Friday, March 09, 2007

MAL vs. SLL All Stars

103 – Tyler Hahn (9) Eastwood by FALL over Mitch Bloom (9) Mohawk
112 – Nathan Baker (11) Lake by FALL over Eddie Fredritz (10) Carey
119 – Ben Kuzma (10) Hopewell-Loudon by MAJ DEC over John Hughes (11) Lake
125 – David Eaton (10) Eastwood by DEC over Dillon Kwiat (9) Calvert
130 – Lance Foos (12) Otsego by DEC over Nick Berryman (12) St. Joe
135 – Jake Scherger (12) Calvert by DEC over Alex Betts (10) Elmwood
140 – Matt Franks (12) St. Joe by DEC over Anthony Fleming (12) Otsego
145 – Toby Hessick (12) St. Joe by DEC over Seth Hoffman (9) Eastwood
152 – Eric Cubberly (11) Eastwood by TECH FALL over Kyle Kwiat (10) Calvert
160 – Paul Tippey (12) Lake by DEC over Elijah Eatherton (12) Carey
171 – Jeremy Foster (11) Eastwood by DEC over Jordan Cartwright (12) Mohawk
189 – Travis Ault (11) Woodmore by FALL over Zach White (11) Calvert
215 – Brian Hunt (12) Calvert by DEC over Grant Hale (11) Eastwood
285 – Jacob Southwick (11) Otsego by FALL over John Stover (11) Calvert
Final Score – Suburban Lakes League 41 Midland Athletic League 16
Scholarship Reciepients – Matt Franks (St. Joe) & Paul Tippey (Lake

Thursday, March 08, 2007

I wish I was in Nebraska

The University of Findlay wrestlers are in Kearney, Neb. getting ready for their shot at Division II NCAA glory.
There are five wrestlers from Ashland University and four from the University of Findlay.
I also imagine there are a few Ohio wrestlers from Mercyhurst and other schools competing at Kearney this weekend.
It’s been a tough year for the Roughnecks and and equally tough year for the Eagles. Both teams have been beset by an assortment of injuries and ailments this season.
Two wrestlers that are healthy and should be ready to go are Findlay’s Tony Guerra and Andy Uhl. Guerra, a two-time All-American, won an NCAA title last season while Uhl, a three-time All-American, was an NCAA champ in 2005. I couldn’t think of a better way for the Roughnecks to end the season than by both winning NCAA titles and they are more than capable of doing it.
I’d also like to see sophomore Travis Clark earn All-American honors too. Check out my story on Clark who is 24 years old with a tour of duty with the United States Marine Corps in Iraq under his belt.
Here is the website for the NCAA Division II tournament.

If you are interested, the finals of the Division II NCAA tournament will be broadcast live on Sports Time Ohio beginning at 8 p.m. EST.

Also the finals of the Division I Eastern Wrestling League will be broadcast tonight on STO at 10 p.m.

NEWSWORTHY:
UF’s Clark has an edge
Five Ashland wrestlers set for Nationals
Moments worth remembering at state wrestling tournament
Mansfield area prep wrestling wrap up
Purdue, Magrum find strength to defend

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

My award winners

Time to hand out some awards.
The winter sports seasons in Ohio are extremely long when compared with some of the fall and spring sports.
It’s a grind for prep wrestlers they have to deal with making weight, injuries, improved competition and parent and coaches that are always on their case for them to continue to work hard and get better.
Any way to wrap up the prep season here are my selections for award winners from the Northwest District . These opinions are mine and mine alone. And if there’s some one you’d like to nominate…feedback is always appreciated.
On to the awards!

Division III
OUSTANDING WRESTLER: Patrick Harrington (Sandusky St. Mary’s). 63-0 2-time state champ that’s enough for me. Genoa’s Nick Purdue and Ashland Crestview’s Hunter Reed would be the secondary picks as both had dominating seasons too.

MOST IMPROVED: Alec Romick (Huron) & Stuart Miller (Delphos Jefferson). A first-year varsity wrestler Romick got better and better as the tournament progressed and ended up 8th at 285 pounds. Goes to show if you have a heavyweight who is a decent athlete and wants to learn he can go a long way in a short amount of time. I also added Miller to the list. Just sophomore, he is Delphos Jefferson’s first state placer he should do very well the next couple of years and could win the school’s first state title.

NEWCOMER AWARD: Logan Stieber (Monroeville) & Peyton Oney (South Central). What a dominating tournament performance Stieber had this season. The No.2 ranked 103-pounder in the country…Enough said. But Oney becoming his school’s first state qualifier was big too and he definitely has a bright future.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Jude Roth, Sandusky St. Mary’s & Mike Steyer, Tiffin Calvert. Two guys who are very deserving. Jude has accomplished so much in his tenure at SMCC and is retiring after this season. Steyer and his other coach Matt Coleman has brought Calvert back from the brink of extinction to becoming one of the top programs in the NW District.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Delta. Jeff Wolford’s Panthers were young but were still able to walk away as district champs. Never underestimate Delta, their kids and their coaches. If you do they’ll jump up and bite ya.

Division II
OUSTANDING WRESTLER: Matt Clum (Galion). Again lots of great candidates for this award like Eastwood’s Eric Cubberly who had a dominating season, Rossford’s Jeremy Espinoza who went unbeaten up until the state final and who can forget Oak Harbor’s Cody Magrum. But I like Clum’s style and give him the nod after a 45-0 season could he end up at the University of Findlay?

MOST IMPROVED: Doug Donna (Tiffin Columbian). No wrestler I’ve followed over the last year has improved more than Columbian’s big strong heavyweight Doug Donna. He’ll be a threat to win a state title next season with a little offseason work.

