Canfield takes home five section titles

Poullas, Crawford rout tourney field

Staff Report

BELOIT

Reigning Division II state wrestling champion Georgio Poullas took the first steps toward defending his title on Saturday at West Branch High School.

Poullas and 11 Canfield teammates took care of business in the Division II sectional and secured their spots in next week’s district tournament at Alliance.

Canfield, Girard, Howland, Hubbard and West Branch combined to send 31 wrestlers to Friday’s district tournament in Alliance.

In team points, Canfield was the runner-up behind Alliance with 229.5 points and Girard placed third with 173.0.

Canfield won five of its seven first-place matches. The Cardinals’ Anthony D’Alesio (152), Georgio Poullas (160), David Crawford (170), Dominic Cooper (182) and Tyler Stein (195) all won section titles.

Poullas and Crawford entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in the state in their respective weight classes. Poullas —who is undefeated on the season— pinned both his opponents before winning the sectional by default. Crawford pinned all of his opponents.

D’Alesio, a freshman and state champ at the middle school level, said he was nervous throughout the tournament and needs to be more aggressive at districts. He said, despite being a freshman, he and his coaches have high expectations and he needs to meet them.

D’Alesio said his coaches told he and his teammates to “do what you normally do” before the finals to calm some of the nerves.

D’Alesio said the number of people advancing will help the team because it gives the team an opportunity to work against each other in drill and continue to improve.

West Branch had seven wrestlers advance to districts, and won three first-place matches.

West Branch junior Dylan Miller won the 145-pound weight class, Christian Wayt won the 106 and Ian Sharp won the 285-pound class. Miller and Sharp are returning state qualifiers. Sharp is considered to be the favorite for a state title.

“I’ve just been working for it all season. Coming in, drills at 6 a.m., practice at night twice a day. Just drilling with my partner and working for state. [We’re] just taking steps,” Miller said.

Miller said the team competed well against the level of competition in the section round and he’s proud of the way his teammates wrestled. He said the team can build on how the Warriors performed, and personally, he said winning his weight class will help him in the next round.

Southeast (111.5), Ravenna (104.5), Howland (64.0), Hubbard (51.0), Salem (47.0) and Poland (25.0) rounded out the final six spots in the final standing.

Other local wrestlers who placed in the top two include brothers Alex DelGarbino and Jack DelGarbino from Girard, who won first in their weight classes. The brothers are the sons of former Youngstown State defensive lineman and 1991 wrestling state champion at Liberty, John DelGarbino. Jack is ranked No. 3 in the state.