By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Field senior Carter White pinned his way through the 157-pound weight class to the championship in the Metro Athletic Conference Tournament on Feb. 15 at Woodridge. He finished the season undefeated in the conference.

“Carter wrestled an outstanding match in the finals,” head coach Dave Tenney said.

Overall, the Falcons finished sixth out of eight teams with 74 points. Woodridge won the title with 149 points. Norton finished second with 140.5 points and Streetsboro was third with 131.5 points.

“My team was decimated by sickness. I only took five active wrestlers,” said Tenney. “I thought we wrestled to our potential. Everybody placed.”

Senior Joe D’Amico was runner-up at 144, senior Drexal McAmis finished third at heavyweight, junior Daniel Hudson took third at 170 and junior Owen Wymer finished fourth at 150.

“Joe had another epic battle with Omar Leon from Springfield. He beat him twice this season, and then Leon got him in the finals,” the coach said. “Going into the tournament, Drexal was undefeated in the conference. He just had a match in the semis that didn’t go his way. Daniel

was also undefeated in the conference going in. He just got caught. Owen came back to wrestling halfway through the season after a football injury. He wrestled really well.”

     • Next up for Field: Division II sectional tournament at Beloit West Branch on Feb. 22 at 9 a.m.

AURORA

It was a total team effort for Aurora in a 38-35 victory Feb. 13 at Lake Catholic.

“This definitely was a match where we needed to rely on all 14 guys to win the match. It was very back and forth,” head coach Jeremy Johnson said. “It was a very close match. I don’t think it was our best performance, but we wrestled well as a team.”

Leading the way were senior Johnny Green in the 120-pound weight class and juniors Michael Kennedy at 144 and A.J. Bruno at 190.

“Johnny wrestled a kid who is ranked No. 2 in Division III, and he beat him by major decision. He really, really wrestled well,” said Johnson. “I was very proud of him and his effort and intensity for that match. Michael also won by major decision. He stepped up for the team. He picked up bonus points for our team, which came to be very important with how the meet was going. A.J. ended up pinning his opponent with a cradle, giving us a chance to rally back and give us the momentum to win the meet.”

     • Next up for Aurora: Division I sectional tournament at Pinkney East Community Center in Cleveland on Feb. 22 at 10 a.m.

CRESTWOOD

Crestwood defeated visiting Twinsburg in the Dual in the School on Feb. 13 by 18-20 points.

A couple wrestlers, who typically do not score points stepped up to win matches.

Sophomore Rocco Wrobel in the 113-pound weight class and freshman Tyler Devlin at 120 got things rolling with tech-fall wins.

“Rocco and Tyler looked really good,” said head coach Dave Wrobel. “But it was nice to see kids like sophomores Gio Brock (126) and Doug Sipes (215) get wins — Gio by decision and Doug by pin.”

The previous evening, on Feb. 12, the Red Devils lost at Hudson by about 20 points.

“We got off to a pretty solid start. We ended up winning three of the first four matches. After that, it was a little bit of a struggle,” the elder Wrobel said. “Overall, it was a good matchup for us. We went in knowing that Hudson was pretty strong in the upper and middle weights. We competed, but in the end they ended up being too strong for us up top.”

The Berquist cousins provided Crestwood with some firepower – sophomore Ty winning by pin at 157 and junior Michael winning by tech fall at 175.

“Ty looked good on his feet. He’s more of a take-down person,” said the coach. “Michael went out there and competed. I was really impressed with the way he looked on top. He scored a bunch of points with his cradle and looked really good.”

     • Next up for Crestwood: Division III sectional tournament at Rootstown on Feb. 22 at 9:30 a.m.

ROOTSTOWN

Rootstown won 42-35 at Mogadore on Feb. 13.

“It was a good dual,” head coach Anthony Anderson said.

The day before, on Feb. 12, the Rovers lost 32-30 to visiting St. Vincent-St. Mary in an assembly meet.

“We wrestled pretty well,” said Anderson. “It was going to be a great dual whether we won or lost just because both teams are very good in the same weight classes. It really could have gone either way. It was a great dual. We were trying to attract a little more attention to the sport, and I think it did a great job of doing that.”

     • Next up for Rootstown: Division III sectional tournament at home Feb. 22 at 10 a.m.

MOGADORE

The Mogadore seniors stepped up on Senior Night on Feb. 13 in a tri-meet against

Rootstown and St. Thomas Aquinas. The Wildcats easily beat the Knights, but fell 42- 35 to the Rovers.

“Our seniors came out and wrestled hard and represented well,” said head coach Duane Funk.

Seniors Kasey Pruitt in the 138-pound weight division and Owen Roberts at 132 came out on fire.

“Kasey had two pins in the first period. He came out, really took it to the kids and stuck it to them,” Funk said. “Owen beat his Rootstown opponent by tech fall. That Rootstown kid is a solid wrestler. Owen wrestled tough the whole time. It was a good match.”

     • Next up for Mogadore: Division III sectional tournament at Beachwood on Feb. 22 at 9 a.m.

KENT ROOSEVELT

Kent Roosevelt lost at Tallmadge on Feb. 13. Having to forfeit several weight classes due to injuries, including sophomore Gavin Edwards at 157, didn’t help.

“We did very well with what we had,” assistant coach Ryan Fankhauser said.

Dominating and winning by pins were Jacob Dunfee in the 113-pound weight division, Carter Fertig (120), Jeremiah Brumfield (126), Ethan Kurtz (175) and Noah Dunlap (215). Ethan Branham (190) lost a tough match 12-11 with both wrestlers competing until complete exhaustion.

“A special thanks to Tallmadge High School for hosting the event,” said Fankhauser. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to host them next season in front of the entire school. It was a high energy, fun event that promoted the sport well.”

     • Next up for Kent Roosevelt: Division II sectional tournament at Kenston on Feb. 22 at 10 a.m.

RAVENNA

Ravenna sophomores Andrew Mladek in the 132-pound weight class and Dominic Meckley at 190 both placed fourth in the Metro Athletic Conference Tournament on Feb. 15 at Woodridge.

“Andrew has wrestled better the second half of the season,” head coach Eric Kline said.

“I thought he wrestled well. He got a couple wins. It’s all about progressing and stepping up to the next level with each match at each tournament, and he did that. There are a lot of things that he needs to work on to get better, but he’s very athletic, so I think he can do that going into sectionals.

“Dominic is coming along. He’s got some work to do to get to the top of the podium, but if he keeps working hard and stays dedicated, he can do pretty well going into his junior year.”

Junior Ryder Denning won a match at 126.

Overall, the Ravens finished eighth out of eight teams with 14 points. Woodridge won the title with 149 points. Norton finished second with 140.5 points and Streetsboro was third with 131.5 points.

“We only entered four kids due to injuries,” said Kline.

     • Next up for Ravenna: Division II sectional tournament at Beloit West Branch on Feb. 22 at 9 a.m.