Auroraadvocate.com - Grapplers roll to easy victory in own invitational

by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

Aurora -- With the holiday season in full swing, it was fitting that most of the wrestlers at the podium after the Aurora Invitational were decked out in green or red.

Aurora dominated its season-opening tournament Dec. 4-5. The Greenmen finished with 318.5 points and won titles in three weight classes.

Crestwood was the only team in the same area code, finishing with 241.5 points and winning three titles.

It was a mixed bag for the rest of the Portage County contingent at Aurora.

Garrettsville Garfield finished sixth with 143.5 points, one place ahead of Waterloo (127), while Streetsboro was 10th with 105.5 and Kent Roosevelt 12th with 67.5.

AHS coach Dick Bliss called the tournament "a good point from which to jump off."

"We exposed ourselves in a lot of areas. I think we outconditioned everybody here. We need to work on our technique. We'll get better every week."

There was nothing wrong with the technique of tournament MVP Ty Mitch. In his 119-pound final, he pancaked West Geauga's Dennis Lionetti and pinned him in 11 seconds.

Mitch admitted he was pumped up after seeing what his drill partner -- 112-pounder Ryan Cash -- did in his final.

After trailing early, Cash caught West Geauga's Mike November in a single-leg cradle and pinned the state qualifier in 4:21.

Aurora's third championship came in come-from-behind fashion, as 160-pounder Danny McNamara reversed Crestwood's Cody Ryba onto his back and pinned him in 4:51.

Capturing second place for the Greenmen were Kyle Brezovec at 130 pounds, Tommy Gallagher at 135, Mark Korosec at 140 and Matt Korosec at 189.

TAKING THIRD place were Aurora's Brian Wells at 145, Mike Ganoe at 152 and Andrew Weaver at 171, while finishing fifth were Devin Levan at 125 and Mikael Fadoul at heavyweight and sixth was Sean Armstrong at 103.

In a bit of a revenge match, Crestwood 189-pounder Joey Monroe tore through Matt Korosec and stuck him in 56 seconds.

Despite wrestling with a face full of gauze and tape, Crestwood's Mitchel Porter rallied to beat Fairport's JC Griffin 9-7 in overtime of the 145-pound title.

Cheney Materrese, who transferred to Crestwood from Southeast in the off-season, won the 152-pound title by a 19-4 technical fall.

"Overall, you have to be happy for the opening weekend of the season," Red Devils head coach Dave Wroble said. "We knew Aurora was strong and had everyone back. We need to work on our conditioning a bit."

It was feast or famine for Steetsboro at Aurora.

The Rockets had only four placers, but two of those were champions in sophomores Cory Stainbrook (103) and Chris Ashburn (189).

"I thought we wrestled pretty good this weekend," Rockets head coach Rick Charleton said. "A couple of our young kids had some very tough matches last night, but they'll learn from it."

Bliss explained the tourney format is for each wrestler to be placed in a pool on the first night, then top two from each pool qualified for the Gold segment in which team points are earned.

The others go into a Silver tourney to give them more experience, but not to earn team points.

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Aurora's Green team finished 16th out of the 18 teams, beating out Fairport Harbor and Tallmadge.

Patrick Houlahan led the Green team with a fifth-place finish in the Gold tournament, while Pete DiCillo was in the Gold but did not place.

Justin Frankmann and D.J. Lieberth, both freshmen, earned championships in the Silver tourney. Second were Anthony Vella, Cody Rinehart and Will Rosengarten, while fourth was Tanner Martin.

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The varsity will host Ravenna, Chardon and West Geauga Dec. 12 at 6 p.m., while Mitch will compete in the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and the Green team will be at Cardinal.

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Bliss' weekly awards are:

Top wrestlers -- champions Cash, Mitch and McNamara; fastest fall -- Mitch (10 seconds); key match -- Cash against a state qualifier in the finals; most takedowns -- Cash and Mitch with 14 each.

Coach's award -- Rosengarten got his first pin of his career, then recorded another one; best sophomore effort -- Levan; best freshman effort -- Armstrong.

Top practice wrestler -- Mitch, who Bliss said "continues to lead the way"; top Green team wrestler -- Houlahan, with special mention going to Frankmann and Lieberth.

E-mail: mleonard@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113