State wrestling roundup

State wrestling roundup

Saturday notebook

Medal count: The stare tournament featured 14 local wrestlers that came home with medals for earning a position in the top-eight finishers, led by Howland’s 170-state champion David-Brian Whisler and Wellsville’s 285-pound state runner-up Seth Bloor. Half of those 14 will bank the experience gained from this weekend’s tournament and return in 2016 looking to improve their results while seven seniors made the most of their last trip to Columbus as a high-school wrestler.

Cardinals flying high: Canfield showed continued signs of growth in 2015, sending five grapplers to Columbus and returning with four state placers. Cardinal junior Jacob Esarco led the way with a fourth-place finish at 220 pounds, while freshman David Crawford (152) and sophomore Giorgio Poullas (126) placed sixth. Freshman Matthew Cardello (103) finished eighth in his first tournament showing that the program’s best days may still be ahead of them. “Last year we sent three guys here, this year it was five and four of us will be back next year to try again,” said Esarco. “I think it is just the culture in the team, the constant drilling in the room, doing things over and over again that puts us in the right position to be successful. We’re looking forward to coming back.”

Underdog scores for Poland: Poland’s Dante Ginnetti had experienced the bright lights of the state tournament as a freshman two years ago, but found himself flying under the radar as a 113-pounder. But it didn’t take long for the junior to set off alarms in 2015 as he pinned district champion Maxx Peters in just 74 seconds of their opening-round meeting. He ended his tournament as he started it, decking Nathaniel Kehn of Thornville Sheridan in 94 seconds to win the fifth-place match. The fifth-place win came after he had lost to Kehn 5-3 in the quarterfinals. “Being an underdog was the biggest thing that motivated me,” Ginnetti said. “We checked all the rankings before the tournament and no one had us placing at all. This year I was a little calmer and I knew what to expect here, and that really helped me.”

High note: Howland senior 182-pounder Jordan Radich rededicated himself to the sport in 2015 after failing to make the state meet a year ago, and it paid off handsomely with a seventh-place result and win in his last match 8-5 over Luke Matthews of Springfield Shawnee. “Everyone talks about their last match, so to go out with a win was very important to me,” Radich said.

Pioneer: Pymatuning Valley freshman Gaige Willis earned the first state wrestling medal in school history this weekend, finishing eighth in the Division III 170-pound bracket. Willis started his wrestling career across the lake in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, then moved to Burton Berkshire before settling into PV. Willis was the only freshman in the 170-pound bracket in Division III but upset district champion Corbin Bunsold 3-2 right out of the gate to serve notice that he wasn’t here just for the experience.

— Eric Mauk