By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

STREETSBORO

As usual, Streetsboro sophomore Jarreau Walker led the charge for the Rockets on Jan. 9 against Field and Woodridge in a double dual meet that was hosted by Norton. Walker won both of his matches in the 113-pound weight division – by pin over a Field opponent and 1-0 over a Woodridge opponent.

“Jarreau is an extreme athlete,” head coach Mark Skonieczny said. “He’s ranked in the top five in the country at 106. He’s been wrestling up because it helps us out. He had a nice weekend. The Woodridge kid kind of stayed away from him, wrestled very defensively.”

With two pins apiece were senior Justin Wargo at 132 and sophomore Gerry Benci at 150.

“Ever since he dropped down from 138 to 132, Justin has been wrestling pretty much outstanding. He’s a go-getter, is tough on his feet. He had two nice matches,” said Skonieczny.

“Gerry is also a go-getter. He will attack you for six minutes.”

Two days later, on Jan. 11 on Allen Alloys Scrapyard Senior Night, Streetsboro hosted

Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and Mentor Lake Catholic in a double dual meet. The Rockets lost two close matches. Benci won both of his matches at 150, and Walker won his only match at 113 (he won by forfeit in the other match).

   • Next up for Streetsboro: Double dual meet against Coventry and host Springfield Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.

MOGADORE BOYS

With two pins apiece Jan. 9 in a tri-match against host Kent Roosevelt and Cuyahoga Falls were Mogadore seniors Kasey Pruitt in the 144-pound weight class and Owen Roberts at 132 plus junior Dylan Benedum at 215.

“Kasey just came back off an injury from football,” head coach Duane Funk said. “I was happy to see him get those pins. We’ve been building him up and building him up, and we felt that this was a good opportunity to stick him in the lineup and see how everything is holding up on him, and he did well.

“Owen did a good job. He’d missed the Portage County Tournament (PCT) due to a skin condition. He handled the kid who finished second in the PCT and beat him. Dylan dominated and had good control of his matches and ended up scoring some points and pinning the kids.”

Overall, the Wildcats defeated the Black Tigers but lost 33-30 to the Rough Riders.

“We handled Cuyahoga Falls, wrestled really, really well against them,” said Funk. “We gave up three forfeits, and they didn’t win a match head-to-head.”

Two days later, on Jan. 11, Mogadore beat host Ravenna, Stow-Munroe Falls, Jefferson Area and Trinity in a dual tournament.

Said the coach, “We wrestled great and had pivotal wins by junior Matthew Trusky at 190 and senior Jack Snavely at 165 to help secure the win against Trinity.”

   • Next up for Mogadore: Bill Dies Memorial Tournament at Akron Firestone Jan. 17 at 4 p.m. and Jan. 18 at 10 a.m.

MOGADORE GIRLS

Mogadore junior Mackenzie Shellenbarger finished second in the 155-pound weight division and her classmate Kai Gaetjens placed fourth at 135 Jan. 11 in a tournament at Akron North.

Despite just three girls competing, the Wildcats were 17 th out of 42 teams.

“Mackenzie wrestled a really good tournament,” Funk, also the girls head coach, said. “She ran into a really solid girl from Austintown Fitch in the semifinals and got a nice win there. In the finals, the girl from Marysville was just a little bit too much for her right now.

“Kai wrestled a really solid tournament. She just ran into some stiff competition. She wrestled hard. She made a little bit of a mistake in the semifinals and put herself down into a hold. She tried to work her way back to get to the finals but couldn’t.”

   • Next for Mogadore: Top Gun Tournament at Alliance Jan. 18 at 10 a.m.

SOUTHEAST

Southeast made big strides in improving in the Eastern Ohio Wrestling League (EOWL) Tournament Jan. 10-11 at Austintown Fitch from the week before at the Portage County Tournament (PCT).

“At the PCT, I felt like there were opportunities for us that we didn’t take advantage of,” head coach Shane Kuberry said. “Everybody at the EOWL wrestled very hard. We had a couple kids who were right there on the edge of making it to placement matches and day two. It was a much better performance than the previous week.”

The Pirates finished 12 th out of 29 teams with 82.5 points. Louisville won the championship with 243 points. Austintown Fitch finished second with 234.5 points and Canfield was third with 213 points.

Junior Dominic Kemble was Southeast’s lone individual titlist in the 126-pound weight class.

“Dominic won an extremely close match in the finals 11-10 over a very high-quality kid from Marlington (Aiden Bean). It was a rematch of the finals from last year,” said Kuberry.

“Dominic is always an impressive kid. His work ethic, his approach to the sport and the way that he does it are what lead to his results. He does everything the right way.”

Junior Landon Durstine finished fourth at 215.

“We always look for effort and the way you’re willing to grind stuff out. Those are really important to us,” said the coach. “Landon lost his quarterfinal match to a kid from Louisville, but he just completely battled back, made his way all the way back through the consolation. In the third-fourth place match he wrestled that same kid from Louisville, and he really closed the gap and made some progress from Friday to Saturday against him. He just did a lot of really good things all weekend. He showed a lot of heart. I’m very proud of him.”

   • Next for Southeast: Hephner Tournament at Austintown Fitch Jan. 24 at noon and Jan. 25 at 9 a.m.

