St. Edward back on top at Ohio state wrestling tournament

The state championship the St. Edward (Lakewood) wrestling team captured last Saturday at Ohio State could end up being the beginning of another memorable streak.

After winning 13 consecutive state titles from 1997-2009, the Eagles settled for a runner-up finish a year ago.
Underclassmen comprised all 10 of its placers March 3-5 at the state tournament, meaning that St. Edward will without question be the favorite to make it back-to-back titles next season.

"We can improve and get all 14 to place next year, in the hope of getting not just a state championship but a national championship," sophomore Dean Heil (119 pounds), a two-time state champion, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The Eagles scored 187 points to finish well ahead of runner-up Perry (Massillon) (109) and 2010 state champion Wadsworth (96).



Also winning for St. Edward were Mark Martin (152) and Domenic Abounader (160), while Edgar Bright (112), Ty Walz (215) and Greg Kuhar (heavyweight) all were second. James Suvak (189) finished third and Nick Barber (135) was fourth.

"Everybody is coming back, and we'll be stronger than ever," Abounader told the Plain Dealer. "Our main goal is states. That's what we work for. If we won a national championship, it would be amazing, but I think state would be more important."

GILMOUR, AMHERST HIRE FOOTBALL COACHES
Gilmour Academy (Gates Mills) chose Shawn Dodd and Steele (Amherst) picked Chad DiFranco to take over their football programs last week, according to reports in the Plain Dealer.

Dodd, who has been an assistant at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (Chardon) and Euclid, takes over a program that went 2-8 each of the last two seasons.

DiFranco has been the defensive coordinator at Steele for the past six seasons and will replace Kevin Fell, who left to take over at Elyria. Steele went 8-2 overall and finished 10th in the final Division I, Region 2 computer ratings.

NORTHLAND GIRLS SNAP TITLE DROUGHT
The Northland (Columbus) girls basketball team beat Lincoln (Gahanna) 51-35 last Saturday at Olentangy Liberty to earn its first Division I district championship since 1983. Sophomore Alexis Peterson, a first-team all-Central District selection, finished with 20 points to help Northland improve to 21-1.



"We had a good basketball game defensively," Northland coach Dean Washington said. "I thought we showed a little bit of pride."

MaxPreps Ohio girls basketball playoff brackets

BRUNSWICK'S FORSYTHE OUT FOR SEASON
Brunswick senior boys basketball Pat Forsythe, a 6-foot-10 post player who is on his way to West Virginia, suffered a broken ankle during his team's 46-36 victory over North Ridgeville last Friday. Forsythe was averaging 22.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and 6.3 blocked shots.

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The list of four-time state champions in Ohio swelled to 22 last Saturday when Hunter Stieber (135), Cam Tessari (140) and Chris Phillips (171) of Monroeville all left with their fourth consecutive Division III titles at Ohio State.

Their performances weren't enough to help the Eagles defend their state team title, however, as St. Peter Chanel (Bedford) was first (99), Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (Cuyahoga Falls) was second (92.5) and Monroeville placed third (80).

TOP PERFORMERS
* Nathan Tomasello, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (Cuyahoga Falls) wrestling: Tomasello joined St. Edward's Heil as a northeast Ohio wrestler who took another step toward being a four-time state champion last weekend. Tomasello won the 103-pound title in Division III, beating Aaron Assad of St. Peter Chanel (Bedford) 7-4 in the final to finish the year at 46-0. He also won at 103 pounds last year.

* Kelly Nortz, Magnificat (Rocky River) gymnastics: Nortz, a senior, captured her second state all-around championship last Saturday at Hilliard Bradley. She was second on bars (9.375), third on vault (9.500) and third on floor exercise (9.425) on the way to scoring 37.475. Nortz was second all-around as a freshman and first as a sophomore but did not compete at state as a junior because of injuries.



* Corey Bayus, Struthers boys bowling: The junior turned in a 697 at the state boys bowling tournament last Saturday at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl to win the individual championship. His scores were 212, 227 and 258. Bayus also helped Struthers finish fourth in the team tournament.

COMING THIS WEEK
* State ice hockey tournament, Saturday-Sunday: The state ice hockey championships will be held this weekend at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. In semifinals on Saturday, St. Francis de Sales (Toledo) will face Olentangy Liberty (Powell) at noon and Gilmour Academy (Gates Mills) will meet St. Edward (Lakewood) at 3 p.m. The championship game is noon Sunday.

* Division I district championship boys basketball, Friday-Saturday: The state's top boys basketball teams will compete for Division I district championships throughout the coming weekend. In central Ohio, second-ranked Northland (Columbus) will play Westerville Central at 9 p.m. and fifth-ranked Westerville South will meet New Albany at 6 p.m. Friday in the Columbus Fairgrounds Coliseum. At 4 p.m. Saturday, eighth-ranked Lincoln (Gahanna) will meet Walnut Ridge (Columbus) in a district final at the Fairgrounds. Walnut Ridge hasn't won a district title since 1978.

MaxPreps Ohio boys basketball playoff brackets

* Regional girls basketball championships, Friday-Saturday: The state's top girls basketball teams will play for spots at the coming state tournament Friday and Saturday at sites throughout the state. Twinsburg, which was eighth in this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Girls Basketball Rankings Presented by the Army National Guard, was among the state's district champions in Division I.

BRIEFLY
Also at the Division I state wrestling tournament, other champions from central and northern Ohio included Solon wrestlers Brandon Thompson (103) and Anthony Collica (130), St. Ignatius (Cleveland) competitor (Cleveland) George DiCamillo (112), Perry (Massillon) grappler Zach Dailey (140), Hilliard Davidson's Chase Delande (145), Twinsburg's Michael Baker (171), Copley's Sam Wheeler (189) and Wadsworth's Nick Tavanello (215). … The Brecksville-Broadview Heights (Broadview Heights) gymnastics team won its eighth consecutive state championship last Friday at Bradley by scoring 146.600 at the 12-team event. Hudson was second (144.325). … Memorial (St. Marys) beat Hubbard 3 games to 1 for the girls state bowling championship last Friday. St. Marys entered the championship bracket as the eighth seed. Coldwater's Crystal Boyer won the individual girls title with a 661. ... Troy beat Wapakoneta 3-2 to win the boys state bowling title.

Jarrod Ulrey covers Central and Northern Ohio for MaxPreps.com. He covers prep sports for ThisWeekSPORTS.com and can be reached at julrey@thisweeknews.com.