High school wrestling tournament capsules

JKampf@news-herald.com

DIVISION I NORTH CANTON HOOVER DISTRICT

Where: North Canton Hoover High School, 525 7th St. NE, North Canton When: March 3-4

Time Schedule: 5 p.m. start on March 3with two rounds of championship bracket; Resume at 9 a.m. on March 4 with two rounds of consolations, with semifinals at 11 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m.

On deck: Top four in each weight class advance to the state tournament March 1012 at Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Area qualifiers: Brush (157 David Williams, 165 Johnathan Simms); Chardon (132 Caden Foley, 138 Graham Husek, 15765Will Vucetic, 175 Aidan Croyle); North (106 Shamus Brady, 120Drake Martinez, 126 Dylan Preston, 138Derick Martinez, 285Patrick Sheehan); Euclid (285Shafiq Smith), Mayfield (113 Aiden Galatis, 120Sal Palmisano, 126 Frankie Palmisano, 132 Vinnie D’Alessandro, 150 Braeden Beck, 285 Chris Fero); Mentor (106 Becan Hahn, 120 Jack DeBoe, 126 Diego Stropko, 132 Nick Blackburn, 138 Antonio Shelley, 150 Joey Fumic, 157 Liam Lloyd, 165 Bear Horgan, 190 Ben McWilliams, 215 Tim Pozgai); Riverside (113 David Rocha, 144Nathan Collado, 165 Collin Fairbanks, 215Antonio Bottiggi).

For the record: As usual, this district is a hammer show from top to bottom. Josh Lowe of Intermat Ohio has projected three teams in this district to finish in the top five in next week’s state tournament — Brecksville third, Wadsworth fourth and Massillon Perry fifth. Both Wadsworth and Brecksville have their full 14lineup in this district, while Massillon Perry has 13. Mentor has 10 going this week to lead the area. Becan Han, Jack DeBoe, Nick Blackburn and Antonio Shelley are all ranked in the top 15 in the state according to Lowe. Mayfield has two in projected state runnerup Vinnie D’Alessandro and ninth-ranked Sal Palmisano, while Riverside’s Antonio Bottigi is eighth. The weight class to watch here is 132, where four of the top five in the state are at Hoover — Wadsworth’s Jaxon Joy (first), D’Alessandro, Brecksville’s Kaden Jett (third) and Blackburn (fifth).

DIVISION II GARFIELD HEIGHTS DISTRICT

Where: Garfield Heights High School, 4900 Turney Road, Garfield Heights When: March 3-4

Time schedule: 5p.m. start on March 3with two rounds of championship bracket and one round of consolations; Resume at 10 a.m. on March 4 with consolation Round 2, semifinals approximately noon, with finals at 6 p.m.

On deck: Top four in each weight class advance to the state tournament March 1012 at Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Area qualifiers: Benedictine (120 John Jones, 132, Antonio Hobbs, 138 Jacob Dolan, 150 Tristan Wilson, 157Christopher Maloney); NDCL (126 Tucker Pason, 190Bryce Wheatley); VASJ (126 Darian Davis); Geneva (144 Dominic Palmisano, 165 Daniel Riddell, 215 Michael Hupertz); Harvey (Marvin Guerra); Hawken (Will Greenberg); Kenston (106 Carmen Fratoe, 120 Leo DiPadova, 144A.J. Pemberton, 190 Ben DiMarco, 285 Sean Doyle); Madison: (106 Aidian Pastor, 113 Jordan McCullough, 120 Jamie Harrison, 126 Jack Harrison, 144 Addison Trisket, 150 Izaiah Siler, 157 Noah Blough, 165 Sonny Salasjak, 190Demitry Navarro); University (150Chris Fioritto); West Geauga (113Zander Joltin, 144 Brian Denamen, 157Justin Artino, 165Ethan Bartlett, 175Nasir Levy). For the record: Even with local powerhouses Perry and Lake Catholic moving down to Division III, this district is loaded. It moves over to Garfield Heights, while the Division III district moves over to Perry — a flip-flopping of sites by each division. Medina Buckeye is the top team here, projected to place third in the upcoming state meet per Intermat’s Josh Lowe. Louisville (projected fifth) and Akron SVSM (projected eighth) are also in this district, making it very tough. Madison is the top area contingent here with nine, having moved down from its previous years in Division I. The area’s state-ranked wrestlers — per Lowe — in this district are Benedictine’s Antonio Hobbs and Christopher Maloney, NDCL’s returning state-placer Bryce Wheatley and Kenston’s tandem of Ben DiMarco and Sean Doyle.

DIVISION III PERRY DISTRICT

Where: Perry

When: March 3-4

Time schedule: 1p.m. start on March 3with two rounds of championship bracke5 and one round of consolations; Resume at 10 a.m. on March 4 with consolation Round 2, semifinals at approximately 11:30 p.m. with finals at approximately 5 p.m.

On deck: Top four in each weight class advance to the state tournament March 1012 at Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Area qualifiers: Beachwood (144 Caleb Greenwood, 150 Joshua Greenwood, 175 Eric Steckner, 215Uzonna Nzekwe); Berkshire (113Colin Hering, 132 Johnny Heiden, 144 Amadeus Kosova, 150 Josh Brown, 157 Alex Munn); Cardinal (165 Josh Ripley, 175 Aden Hatcher, 215 Andrew Tucholski); Chagrin Falls (113 Jonathan McGiness, 126Hunter Blair); Kirtland (113Eddy Podojil-Schlesinger, 132 Ian Borthwick, 165Gaetano Savelli, 175 Louka Babic); Lake Catholic (106 Parker Pikor, 120 Joey Romano, 132Ryan Sharp, 175Jayson Cummins); Perry (120 Riley Rowan, 126 Chance Schlauch, 132 Brock Christian, 138 Chris Bezzeg, 144 Drew Smith, 150 Calvin Peters, 157 Domenick LaMacchia, 165 Ryan Brubaker, 175 Antonius Bertone, 215Nolan Leben, 285 Kenny Walker). For the record: The addition of Lake Catholic and Perry to the Division III scene makes a difference, for sure. Lake has two highly-ranked wrestlers here in Parker Pikor and Joey Romano, while Perry has top-15 ranked wrestlers — per Intermat’s Josh Lowe — in Riley Rowan, Brock Christian and Ryan Brubaker. Additionally, Kirtland’s Gaetano Savelli and Louka Babic are state ranked, are Berkshire’s Colin Hering, Johnny Heiden and (undefeated) Josh Brown. The highest projected wrestler in this district is Beachwood’s Uzonna Nzekwe, Lowe’s projected state runner-up. The Bison’s Joshua Greenwood is also ranked. … Garrettsville, Rootstown and Waynedale are expected to vie for the team title at the Perry District. They have 11 district qualifiers. The host Pirates do, as well. Coach Dave Rowan’s team has the luxury of hosting the tournament and will want to show out in their home gym this weekend.