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Many area wrestlers able to bounce back
After a rough start to the district wrestling tournament weekend, 17 local wrestlers came away with top four finishes to earn a spot in next week’s state competition.
In the Division I district at Mentor, Austintown Fitch’s Camran Rezapourian followed up a solid first day with an early loss sending him to the consolation bracket. He recovered to earn a third place finish in the 170 pound weight class.
The other wrestler advancing is Boardman’s Mario Graziani, who had to win three matches on Saturday to earn a spot in the consolation final in the 145 pound weight class.
Fitch freshman Austin Fairbanks just missed out on qualifying, finishing fifth in the 106-pound weight class.
The Division III district tournament at Claymont will send two area wrestlers to Columbus next weekend. Beaver Local’s Daniel Hasson suffered a loss in the championship final of the 138-pound weight class, earning him a second place finish. His teammates, Cody Martsolf, won three matches in the consolation bracket to finish fourth in the 285-pound weight class.
Jack Dawson narrowly missed out on qualifying for states, as he earned a fifth place finish in the 113-pound weight class.
Division III will have the other six area representatives after a strong finish in Garfield Heights on Saturday.
Girard’s Nick Cardiero defeated Brookfield’s Zach Jamieson in the consolation final of the 170-pound weight class, but both seniors will have one more chance to finish their wrestling careers with a state title next week.
Jackson-Milton’s Mitch Tikkanen won four matches on Saturday to win the consolation final in the 113-pound weight class and advance.
Cardiero will be joined by teammate Dakota McCloskey, who advances to Columbus thanks to a fourth place finish in the 106-pound weight class. He, and George Poullas of Canfield, are the only two area freshman to qualify for states.
The other two Division III qualifiers are Wellsville’s Seth Bloor (220 pounds) and United’s Charlie Smith (285 pounds).
The state tournament at Value City Arena in Columbus begins Thursday and runs through Saturday.