A sectional-by-sectional look at which Portage County wrestlers qualified for district
It was a wild Saturday with Portage County's 11 wrestling teams heading to eight different sectional sites.
The fun included a sectional champ (Rootstown), a runner-up (Garfield) and a third-place finisher (Aurora).
Perhaps most important is the day included 60 district qualifiers — 35 in Division III, 14 in Division II and nine in Division I. By school, Rootstown (10), Streetsboro (nine) and Aurora (nine) led the way.
Portage County had 18 sectional champions, including seven from Rootstown, four from Streetsboro and three from Crestwood.
Let's take a look at all of Portage County's district qualifiers, going sectional by sectional:
Division III
Rootstown Sectional
Recap: Rootstown was dominant on its home mats, winning seven of 14 weight classes, including six in a row from 132 to 165 pounds. Not that such dominance was surprising from the Rovers' impressive group of middleweights. It wasn't just the titles but the fact that only two of Rootstown's seven championship wins went down to the wire, with Nathan Lee prevailing in overtime and Dominic Duvall getting a 9-5 decision. All told, the Rovers won the team title by a whopping 107.5-point margin. Crestwood finished just 8.5 points behind runner-up Southern with 141.5, including titles by the Wrobel brothers (Rocco and JP) as well as Gavin McIntyre.
Rootstown District Qualifiers (10): Will McEwuen (1st at 120), Nick Malek (1st at 132), Nathan Lee (1st at 138), Tyler Paulus (1st at 144), Dominic Duvall (1st at 150), Tristan McKibben (1st at 157), Brian Youngblood (1st at 165), Alex Ely (2nd at 113), Mason King (3rd at 106), Nate Marzec (3rd at 126)
Crestwood District Qualifiers (5): Rocco Wrobel (1st at 106), JP Wrobel (1st at 126), Gavin McIntyre (1st at 215), Drake Rennecker (2nd at 150), Blake Baumgardner (3rd at 285)
Berkshire Sectional
Recap: Garfield finished behind only Perry, which earlier this winter took fourth at the state duals. The G-Men amassed 161 points, nine ahead of third-place Fairless, led by district champions Cam Lewicki and Keegan Sell. Southeast finished fifth with 140.5 points, led by sectional runners-up Dominic Kemble and Preston Bello.
Garfield District Qualifiers (5): SO Cam Lewicki (1st at 106), SR Keegan Sell (1st at 190), FR Landon Andel (2nd at 126), SR Vince D'Amico (2nd at 132), FR Logan Sell (4th at 120)
Southeast District Qualifiers (6): SO Dominic Kemble (2nd at 120), SR Preston Bello (2nd at 285), SO Braeden Martin (3rd at 106), JR Cameron Dye (4th at 113), JR Deian Longgood (4th at 138), SO Landon Durstin (4th at 190)
Beachwood Sectional
Recap: Mogadore finished fifth of 15 teams with 123.5 points, including Matthew Plum's first district title.
Mogadore District Qualifiers (5): Matthew Plum (1st at 157), Owen Roberts (3rd at 126), Kasey Pruitt (3rd at 144), Cole Reese (3rd at 175), Dylan Benedum (3rd at 190)
Northwestern Sectional
Recap: Waterloo finished seventh out of 14 teams at Northwestern, led by district runner-up Rex Fryer.
Waterloo District Qualifiers (4): Rex Fryer (2nd at 126), Jeremiah Willis (4th at 113), Brayden Robinson (4th at 138), Aidan King (4th at 144)
Division II
St. Vincent-St. Mary Sectional
Recap: The Rockets placed fourth in a jam-packed sectional in which champion West Geauga (210), runner-up Benedictine (205), host St. Vincent-St. Mary (195.5) and Streetsboro (188.5) all finish within 21.5 points of each other. The Rockets advanced nine of 12 wrestlers (they didn't have an entry at 190 and 215 pounds), including four district champions (Jarreau Walker, Aidan Carone, Anthony Sindelar and Cohen Klimak). Meanwhile, Ravens senior David Davis earned a trip to the district meet for the second straight season.
Streetsboro District Qualifiers (9): FR Jarreau Walker (1st at 106), SR Aidan Carone (1st at 113), SO Anthony Sindelar (1st at 120), JR Cohen Klimak (1st at 150), JR Justin Wargo (2nd at 138), JR Matt Klimak (3rd at 126), SR Jacob Joltin (3rd at 132), SR Hunter Smith (4th at 144), FR Gerry Benci (4th at 157)
Ravenna District Qualifiers (1): SR David Davis (2nd at 190)
West Branch Sectional
Recap: Field advanced three wrestlers to the district tournament, up from two a year ago, highlighted by John Riley's runner-up finish at 175 pounds.
Field District Qualifiers (3): John Riley (2nd at 175), Joe D'Amico (3rd at 132), Brady McCoy (3rd at 157)
Kenston Sectional
Recap: Roosevelt sophomore Gavin Edwards qualified for district for the first time, thanks to two key decisions in the quarterfinals (9-2) and semifinals (16-10) en route to a runner-up finish at 157 pounds.
Roosevelt District Qualifiers (1): Gavin Edwards (2nd at 157)
Division I
Fitch Sectional
Recap: Aurora finished third in a brutally tough sectional with 176 points, behind only champion Brecksville (293) and runner-up Austintown-Fitch (187.5). The Greenmen landed a district qualifier in nine of 14 weight classes, with five making it to the sectional championship round.
Aurora District Qualifiers (9): Luke Green (1st at 106), Johnny Green (2nd at 113), Nicholas Turba (2nd at 120), Cole Munn (2nd at 126), Cole Walton (2nd at 157), Drake Brasiel (3rd at 150), Austin Grossman (3rd at 190), Michael Kennedy (4th at 132), Michael Wise (4th at 175)
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Rootstown wrestling captures sectional championship
