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All hail King Georgio: Canfield junior wins state title at 152 pounds
Canfield junior dominates 152-pound title win
By BRIAN DZENIS
COLUMBUS
Georgio Poullas has no time for pomp and circumstance.
Walking out of the tunnel inside the Jerome Schottenstien Center through a fog machine and pyrotechnics, while some wrestlers pointed to the crowd or hopped around in excitement, the Canfield 152-pounder stared straight ahead.
Poullas prides himself in staying in moments as they happen. So many of his peers failed to do that in the state tournament and he was not going to fall into that trap.
“Talking to my coaches, they tell me never leave anything to chance,” Poullas said.
When he got to his moment — a state final matchup with Toledo Central Catholic’s Richard Jackson — he owned it.
Poullas’ almost bored demeanor in the pre-match ceremonies gave way to relentless aggression with which he used to terrify teammates in middle school once the whistle blew. From beginning to end, he was in charge and walked away from Jackson with a 5-1 decision and a state title.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a regular season match or a state final, Poullas’ style changes for no one. Sure, he may make a tweak here or there, but his mantra is the same. He takes the match to his opponents.
“We learned a long time ago that when a kid is good at something, let’s allow them to go out there and be loose,” Canfield coach Dean Conley said. “We didn’t do anything different for Georgio that we did in the fall. He just goes hard, goes at a fast pace, pushes guys and scores a lot of points,”
Poullas went right at Jackson to try to get a takedown from the beginning. He had his first takedown called back by officials saying he was out of bounds a minute into the match. With 24 seconds left in the period, Poullas grabbed his first takedown.
“I wanted to get a lead. I knew I wanted to be up and have a good takedown in the first period and just go from there,” Poullas said.
The junior started the second period by quickly earning a point off an escape. He ended the second period the same way he ended the first, with a takedown.
Up 5-0 in the third period, was it time to relax?
“I didn’t want to relax — you want to go 100 percent all the time,” Poullas said. “The second you relax, a match can be over like that.”
All Jackson could manage was a point off an escape as Poullas continued to push him around the mat. He hugged his coaches after the win, but remained stone-faced on the podium. It wasn’t until the medal was around his neck and his name was called on the PA system that he allowed himself to briefly smile.
“It was unexplainable,” Poullas said. “I have no words to tell you. It was amazing.”
Poullas’ win helped Canfield finish in second place in team scoring with 83 points. Division II powerhouse St. Paris Graham took first place with 253 points. Conley took just as much pride in that as Poullas’ title.
“I want to blow it up,” Conley said. “I want a banner. I want it in our room so [my wrestlers] can look at it every single day and be proud that they’re from Canfield.”
Simply put, Poullas is a wrestler. He’s had this moment, but it won’t be long until he’s on to the next one. How much time will he spend celebrating his biggest accomplishment on the mat?
“I’ll give it a weekend,” Poullas said.