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Whisler rallies to stay alive
By Ryan Buck
ALLIANCE
For the first time all season, Howland senior wrestler David-Brian Whisler faced a moment of doubt.
Trailing 3-2 in the third and final period in his district quarterfinal match to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Jaret Lester, the two-time state tournament qualifier was in jeopardy of falling into the 170-pound consolation bracket and out of district title contention.
“I’ve been kind of banged up a little bit and it caught up to me a little bit during that match,” Whisler said.
“I went down in the third period and I kind of wrestled off the whistle. The [referee] hit me for two stall calls when they were questionable, I’d say. I saw the ref was not making calls my way. I knew I had to do something about it.”
The fourth- and seventh-place finisher in the last two Division II state tournaments then flipped the match — and everyone inside the Alliance High gymnasium — on its ear.
“I was down 3-2 with about 14 seconds left,” Whisler said, “I looked at the clock and I said, ‘I’m not going to lose this match like this.’ Something kind of clicked and I got out ahead, got a point and I got a takedown right after an escape with about five seconds left to win.”
The 5-3 decision advanced Whisler, who has lost only twice all season, to a semifinal match with Akron Coventry’s Chris Cook tonight when the district tournament concludes.
“It ran through my head because I wouldn’t call it an upset [if Lester, a sophomore, had won], but nobody would have expected him to win that. A flash in my head was like, ‘Whisler goes down in the quarterfinals!’ No way am I letting that happen.
“That was probably the worst match I wrestled all year, but I haven’t had a bad match in a really long time,” Whisler said. “I guess now’s the time to have it to get it out of the way before [the state tournament] and tonight’s district semifinal and final matches.”
While Whisler, who signed a NCAA letter-of-intent with Maryland last fall, is enjoying individual success, Canfield trails only St. Vincent-St. Mary in the team standings.
The Cardinals, coached by Dean Conley, have five wrestlers still in contention for district titles.
Matt Cardello, Georgio Poullas, C.J. Frost, David Crawford and Jacob Esarco all won twice Friday to advance to their weight classes’ respective semifinals.
Canfield trails the Irish, a state power with seven wrestlers advancing to tonight’s district semifinals, 66.5 to 57.5.
Esarco, a 220-pound junior, pinned his first two opponents.
“It’s gone well so far,” said Esarco. “Two pins; I’m happy about that, and just two more to be a district champion.”
Canfield won the Eastern Ohio Wrestling League team title in February.
“Personally, I’m very pleased. I don’t know what we finished last year, maybe sixth or seventh? But this year’s a great improvement,” Esarco said.
Cardello and Crawford are freshmen, Poullas a sophomore and Frost and Esarco are juniors.
“We have great confidence all-around,” Esarco said. “I’ll prepare for tomorrow like I always do: with a laid-back attitude and take it one match at a time.”
West Branch is currently in fifth place with 36 points. The Warriors trail Perry and Padua Franciscan.