Top grade school wrestlers vie for state titles at Covelli
Eleven area wrestling clubs are competing
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
Back in January, 3,000 wrestlers from across the state began their state tournament quest. A total of 1,200 from eight districts made it, advancing to this weekend’s Ohio Athletic Committee grade school state wrestling championships at the Covelli Centre.
After Saturday’s opening round action, 980 hopefuls advanced to today’s 8 a.m. consolation matches.
Semifinal action is set for 12:30 p.m. All finals matches will commence at 3 p.m. with the OAC set to present a $4,100 donation to the Ohio Special Olympics.
“Our mission has always been to support youth athletics,” Jared Opfer, OAC executive director said. “Special Olympics doesn’t always receive the exposure or necessary funding that other tournaments are afforded, so we’re happy to be able to help out this very special youth group as they move forward and continue competing at a high level.”
The 12th annual event, which returned to the Mahoning Valley for a fifth consecutive year, will also crown the top eight wrestlers as All-Ohio honorees in 41 different weight classes.
Eleven area wrestling clubs took part this year: Austintown, Beaver Local, Boardman, Brookfield, Canfield, Girard, Howland, Salem, South Range, West Branch and Western Reserve.
Canfield’s Ethan Fletcher (85 pounds) won his initial match over Mahatma Gandhi of Cincinnati Moeller, 7-4 to advance to today’s action.
“The goal was to get the first takedown,” Fletcher said. “Then, I thought I would get a cross wrist and wing. I took him to his back a few times but he fought me off. I was happy to win but hope to do better.”
Teammate Michael Crawford (95 pounds), who won his opening match over Austin Skinner, 1-0, has a wrestling pedigree. His brother Nick finished fifth at last week’s junior high event and brother David, who was a junior high champion a year ago, placed sixth at the state meet this year as a Canfield freshman.
“My opponent wasn’t movable on the bottom, so I just fought him and worked my hardest to get away from him,” he said.
Ty Stricko (60 pounds), also of Canfield, placed first at Novice State back on March 1.
He said the key was conquering his nerves.
“I felt all right today and was nervous until my match started,” he said. “It’s fun to be here with teammates and family, but most of all to watch all of the top wrestlers from around the state.”
Austintown Youth Wrestling Club coach Frank Giordano wants his team to experience the best competition possible.
“The goal is to have our wrestlers compete at a high level,” he said. “Whether they place or not, the goal is to expose them to the highest level of competition available. The fact that this event is in our backyard is all the more special. All area clubs have the same goal and that is to represent the Mahoning Valley in a first-class manner. From November to January we compete against each other but in February and March, we practice together in order to get ready for this tournament. Our season is five months long and we wrestle for this one weekend, which I call the crown jewel of our season.”
Austintown’s Tyler Lintner (90 pounds), who qualified second this year, pinned his first opponent, Nicholas Donofrio of West Geauga in the first period but fell to Max Ray of Columbus Team Miron, 12-5.
“I was one match away from placing last year so the goal this year is to get to the podium,” he added.
Dominic Vennetti (68 pounds) of Boardman Youth Wrestling Club was 1-1 on the day, earning a pin in his second match to also advance to today’s competition.
“You learn something from every match so it’s good to advance and be able to wrestle once again on Sunday,” he said.
A change in style during the season has really helped Vennetti.
“Dominic is a tough kid, a very hard worker who is unbelievably strong,” Boardman coach Justin Powell said. “He loves the sport and just by changing his style midway through the season has really paid off for him.”
Canfield coach Derick Fletcher said there isn’t much of a difference between the junior high and grade school tournaments.
“The competition level is high in both while the skill set and skill levels are very comparable as well,” Fletcher said. “This weekend’s participants are just younger versions of the junior high kids.”
Today’s parade of champions will start at 2:30 p.m.