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 COACHESGilmour 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 DROUGHTThe
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 bracketsBRUNSWICK'S FORSYTHE OUT FOR SEASONBrunswick 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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