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Canfield wrestlers hosting tournament Saturday
Canfield wrestlers, including Tyler Stein, left, and Anthony D’Alesio, set for weekend tournament
By Brian Dzenis
CANFIELD
On a football field, Anthony D’Alesio and Tyler Stein aren’t the athletes that pop into mind when picturing an ideal defensive line.
Stein, who is 6-foot and 220 pounds, could be considered on the lighter side for that position but its not a stretch to imagine him holding his own in the trenches. D’Alesio is something else.
The 5-11, 170-pound sophomore seems an ideal matchup for a 250-plus pound lineman, but for the 12-1 Cardinals this fall, he gave opposing linemen all they could handle. By the end of the year, he commanded double teams.
“They would make fun of me at the beginning of games because I’m so small,” D’Alesio said. “Those 300-pound kids? I could just throw them.”
After spending the fall redirecting and gaining leverage over larger linemen, D’Alesio and Stein aren’t done throwing people around. On Saturday, Canfield’s wrestling team is having its home opener, hosting Reynolds (Pa.), Aurora, Dover and Kenston.
The pair enter the winter season as top-five wrestlers in the state for Division II, with D’Alesio ranked No. 2 and Stein at No. 4. In addition to being an unconventional lineman, D’Alesio has an unconventional taste in wrestling fashion.
Starting this year, the OHSAA is allowing high school wrestlers to wear a compression shirt with shorts or tights combo instead of a traditional singlet. The sophomore would like to take advantage of that, already dreaming up designs.
“That would be so cool. You could have ‘shark mentality’ on the back and Cardinals on the front on a white shirt with red shorts,” D’Alesio said, referencing one of the team’s catchphrases. “[Singlets] are too tight everywhere.”
Stein is pro-singlet.
“I practice in a singlet and I like the way it feels,” he said. “You get to feel that cold air in the gym.
“I look better in a singlet.”
D’Alesio took fourth place at state in his freshman campaign and his coach, Stephen Pitts, says he’s close to becoming a complete product.
“He doesn’t have to change much. Because of his personality and his competitiveness, that will get you pretty far. He has to develop a few things, but he isn’t afraid to win,” Pitts said. “A lot of kids are afraid to put themselves on the line, but he’s not. Most kids are afraid to fail or do something wrong. He just goes.”
Stein calls his sophomore season a blur. He cracked the lineup, became a state-ranked wrestler and made it to state. Then he had a baffling tournament, taking an 8-3 lead on Miami Trace’s Jared Fenner before losing the lead and the match, 11-10. He ended up not placing.
“I was just gassed. I was wrestling really well the first period and a half and then I just died,” Stein said.
He bounced back with a quality offseason. He claimed All-American honors in two offseason national tournaments, FloNationals and the United World Wrestling World Team Trials.
“He was right there with the best of them, taking fifth nationally [at the UWW tournament],” Pitts said. “It’s a huge barometer. We used to think winning the area was a big deal and while we still stress that, competing on a national level shows who you truly are.”
The Cardinals are host a Reynolds side coming off a state duals title and has one returning state champion and the three Ohio sides all feature ranked wrestlers.
“I just want to start the season off right,” Stein said. “I want to score a lot of points and see this team get four wins and we should.”