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Canfield wrestlers advance in team duals tournament
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The Canfield varsity wrestlers were first in Division II and sixth overall at Bill Dies Memorial tournament last weekend.
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Jake Esarco, John Poullas, Stan Socha, Stephen Daprile, Kyle West and Curtis Burns placed this past weekend at the Bill Dies Memorial Tournament.
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Canfield senior Sam Conner (195) works the shoulder of Poland’s Abe Kassem during their match. Conner won by decision 10-8.
The Canfield varsity wrestling team edged rival Poland 36-22 in first round of the inaugural OHSAA Division II Team Wrestling Championships at Canfield on Wednesday. The match was close throughout, but the Cards pulled away late with pins in the final two weight classes.
Poland had rolled over Salem 66-9 in the first match of the night to earn the right to meet the Region 11 third seed Cardinals.
Poland got off to an early lead when the Bulldogs’ Dante Ginnetti pinned Kyle West at 5:17 of the third period. Poland’s Darren Goodin stretched the lead to 9-0 with a 6-0 victory over Nathan Buttle at 113.
Canfield was able to get on the board when Stephen Daprile registered 10 takedowns en route to a 20-7 win over Bob Murcko. At 126 pounds, Poland’s Tad Duran major decisioned Canfield’s Ross Duffet 10-0 to give Poland a 13-4 lead.
Canfield freshman CJ Frost pulled Canfield within three with a first-period pin over the Bulldogs’ Bruno Spottleson at 132. Nick Borucki gave Canfield its first lead of the night when he beat Dave Esarco 11-1 to make it 14-13.
Poland then ran off three straight victories to give them a 22-14 lead heading into the final five matches. First Poland‘s Anthony Mancini registered a reversal in the waning moments of his 145-pound match with Canfield’s Shawn Williams for a 4-3 victory. John Berndt used two take downs to beat Brian Batton 4-2 at 152. Poland freshman standout Anthony Audi scored three third-period points to edge Steven Hamilton 3-2 at 160.
The most anticipated match-up of the evening featured Poland’s Michael Audi and Canfield’s John Poullas who met in at 170 pounds. Poullas led 2-1 after the first period and stretched his lead to 5-1 in the second. But Audi registered an escape and a takedown in the second period’s waning seconds to make it 5-4.
Poullas escaped to begin the third period only to be taken down by Audi to knot the score at 6-6 and an exchange of reversals made it 8-8. Poullas pulled out the victory with a late reversal and back points for a 13-8 decision.
Despite trailing 22-17, the momentum shifted Canfield’s way following the Poullas win with the Cardinals winning the last four matches. Hayden Smith started Canfield’s run when he scored a 17-5 major decision over Poland’s Trey Ellis to make 22-21 in favor of Poland.
Canfield’s Sam Conner used five third-period points to defeat Poland’s Abe Kassem 10-9 in one of the night’s more entertaining matches, giving Canfield a lead it would not relinquish. Jake Esarco ended any hopes of a Bulldogs’ upset by pinning Bill Brundage at 2:49 of the second period. Heavyweight Curtis Burns put an exclamation point on Canfield’s win when he pinned Jason Velasquez in the first period.
Canfield now advances to the OHSAA Region 11-A semifinals Jan. 30 to meet No. 2 seed Mentor Lake Catholic, who defeated Painesville Harvey, 58-9. The winner of that match will meet the winner of the No. 4 seed West Branch match versus No. 1 seed Perry.
The Canfield wrestling team’s 105.5 team points were enough for first place in Division II and sixth overall out of 41 teams at the Bill Dies Memorial Wrestling Tournament held last weekend at Firestone High School in Akron.
Division I power Brecksville ran away from the field with 255 team points, out distancing runner-up Barberton by 109 points. The Cardinals had six wrestlers place in the top eight despite being without senior standouts Anthony Spencer, Jake Dunbar and Steven Hamilton, who were out due to injury or illness.