Boardman’s Mancini among those on verge of advancing to district

February 15, 2014 at 12:07a.m.

AUSTINTOWN

Before every wrestling match you can usually find Boardman’s Anthony Mancini underneath a hooded Spartans sweatshirt plugged in both mentally and spiritually to the music coming through his headphones.

He’s a junior in class year, but Mancini gets himself ready by listening to what he calls a little bit of old school.

“I’m an ’80s kind of guy,” said Mancini, who’s competing in the 152-pound weight class at the Division I sectional tournament. “Definitely Rocky, Van Halen, little bit of Eminem — I like to throw him in there — Boston, Rush ... my playlist is huge.”

After winning his first- and second-round matches by decision, Mancini (25-12) feels good about where he’s at heading into day two of the individual competition at Austintown Fitch High School.

“I went out there aggressive, I took my shots when I needed to,” Mancini said. “I feel great and I’ll be good to go once I get some food in me and feel hydrated again.”

Mancini will wrestle Aurora freshman Bubba Arslanian in a semifinal today. With a win, Mancini would be assured a top-four finish in the weight class and a spot in the district tournament next weekend in Mentor.

If he loses, he’ll have to win one match in the consolation bracket to finish in the top four and advance. The only other Spartan still alive in the winners bracket is sophomore Mario Graziani (145). The rest will have to fight their way through the consolation bracket with no margin for error.

The host Falcons have five wrestlers sitting in the winners bracket. As expected, 106-pound freshman Andrew Fairbanks (16-6) cruised to the semifinals after getting a first-round bye and then pinning his second-round opponent in 3:06. Seniors Zach Mackall (145), Cameran Rezapourian (170), Tony Behanna (195), and junior Jake Franks (220) also cruised on day one without a loss.

“You know, it wasn’t a bad day, but I really thought we could get nine or 10 through today,” Fitch coach Brett Powell said. “Guys lost a lot of close matches; this is a tough competitive section.”

Aurora wrestlers perhaps had the best day overall as eight advanced through the winners bracket. Hudson and Solon each head to day two with six unbeaten wrestlers.

“There is no tomorrow after [Saturday],” Powell said. “You lose tomorrow in those consolation rounds, you’re done. Your season’s done or your career’s done here at Fitch.

“For some of these guys it’s been four years of work, six years of work, 10 years of work all coming down to [Saturday].”

When the matches get going again at 10 a.m. today, Mancini will assume his usual spot on the bleachers, underneath his hood, listening to the rhythmic stylings of some “old school music” to get his mind right.

But he’ll also be watching the competition.

“I like to watch other matches to see how refs are calling things and situations other kids are in and see if I can’t learn something real quick that will help me reach my ultimate goal of getting to state,” Mancini said.