Canfield sending five wrestlers to state

March 8, 2015 at 12:07a.m.

ALLIANCE

The Mahoning Valley will be well-represented at the Division II state wrestling tournament with 15 wrestlers and two alternates from seven area schools set to compete Thursday through Saturday at Ohio State University’s Jerome Schottenstein Center.

Canfield leads the way with five qualifiers, including two who were crowned champions during Saturday’s district tournament at Alliance High School.

Local champions are the Cardinals’ Jake Esarco (220 pounds) and Georgio Poullas (126 pounds), and David-Brian Whisler (170 pounds) of Howland.

Esarco, an alternate last season, improved to 32-2 on the season with a 9-5 decision over Tyler Dufour of Ashtabula Edgewood. Down 3-2 after one period, he took a 7-4 lead after two periods and held on for a four-point victory.

“I didn’t wrestle smart in the first period but felt like I hit my groove in the second,” Esarco said. “He’s a really tough wrestler, but I felt like he was wearing down a bit in the third period.”

Poullas (44-2), who finished sixth at state a season ago as a freshman, was a 3-1 winner over John Chell of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.

“I knew if I could ride him I’d win, but if I could turn him then it would be better,” Poullas said. “I played it safe in the third period and make no mistake, he’s an excellent wrestler. It’s really nice to be a district champion and hopefully I can be a state champion next week.”

Whisler improved to 37-2 and earned his second straight district title after posting a 13-3 decision over Ravenna’s Brendon Winning.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the first match or the finals; you just wrestle your match,” Whisler said. “I was focused on scoring points and will now concentrate on this week’s state tournament.”

Runners-up included Canfield’s C.J. Frost (132 pounds) and David Crawford (152 pounds), and Alec Schopfer (106 pounds) of West Branch.

Frost (31-10) will be making his second trip to state and is looking to improve upon his fourth place finish at 138 pounds last year.

“When you get to state, the treatment is very special and the goal now is to get to the podium,” Frost said.

Crawford (40-12), a freshman, dropped a 9-3 decision to Zack Lake of Coventry while Schopfer (30-9) came up short against Lukus Stricker of Akron Hoban, a 1-0 decision.

“The goal at the beginning of the season was to be a district champion and top-four at state,” Crawford said. “It feels great, but there’s still a lot of work to be done in order to get ready for this week.”

Schopfer said, “I kept trying to hit shots; shooting and shooting but he played great defense today.”

Salem’s Jesse Slocum (40-2) scored a 3-2 decision over Jordan Radich (34-7) at 182 pounds while Dante Ginnetti (35-8) of Poland finished fourth after falling to Terrell Grant of Tallmadge, 10-9.

Slocum owns a 2-1 overall mark this year against Radich, losing to the Howland senior at the EOWL championships and winning the past two weeks in tournament action.

Ginnetti was sixth at district last year and will be making his first state appearance.

He defeated Grant earlier in the tournament, 10-9.

West Branch will send three to state followed by Southeast (2); Howland (2, and an alternate); Alliance (1, and an alternate) and Salem and Poland, who will each send one player.