Westlake’s Devin Henry puts a move on Troy Glasko of Normandy in overtime to break a 4-4-tie in the 152-pound consolation match at Marion Harding last Saturday. (West Life photo by Daron E. Boyce)

Area wrestlers advance to state, Westlake sends three
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published Feb. 27, 2008

While St. Edward again topped the area’s list of wrestlers heading to Columbus, Westlake, Olmsted Falls, Lutheran West and Fairview will also be represented this weekend at the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Championships at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center.

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St. Edward won the team title at the Division I Marion Harding district last weekend, sending 11 wrestlers to Columbus. Westlake, which took four wrestlers to Marion, came out with three qualifiers and finished 10th in the team standings. Olmsted Falls was right behind in 11th place, qualifying two wrestlers.

In Division III, West got two wrestlers out of the Maple Heights district, while Fairview got one grappler – Corey Carlo – out of the Fostoria Division II district.

“It’s been a good last two weeks,” said Westlake coach Mike Antonyzyn. “I’m very pleased with the way things went, considering how tough our sectional was this year. You put Falls in there this year, along with St. Edward, Elyria and Southview, plus the rest of the Southwestern Conference schools, and it’s tough to get guys out of there.

“We’ll be representing Westlake with three wrestlers, and I’m happy with that,” he said.

Corey Carlo of Fairview tries to turn Ryan Pischel of Holy Name in the 152-pound consolation final at the Division II district tournament in Fostoria last Saturday. (West Life photo by John A. Gibbs)

Leading the Demons to Columbus will be sophomore Nick Lawrence at 119, who finished fifth last season at 103. He’ll take his 35-4 record against Jasper Few (34-5) of Reynoldsburg after taking third at Marion with a 6-1 decision over John Cobos (20-13) of St. Edward.

Senior Devin Henry (35-3) qualified at 152 after taking third with a 5-3 overtime decision over Normandy’s Troy Glasko. He’ll wrestle Brett Ewing (38-4) of Miamisburg. At 215, junior Ryan Smugala (31-11) will go up against Orlando Scales of Cincinnati Elder. Scales, who enters the tournament at 44-0, finished third last year in Columbus.

Olmsted Falls will send seniors Mike Varga and Jerry Knapp to the mats.

At 125, Varga will take his 34-6 record against Jake Sage (24-1) of Kettering Fairmont. Varga advanced after taking the championship in Marion with a hard-fought 6-5 decision over  Marion Harding’s Callen Vanderhoff.  Then at 215, Jerry Knapp (32-10) will face Reggie Romine (35-12) of Xenia after taking third at Marion with a 4-2 decision over Westlake’s Smugala.

“The turning point of the season for both of them was the Bill Dies Memorial, where they both had sub-par performances” said Bulldogs coach Bill McGrain. “We sat down with them at that point, fine tuned some things and looked at our direction. They’ve been on fire ever since.

“Our goal is to bring home two All-Ohio wrestlers this weekend,” he added.

Lutheran West sends two wrestlers, one with previous state experience.

At 119, Colin Dennis takes a record of 46-3 against Caldwell’s Jacob Border (40-5) after finishing runner up at Maple Heights. He had a 2-1 lead in his championship match with Chanel’s Mike Kovach, but Kovach got a reversal and a pin in 5:08. This will be the Longhorn senior’s third trip to state.

Senior Josh Malave will make his first trip to Columbus after a tough 5-3 overtime loss to Ryan Smith of Tuslaw in the Maple Heights title bout. Malave will take his 47-3 mark against Matthew Curcio (40-1) of Toledo Christian.

Carlo will represent Fairview after taking third at the Fostoria Division II tournament. The Warrior senior decisioned Ryan Pischel of Holy Name, 10-5, to raise his record to 29-2. He’ll take on Tyler Hoover (29-8) of Millersburg West Holmes in the first round of matches at 152. Carlo finished sixth at 145 in last year’s state tournament.