Portage County sectional wrestling preview
Here's a team-by-team look as 11 Portage County wrestling programs compete at sectional tournaments this weekend:
Division I
Wadsworth Sectional
Aurora returns five district qualifiers, including state placer Johnny Green (113), who just captured a Suburban League title with an impressive 5-1 decision over a fellow state-ranked wrestler Brett Stanley of Brecksville, and state qualifier Kyle Bizjak (144), who earned runner-up honors at the league tournament. The Greenmen's three other returning district qualifiers are Luke Green (106), Connor Tschudy (150) and Quinn Gorman (190).
Division II
Kenston Sectional
Ravenna returns two district qualifiers from a season ago in seniors Cory Cole and Sean Loucks, both of whom finished third at last year's Harvey Sectional. Both are also coming off runner-up finishes at last week's Metro Athletic Conference Championships. Cole and Loucks are just a couple of members of a Class of 2023 that has high expectations, with that senior class including David Davis, who was third at the MAC Championships, and heavyweight Alex Johnson, who also boasts a winning record.
Streetsboro returns eight district qualifiers and, frankly, that's not too much to ask for once again in 2023. Indeed, the Rockets are on fire, coming off a Metro Athletic Conference title won by 26.5 points. Four of their eight returning district qualifiers — Aidan Carone (106), Donovan Paes (132), Landon Bodovetz (175) and Sam Brunner (190) — won MAC titles at Woodridge Saturday. The Klimak brothers — Matt (120) and Cohen (150) — earned runner-up honors and look to return to the district stage. Another MAC runner-up, Joey Fedor (215), also looks to make district once again, as does Hunter Smith, who was third at 138 at the league tournament. Also watch for Anthony Perez, a MAC champ at 126 who came back from CVCA this season, to make noise in the postseason.
Northwest Sectional
Roosevelt doesn't have any returning district qualifiers, but watch out for Sly Freeman, who racked up 17 victories last season.
West Branch Sectional
Field returns a single district qualifier in senior Robert Atha, who was second at the Northwest Sectional last season. The Falcons' John Riley is coming off an impressive win over Ravenna's David Davis en route to a runner-up finish at the MAC Championships, establishing himself as a wrestler to watch. Falcons middleweights Brady McCoy and Carter White and heavyweight William Nienhius all placed third in the MAC and have all established impressive records entering postseason play.
Division III
Berkshire Sectional
Garfield's pursuit of its first individual state title starts at Berkshire, with Hunter Andel and Keegan Sell looking to begin their chase of Schottenstein Center glory. Joseph Sparks has also been a force all season, including titles at the Waterloo Division III Classic and more recently the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Championships. Vince D'Amico adds a fourth returning district qualifier to the mix, while Kaleb Lewicki and Aiden Kissell are coming off MVAC titles at 106 and 215 pounds, respectively.
Southeast graduated six of last year's eight district qualifiers, with Kian Romeo and Adam Peelish the lone returners of the bunch. Heavyweight Preston Bello has also established himself as a wrestler to watch, having won this season's Portage County Tournament title, while Braeden Martin impressed at that very same tournament in Streetsboro, with his only loss coming against Rockets phenom Anthony Sindelar.
Independence Sectional
Mogadore's bookends are as good as it gets with Mason King lighting it up at 106 and hoping to make a deep run as a freshman and Tyler Shellenbarger hoping to climb the state podium at 215. In between, expect returning district qualifiers Travis Hummel and Owen Roberts to push for district (and beyond) once again.
Rootstown Sectional
Crestwood has a single returning district qualifier, as JP Wrobel chases his third straight state berth, but the Red Devils have a number of other wrestlers capable of getting to Perry (and beyond). That includes Drake Rennecker, who came up with an impressive Portage County Tournament title at 138 pounds and made district prior to last season. Also watch for Gavin McIntyre (third at 215 at the PCT) to make a push.
Rootstown had 10 district qualifiers a year ago and can surely top that number this season. Indeed, the Rovers, who earned state dual runner-up honors already, have a remarkable group of middleweights who are all capable of making a run to Columbus. Returning state qualifiers Cody Coontz and Sylas Reiheld are certainly among Rootstown's wrestlers to watch, as are Portage County Tournament champs Brian Youngblood (150) and Lane McKenzie (190). Meanwhile, Will McEwuen (120), Nick Malek (132), Dylan Wise (144) and Tristen McKibben (157) all earned PCT runner-up honors. In other words, watch out for pretty much anyone and everyone on the Rovers to make a run.
Waterloo returns two district qualifiers in senior Justin Fox, who is a leading contender to make state, and junior Jayden Hakin. The Vikings have numerous other contenders poised to make a run, including Aidan King, the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference champ at 138 pounds, as well as Rex Fryer, the MVAC runner-up at 120.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Portage County sectional wrestling preview
