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West G's Walters pins down wrestling award
(by Steve Novak - January 07, 2009)
West G's Walters pins down wrestling award
By STEVE NOVAK
West Geauga may not have won the Kenston Invitational Tournament, but the Wolverines has the most valuable player of the two-day affair.
Senior Adam Walters captured the 160-pound championship and was selected the tournament's most valuable wrestler. He is a three-time KIT champion.
Coach Joe Marino's Wolverines finished seventh with 121 1/2 points in the 26-team field. Maple Heights, a longtime wrestling power, won the tournament with 185 points. Kenston placed 13th with 82 points and Orange was 24th with 29 points.
Walters, who finished fourth in last year's Division II state finals, won all four of his matches by pin.
Among the other weight divisions for West Geauga, Jeff Balzano took the second-place prize in the 215-pound category. He lost the championship match to Ray Gordon, of Fairfield High School.
Also, the Wolverines' Mike November at 103 pounds and Matt Delpra at 152 pounds both made it to the quarterfinal round before being eliminated.
Marino said he was pleased with the efforts of his wrestlers. He said that losing eight starters from last year's team because of graduation goes a long way to explain why his team has a 3-8 record in dual meets this season.
"Considering that we lost eight starters, we're just about where I expected we would be," he said. "It's been a bit of a rebuilding year. The five guys (starting team wrestlers Walters, Balzano, November, Delpra and D.J. Leonetti) who returned this year all placed, or finished higher, at sectionals last season."
Walters has a 22-1 mark for the season. He lost one match during the Ironman Tournament several weeks ago. Marino said that he still notices improvement in Walters, despite the fact that he finished so well in the state finals last year.
"I don't know how much you can improve when you were fourth in the state last year," he said. "But defensively he's better this year. I think he's only been taken down twice this year."
Kenston's top placers were Andrew Sawayda, who was second at103 pounds, and Tre Smith, who was second at 119 pounds.
Even before the tournament was completed, Kenston coach Brian Malloy said that some of his most successful wrestlers this year wouldn't be competing because of injury. They included Ben Kazimir at 103 pounds, Jake Kazimir at 125 pounds and Clayton Newell at 140 pounds.
Malloy said the injuries were sustained a short time before the Kenston tournament during a match at Hudson.
Orange's top finishers were Nick Macias at 189 pounds, Tony Tartulli at 112 pounds and Matt Gup at 152 pounds, who all reached the quarterfinals.
Of the three wrestlers, Macias has the most wins for the season with a record of 12-4.
Orange coach Al DiGiovanni said two of his other wrestlers also distinguished themselves during the Kenston event.
"Charlie Matthews (140 pounds) lost two close matches. Daniel Gatalyak (130 pounds) went to overtime with the kid who eventually took third place," he said. "We have to learn how to win the close matches."
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