NEWCOMER AWARD: Drew Stone (Oak Harbor). One of two freshman to qualify for state in Division II this season from the NW District. Defiance’s B.J. Miller was the other.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Jason Seiler (Napoleon) Brent Rastetter (Lexington). Both schools had outstanding seasons and these coaches deserve plenty of credit as they’ve raised the bar for their programs. The two teams only combined for one state qualifier though so they still have some work to do to catch up to the Oak Harbors, Bellevues and Eastwoods though but they are on their way.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Oak Harbor. The crème de la crème. The best of an outstanding group of Division II teams from the NW District and they proved it on the mat.

Division I
OUSTANDING WRESTLER: Scott Fuller (Toledo Waite). Hey you gotta give this award to the highest state placer in Division I and Fuller fit’s the bill with a fourth place effort in Columbus. Hopefully next season we’ll get to root on a Division I kid from the NW in a championship match.

MOST IMPROVED: Darnell Williams (Toledo Woodward). You have to give props to a kid coming from a City League school for qualifying. I watched him and he is a raw talent. With some work in the offseason I think he can earn a spot on the awards stand next season.

NEWCOMER AWARD: Garrett Manley (Springfield). Manley was 33-4 and just missed qualifying from the Mentor meatgrinder by finishing fifth at 103 pounds. He’ll be one to watch next season.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Tony Geha (Sylvania Southview). A great year for the Cougars three state qualifiers, a state placer and fourth place finish at districts which had to be the school’s highest finish. A program on the rise?

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Toledo Waite. The best in the NW District in Division I. Nearly walked away with the runner-up trophy at districts. The Indians are well-coached, have an excellent feeder program and are one of the best year in and year out.

NEWSWORTHY:
Tears prevail on OHSAA Tourney trail
Eastwood’s Cubberly wins state title
Memorial’s Cisco finishes seventh
Delphos Jefferson’s Miller finishes fourth
Shelby’s Worthington drops 2 Friday matches at state
Cisco is seventh in Columbus

Monday, March 05, 2007

An explosive ending

Well another season is the books.
There’s nothing like having the season end with one of Ohio’s best known wrestlers, Bedford St. Peter Chanel’s Cameron Wade, ending the season by giving the referee the finger after losing his state final match on a stalling call in overtime.
Appalling.
He was penalized by being stripped of his second place medal and all the team points he earned but if I was a school official, I’d imagine some kind of school suspension would be in order as well. After all as a representative of the school he didn’t exactly shine and he definitely brought embarrassment on the school.
Anyway here’s the deal.
Tomorrow…my first annual NW Ohio wrestling awards for all three divisions.
A little bit about the college wrestling scene in Ohio later in the week.
Then we’ll be going to a once a week blogging schedule in the offseason. Let’s say every Wednesday we’ll post something. In the meantime here are all the newslinks I gathered from NW Ohio coverage of the state tournament.

NEWSWORTHY:
SATURDAY STATE TOURNAMENT COVERAGE:
Hunter Reed pins down state title
Campbell beats Wade in heavyweight war
Thatcher bounces back to grab 3rd place
Galion’s Clum takes state title
Defiance area wrestlers survive state tournament
Jefferson’s Miller, St. John’s Merschman are in the top 8
Oak Harbor’s Magrum takes second straight title
Falk finishes second again
Schumaker, Hill rebound in consolation round
Titles mean different things to Magrum, Pelton
Match gets flipped
Pelton’s championship defies tradition
Crestview, Galion coaches beam with pride
Falk goes down in state final
Crestview, Galion wrestlers win state titles
Willard wrestler overcomes injuries to place
Tank helps drive Magrum win
Harrington wins title for Sandusky St. Mary’s
Purdue repeats childhood dream
A record-setting day for Sandusky Perkins
Hughes finishes second with loss to Purdue
Mohawk’s Sowers is third, Calvert’s Hunt fourth
Stieber takes Division III crown
Sandusky’s Webb is seventh in Division I
Pelton claims elusive crown
Magrum wins second title
Magrum repeats, Cubberly wins
Purdue wins second straight title
Waite’s Fuller finishes fourth
FRIDAY STATE COVERAGE
Cambpell, Reed advance to finals
Thatcher falls for first time in semis
Coldwater Duo loses Friday Matches
St. Marys Memorial’s Cisco is an all-Ohioan
Falk gets another shot at Toal
Rockets remain in second place in Division II
Falk looking to avenge, Miller going for third
Reed, Clum to wrestle for titles
Seneca East’s Hughes to wrestle for title
Donna, Hunt and Sowers secure state placements
Sandusky’s Webb to battle for third in Division I\
Edison’s Stoll making the most of his opportunity
Sandusky St. Mary’s has two in Division III finals
Stieber is making quick work of his opponents
Pelton ready to rumble for title
Espinoza, Magrum and Cubberly make finals

THURSDAY TOURNAMENT COVERAGE
Rough day at state for Wood County Wrestlers
First South Central wrestler experiences victory, defeat at state
Five Ashland area wrestlers win opening matches
Tough first day for Defiance area grapplers
Arcadia’s True makes the most of his opportunity
A day to forget for Elmwood
Fremont’s Mezinger bows out on first day of tournament
Galion’s Clum cruises in opener
Shelby’s Worthington wins opener at state wrestling tournament
Columbian’s Donna opens with a pin
Edison’s Stoll proves doubters wrong
SMCC in sixth place after first day
Sandusky’s Webb wins consolation match at state tourney