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Cardinal soars again
Canfield’s Poullas to compete for state crown
By BRIAN DZENIS
COLUMBUS
Georgio Poullas doesn’t think about the big moments until he’s there.
The Canfield junior is the lone Mahoning County county wrestler competing for a state title today at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
“Last year, I would think about it all night. I didn’t get much sleep and this year I learned not to focus on the moment until you’re in it,” Poullas said. “Don’t overwhelm yourself until you’re in it and once you’re there, wrestle your match and no one else’s.”
In Division II at 160 pounds, the Cardinal will square off with Toledo Central Catholic’s Richard Jackson. Poullas is the last guy in the championship bracket among his six teammates that entered the tournament. The Cardinals are fifth in team points with 51.
After pinning Bay Village Bay’s Vince Zitiello in 2:42 in the first session, Poullas advanced to the semis alongside teammates C.J. Frost (138) and David Crawford (160). Frost and Crawford were shut out in the semis while Poullas won, 7-3, against Sandusky Perkins’ Seth Boggs.
Poullas scored three takedowns to Boggs’ zero in the win.
This late in the tournament, Poullas has noticed opponents are thoroughly scouting him, but he gives just as well as he takes. He was well-prepared for Boggs.
“I knew he was going to try and throw me, so I stayed low and went to the shot,” Poullas said. “I’ll do little things [to adjust to opponents], but you should never change your style.”
In consolation action, Austintown Fitch’s Adam Green and Boardman’s Mario Graziani will be facing off for seventh place today.
Green fell out of the championship bracket in the first section with a 10-9 loss to Cincinnati’s Oak Hills’ Dylan Roth. It was hard to see the outcome coming after Green opened the match with a 5-0 lead.
“I just tried to hang on and win 5-0 and he was having none of it,” Green said. “I tried to coast and it came back to bite me.”
Green needed to regroup in only a few hours, but got it together and beat Gahanna Lincoln’s Carl Turner, 5-3.
“To be honest, I kind of broke down emotionally and Coach [John Burd] helped me out to get in the right mindset,” Green said of preparing for the Turner match.
The win was significant not only because he stayed alive in the tournament, he was the first Fitch wrestler to place since 2009.
“Our program has had many placers and we haven’t had one for a while and Adam has been a leader for us,” Burd said. “Today he stepped up and did a great job.”
A 12-2 loss to Hilliard Darby’s Jared Ball put Green in the seventh-place match.
A fortuitous poke in the eye allowed Graziani to place.
The Spartans senior was booted from the championship bracket after a 7-6 loss to Lakewood St. Carpenter’s Michael Carpenter.
“Everybody is good here. It’s the state tournament,” Graziani said. “There are no easy matches and he was just the better wrestler in that match.”
Thirty seconds in his consolation matchup against Delaware Haye’s Max Wright, he got poked in the eye. Graziani was a awarded a point. That point made all the difference as he won, 2-1.
“He gave me a cut and I hope it makes me look cooler,” Graziani said. “We were both scrapping out there, we were fighting to win. Stuff happens in wrestling and it’s no big deal. He didn’t mean it, he caught me and we went on with our lives.”
A 5-1 loss to Elyria’s Mikah Price set his matchup with Green.
Also in a state final in Division III is Pymatuning Valley’s Gaige Willis (182), who will face Rocky River Lutheran’s James Handwerk.
While Poullas is part of a strong program with multiple state competitors, Willis made the journey to a state title match alone.
The sophomore is Pymatuning Valley’s only competitor. Willis says the Lakers have an “average-sized” wrestling program, but he has to travel around to find opponents to practice with. He occasionally goes toe-to-toe with college wrestlers to better himself.
“I just hang in there and anything is possible,” Willis said. “No matter what you do, just win.”