with a fifth-place plaque. Senior Steven Hamilton and freshman Kyle West (28-11) each placed sixth. Hamilton (20-15) dropped his final two matches by a total three points. Also registering points for the Cards were Ross Duffett at 126 and CJ Frost at 132.
The Canfield JV squad will compete this weekend at the EOWL JV Tournament. The varsity will take the first steps on the road to the state tournament when it wrestles at the West Branch Division II sectional tournament Feb. 15-16.