CRESTWOOD

Crestwood sophomore Rocco Wrobel pinned the same Garrettsville Garfield opponent at the 113-pound weight class in a home dual meet Jan. 9 who he defeated by major decision the week before in the semifinals of the Portage County Tournament (PCT). The improvement was obvious.

“It was a nice match,” head coach Dave Wrobel said.

Two other top performers for the Red Devils were freshman Chris Mory winning by pin at 132 and sophomore Ty Berquist winning at 157.

“Chris wrestled his opponent a week earlier at the PCT in which he won by decision,” the elder Wrobel said. “He ended up getting a pin this time from the top position about halfway through the second period, which was really nice to see. He’s really wrestling well.

“Ty wrestled really well, too. He just kept scoring points in all phases. He’s really a take- down artist. He ended up getting a pin, which is an area we’ve been working on with him. It was nice to see him get that win.”

Overall, Crestwood defeated the G-Men 48-29.

Said the coach, “It was a good team effort.”

   • Next for Crestwood: Berkshire Battle of the Belt in Burton Jan. 18 at 9 a.m.

RAVENNA

Ravenna lost to both host Coventry and Springfield in a double dual meet Jan. 9 that also included Cloverleaf.

“We only wrestled six kids due to major injuries,” head coach Eric Kline said. “But our kids battled and we won the head-to-head against both teams. I was really impressed with the way we wrestled.”

Leading the way for the Ravens were freshman Isaac Thompson in the 126-pound weight class, junior Dominic Heeter at heavyweight and sophomore Andrew Mladek at 138.

“Isaac won both of his matches – by tech fall and pin,” said Kline. “Dominic pinned the Coventry kid but lost a close match against Springfield. He showed a lot of effort. Andrew wrestled just one match due to a forfeit, wrestling very well in winning against Springfield. He showed a lot of improvement. That really impressed me.”

Two days later, on Jan. 11, Ravenna hosted the annual Brad Bauer Memorial Dual Meet Tournament, more of a junior varsity-based event in which some lower-end varsity wrestlers also get some mat time. The tourney honors former Ravens wrestler Brad Bauer, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident more than 20 years ago.

“I was very fortunate as a head coach to continue to honor Brad,” Kline said. “It’s an honor to hold that tournament in his memory and the Bauer family. It really shows tribute to the Ravenna community to honor Brad’s legacy and to continue with the scholarship in his memory.”

   • Next for Ravenna: Double dual meet with Field, Cloverleaf and host Woodridge Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.

FIELD

Despite forfeiting 18 points to both Streetsboro and host Norton in a double dual meet Jan. 9 that also included Woodridge, Field lost just 42-39 to the Panthers and fell by a respectable 47-30 to the Rockets.

“It’s very frustrating when you go into league matches like that,” head coach Dave Tenney said, “and you have to give up points because your lineup isn’t full. Our kids are really wrestling up to their potential.”

Freshman A.J. Freudeman pinned his Streetsboro opponent in the 106-pound weight division after losing to him 9-3 in the Portage County Tournament the week before. Freudeman won his other match against Norton by forfeit. Meanwhile, seniors Joe D’Amico (144) and

Drexal McAnis (heavyweight) won both of their matches.

   • Next for Field: Double dual meet with Ravenna, Cloverleaf and host Woodridge Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.

GARFIELD

Garfield head coach Dan Andel was pleased with his team’s 13th-place performance in the 29 team Eastern Ohio Wrestling League Tournament Jan. 10-11 at Austintown Fitch. The G-Men scored 80.5 points. Louisville won the competition with 243 points. Austintown Fitch finished second with 234.5 points and Canfield was third with 213 points.

“I think it was a solid performance, like I hoped we’d perform,” Andel said. “It was some tough competition, a lot of Division I and Division II schools.”

Placing fifth individually were junior Cameron Lewicki in the 120-pound weight class and sophomores Luke Kaufman at 126 and Landon Andel at 138.

“The three of them wrestled well,” said the elder Landel. “I wasn’t disappointed in their performances.”

Garfield lost dual matches at Liberty Jan. 8 and at Crestwood Jan. 9.

“We only filled eight or nine weight classes for different reasons, so we had several forfeits,” said the coach. “We won head-to-head against both teams.”

Kaufman won by major decision in a tough match at 126 against Liberty.

“Luke did well in closing out the match,” the elder Landel said. “I think his opponent underestimated Luke. He handled him quite well. He wrestled all three positions well and controlled the tempo of the match.”

   • Next for Garfield: Tri-meet against Grand Valley and Pymatuning Valley Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.

WATERLOO

Waterloo finished 24th with 33.5 points in the 29-team Eastern Ohio Wrestling League (EOWL) Tournament Jan. 10-11 at Austintown Fitch. Louisville won the competition with 243 points. Austintown Fitch finished second with 234.5 points and Canfield was third with 213 points.

“The first day went alright. We got the number of kids I thought we’d get through to the second day,” head coach John Foster said. “The second day was rough, though. We went 0-6 that day.

Dalton Braybon finished sixth in the 126-pound weight class. He is the first Vikings freshman ever to place at the EOWL.

“I would argue that the EOWL is one of the better tournaments in the area for the entire season. It’s pretty tough,” said Foster. “So that’s great for Dalton.”

   • Next for Waterloo: East Palestine Tournament Jan. 25.