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Kenston, West G, Orange wrestlers win crowns
(by Steve Novak - February 11, 2009)
Kenston, West G, Orange wrestlers win crowns
By STEVE NOVAK
A short time before last weekend's Chagrin Valley Conference wrestling tournament began at Aurora High School, Kenston coach Brian Malloy said that because there were so many good teams this year, the championship was up for grabs.
Malloy was probably being modest or superstitious in not saying that his Bombers were one of the favorites. But when the team points were tallied, they were the top area team, finishing fourth behind champion Aurora, Cuyahoga Heights and Perry. The Bombers had 151 points, while Aurora rang up 189 points. Kenston also finished second overall in the Chagrin Division of the CVC behind Aurora. West Geauga was fifth with 115 points.
Jake Kazimir at 125 pounds was the lone Kenston champion.
West Geauga's Adam Walters at 160 was the Wolverines' lone champion. Walters, who finished fourth in Division II state competition last year, has a record of 40-1 for the season. He won his title bout last weekend with a 23-8 technical fall over Pat Meade, of Cuyahoga Heights.
Orange claimed a champion in the 189-pound category as senior Nick Macias took the crown when he defeated John Sill, of Perry, in an 11-7 decision.
Kenston had eight wrestlers make it to the winners' podium, reserved for those who finish sixth or higher in their respective weight class.
In the 119-pound division, Kenston's Tre Smith finished in third place. The Bombers had two of their wrestlers finish in fourth place, Ben Kazimir at 103 and Brendan Gilday at 160.
Two Kenston wrestlers finished fifth, Parker Schabel in the 152-pound division and Louis Mantush at heavyweight. Andrew Sawayda at 112 and Ricky Kochert at 135 both finished sixth for Kenston.
After the final team totals were announced, Malloy admitted that he had been confident that his team would be among the top finishers in overall points.
"I thought we'd be in the top five, but not quite as high as we finished," Malloy said. "We had a bad round on Saturday and we lost some close matches. But now we have some time to fine tune our guys and work on things we need to work on."
Prior to beginning action at the CVC tournament, Smith had the most wins on the team with a 20-3 record in dual matches. Ben Kazimir was 14-3 and Jake Kazimir was 15-2.
Two wrestlers from West Geauga finished third, Mike November at 103 and Jeff Balzano at 215. Three Wolverines finished fourth, Mark Delpra at 152, D.J. Leonetti at 119 and Scott Willis at 130.
West Geauga coach Joe Marino also singled out the performance of his 171-pound wrestler, Josh Brosseau.
"He Brosseau)finished sixth, and this was the first time he ever placed in the tournament," Marino said. "He's a junior, and he's wrestling above his weight class because Adam (Walters) is at 160 pounds."
Marino said because regular-season competition is now complete for his team, he has nearly two weeks for his wrestlers to get ready for postseason competition in Division II matchups.
"Now the emphasis is on the individual kids," he said. "After the Lake Catholic (sectional tournament), if I can get my kids to Akron Firestone (for the district tournament) with a chance to go to state, that's what I care about now."
As for Kenston, the Bombers have their sectional at Walsh Jesuit High School during the weekend of Feb. 20. The following weekend their district meets are also held at Firestone.
Orange coach Nick DiGiovani said that Macias is one of several of his wrestlers who had a .500 or better season record in dual matches. Macias was 21-7 record prior the CVC tournament.
Orange's Tony Tartulli and Charlie Matthews both finished third. Tartulli wrestles in the 112-pound division and Matthews is in the 140-pound weight class. Orange finished in 10th place with 60 team points.
Chagrin Falls sophomore Tommy Tesar finished in sixth place in the heavyweight division.
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