Frost, Audi, Whisler win D-II district wrestling titles

February 23, 2014 at 12:10a.m.

ALLIANCE

Three years ago, Canfield senior Korey Frost’s wrestling future looked practically secured. And then it wasn’t.

Immediate success as a freshman then state qualification as a sophomore; the sky looked to be the limit. Then two separate tears of a meniscus and a broken collarbone happened, derailing a promising junior season.

Fast forward to Saturday evening’s Division II district tournament inside Alliance’s Harry Fails Gymnasium and the 120-pound Frost was exactly where he expected to be all along.

“I worked really hard for this,” said Frost, who eventually had only Perry’s Collin Dees standing between him and the top of the podium. “I’m pretty proud.”

Frost took his district semifinal match with Brad Taton of Mentor Lake Catholic with a pin at the 5:00 mark earlier in the day. As the third three-minute period wound down and the match tied at 1, Frost could sense Dees, with whom he had split two matches before Saturday, would try a move that had worked previously.

“I was trying to set up shots, I was moving along trying to find my way to his leg,” Frost said. “I wrestled him earlier in the year, and he threw me and beat me in the last five seconds ,and I guess he thought he could throw me again. I guess I learned from my mistakes.”

Frost’s two-point takedown in the match’s final seconds gave him a 3-1 victory and the 120-pound title and a trip to next week’s state tournament at Ohio State’s Value City Arena.

“I was planning on going into overtime, but I thought he was tired and he was kind of whooped,” Frost said.

Frost is one of three area wrestlers to win their respective Division II district championships. Like his Canfield counterpart, Poland senior Mike Audi’s thrilling third-period victory brought the gym to its feet.

Audi, who qualified for the state tournament a year ago, earned a 3-1 decision over Mentor Lake Catholic’s Kaz Struna with a takedown in the match’s final seconds.

“That’s exactly how you want to win it,” Audi said. “That’s awesome. I had all my friends come out and drive an hour from Poland, I had my grandparents here, my mom and dad; it’s just an awesome way to win.”

Audi’s match was also tied at 1 after both wrestlers managed escapes.

“I thought I had some more gas left in the tank than he did,” Audi said. “I knew I had to push the pace. I saw an opportunity at the end there. I think he took a bad shot and I got the drag-around.”

David-Brian Whisler’s district title came in dominant fashion as opposed to last-second triumphs.

The Howland junior, who finished fourth at the state meet a year ago, methodically toppled Jeff Hojnacki with three takedowns in each of the match’s three periods to earn a 6-0 decision.

“I came here to win,” Whisler said. “Last year I took second [at districts] and I wasn’t happy with it.”

Whisler had already beaten Hojnacki, of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, once this year.

“I went in there with the same mindset,” said Whisler. “I treat the postseason the way I treat any other tournament. They say if you treat it differently, prepare differently, you’ll have different results.”

The other area qualifiers are Canfield freshman Georgio Poullas (126 pounds) and sophomore C.J. Frost (138) and West Branch senior Logan Sharp (285) and junior Mason Hughes (160).