Massillon Perry ends St. Edward’s reign in Ohio

By Rob Sherrill

Massillon Perry won the Division 1 title in the Ohio dual state tournament Saturday, and in the process ended Lakewood St. Edward’s most recent state title streak at three.

The Panthers dethroned the Eagles in the semifinals, scoring a 48-15 blowout win. Perry won 10 of the 14 matches, five of them pins. Tommy Genetin (106), state champion Jose Rodriguez (113), Nick Steed (138) and state place-winners Casey Sparkman (152) and Tony Dailey (160) scored pins for Perry and Jake Newhouse (120), David Bavery (126) and Isaac Bast (170) added more bonus points by scoring major decisions.

As lopsided as the semifinal win was, it was Perry’s closest match of the day. The Panthers opened their state title run with a 54-9 quarterfinal victory over Delaware Hayes and finished it with a 48-9 victory over Brecksville-Broadview Heights.

Third-seeded Brecksville had advanced to the finals by beating the No. 2 seed, Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, 45-21. The Bees also posted 10 wins, including Austin Assad’s 15-6 major decision over Conner Ziegler in a battle of state place-winners at 120 and Troy Lang’s pin of state runner-up Quinton Rosser at 182. The semifinals matched the same four teams as last year’s inaugural dual state meet.

St. Paris Graham and Delta repeated as champions in Divisions 2 and 3, respectively. Graham, which extended its state title streak to 14, beat Uhrichsville Claymont, 35-24 for the title by winning eight matches in a nine-match stretch from 113-170. Three-time state champion Micah Jordan (145) and sophomore Alex Marinelli (160) scored pins during the run, Brent Moore (132) and Lane Thomas (170) added technical falls and Eli Stickley (113) had a major decision. Marinelli was upset, 8-6 in the Falcons’ semifinal match by Lucas Beauch of Toledo Central Catholic, a match Graham won 42-25.

After outscoring its first two opponents by a 135-12 margin, Delta edged Miamisburg Dayton Christian 40-26 as Tyler Fahrer (160), Todd Miller (170), Ryan Patchin (182), Mark Francis (195) and Devon Richards (220) scored consecutive pins, four in the first period.

Franklin Regional, Bethlehem Catholic breeze in Pennsylvania

Another year, another AA dual state title for Bethlehem Catholic.

The Golden Hawks lost just one bout in the first three rounds of the dual state meet at the Giant Center in Hershey, then pounded Greenville H.A. Reynolds in the final, 41-15.

Murrysville Franklin Regional took a huge step toward completing a wire-to-wire run atop AAA, turning back Greater Latrobe, 37-23 in a rematch of the WPIAL (District 7) final. Three of the four semifinalists came from the Pittsburgh-area WPIAL. Greater Latrobe outlasted Wexford North Allegheny, third in the WPIAL, 34-29 in the semifinals, while Franklin Regional beat Nazareth, 38-22 in the other semifinal. Nazareth finished third.

Defending champions find going rough in Alaska

It’s hard to win a state championship. And in the Alaska 4A state tournament, it was even harder to repeat.

Nine returning champions entered this year’s state tournament, and only two were able to repeat. Sophomore Greg Shack (106) of Anchorage South, the 98-pound champion last year, had no trouble, pinning all four of his opponents in a combined 11 minutes, 39 seconds. The double Cadet National All-American finished the season 42-3.

Senior Nate McKimson (152) of Wasilla also moved up a weight to win his second title. McKimson, who had three pins, led Wasilla to the team title, 233.5-213.5 over defending champion Anchorage South.

Four other defending champions, sophomore Ellery Steffensen (145) of Kenai Central and seniors Andrew Caballa (120) and Salalau Sega (285) of Kodiak and Quace Wright (220) of Wasilla, lost in the finals. Senior Anthony Sierra of Anchorage East, who pinned Steffensen in the 145-pound final, finished 32-0 and was voted the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler.

Freshman Paul Steffensen, Ellery’s brother, pinned his was to the 126-pound title and finished 32-0.

New Jersey state duals Sunday

The state tournament schedule is in full swing. This week’s docket started with Tuesday night’s Delaware state duals in Smyrna, and ends with the New Jersey state duals Sunday in Toms River – assuming the weather doesn’t intervene.

In all, 20 states have all or part of their state tournaments this weekend.

Also on this weekend’s docket:

Alabama: Feb. 13-15 at the Von Braun Center, Huntsville

Arizona: Feb. 13-15 at Tims Toyota Center Arena, Prescott Valley

Arkansas: Feb. 14-15 at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock

Delaware: Dual, Feb. 11 at Smyrna HS

Florida: Feb. 14-15 at the Lakeland Center

Georgia: Individual, Feb. 13-15 at the Gwinnett Center, Duluth

Maine: A, Feb. 15 at Noble HS, North Berwick; B, Feb. 15 at Morse HS, Bath; C, Feb. 15 at Mountain Valley HS, Rumford

Maryland: Public Dual, Feb. 15 at North Point HS, Waldorf

Montana: Feb. 14-15 at MetraPark Arena, Billings

New England: Prep Schools, Feb. 14-15 at The Brooks School, North Andover, Mass.

New Jersey: Independent, Feb. 15 at Blair Academy, Blairstown Township; Dual, Feb. 16 at Pines Belt Arena, Toms River

North Carolina: Independent, Feb. 14-15 at Wesleyan Christian Academy, High Point;

North Dakota: Feb. 13-15 at the Bismarck Civic Center

Oklahoma: Dual, 6A and 5A, Feb. 15 at Yukon HS; 4A and 3A, Feb. 15 at Cushing HS

Pennsylvania: Independent, Feb. 15-16 at Episcopal Academy, Merion

South Carolina: Dual Finals, Feb. 15 at Dreher HS, Columbia

            Tennessee: Individual, Feb. 13-15 at the Williamson County Agricultural Center, Franklin

Texas: Public, Feb. 14-15 at the Curtis Culwell Center, Garland

Utah: Feb. 13-15 at the Maverik Center, West Valley City

Virginia: Independent, Feb. 14-15 at Cape Henry Collegiate School, Virginia Beach