Wrestlers to hit mats this weekend in Austintown, West Branch, Rootstown

February 14, 2014 at 12:06a.m.

With the team portion of the wrestling season already concluded, over the next two days wrestlers will hit the mats all across the state with their individual seasons on the line.

In northeastern Ohio, attention will be on three sectional sites where the majority of area wrestlers will compete. Austintown Fitch High School will host a Division I sectional, West Branch High School Division II, and Rootstown High School Division III.

At Fitch, it’s perhaps the smallest wrestler who’s expected to pack the biggest punch. Freshman Andrew Fairbanks (106 pounds) is coming off a first-place finish at the Eastern Ohio Wrestling League Tournament and is looking to cap off his first year at the varsity level with a berth in the district tournament.

“Andrew is a guy who’s done all the right things,” said Falcons coach Brett Powell. “I think our youth program helped him out a lot, but he’s a kid who was very, very successful the last five years at some of the younger levels.”

With the stage a little bigger and the lights shining a little brighter, his coach doesn’t believe Fairbanks is the type of person who will break under pressure.

“He doesn’t seem too rattled about it,” Powell said. “There’s something about guys who are mentally and physically prepared that when they feel the pressure, they thrive on it and look forward to it.”

Meanwhile, 25 miles southwest of Austintown, the Division II wrestlers will battle it out at West Branch for the right to advance in what’s become one of most competitive sectionals in the region.

Poland will look toward its two state qualifiers from last season — senior Mike Audi (170 pounds) and sophomore Dante Ginnetti (106) — to duplicate the success they had a year ago.

“It’s all about advancement,” said Bulldogs coach Tony Stellato. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done to this point, basically everybody’s 0-0 now.

“They have to decide to have the will to say I’m not losing, I’m not going home, It’s not gonna happen,” Stellato said. “You just gotta have that mentality.”

Just because two Bulldogs know what it takes to win a sectional tournament, doesn’t mean the task is any easier.

“You don’t want to change anything too much or how they go about doing things,” Stellato said. “What we tell our kids is it doesn’t matter who you’re wrestling, all you can do is wrestle the opponent that’s in front of you.”

Sitting in the 120-pound weight class is 2012 state qualifier Kory Frost of Canfield. He missed out on most of last season with a knee injury, but is back and looking stronger than ever after a dominating performance at the EOWL Tournament earlier in the month.

For the area Division III competitors, the travel will take them a bit farther, but the opportunity awaiting them remains the same. Girard is sending several seniors to Rootstown today and tomorrow, but it’ll be two in particular that hope to complete what they couldn’t last season.

Nick Cardiero (170 pounds) and Zane Chase (132) both fell one match shy of reaching the state tournament their junior year, so with one chance left they are focused with one goal in mind.

“You know they’ve been here before and competed well, so I don’t see any pressure getting to them,” Indians coach Jim Cardiero said. “They been pretty calm all week, which is what we like to see, so I think they’re ready to go.”

In each sectional, the top four finishers in each weight class advance to district tournaments at various locations.