Massillon Perry Outlook

Perry Reins Supreme

For all the talk of how tough the Firestone District is (deservedly so) the toughest District this season is without question Massillon Perry.  A greater number of the wrestlers ranked in the top ten hail from Massillon Perry than any other District at 34% (with the next best percentage being Division II Firestone at 30%), and this District has almost as many top ten wrestlers as Darby and Fairfield combined.  Moreover, the depth is such that all but the very elite will have a tough match-up on Friday night.

Best of the Best: Tony Jameson

With all apologies to Thomas Straughn and Kevin Hardy, the best wrestler in this District is without question Tony Jameson.  A 2x state champion, Jameson has not been defeated in two years.  If there is one wrestler you do not want to miss compete in this state, it is Jameson.  Jameson is a true artist on the mat, creating new situations and scrambles virtually every time he competes, and wrestling in them as if they were as routine as finishing a double.  His strength, quickness, and frenetic pace makes it almost impossible to avoid these scrambles. However, he will have his hands full this weekend (see below).

THE Weight Class to Watch

It’s no secret that 135 at Perry has been on the “radar” all season.  Even with the wise departures of Adam Haas (to 130) and Mike Mencini (to 140), the top four ranked wrestlers in the state will exit this District.  The Saturday morning semifinals will feature state champ Spicel against state runner-up Marcel Clopton, and 2x state champ Jameson against superfrosh David Habat (fresh off a 10-4 win over Clopton).  In the Ohio Wrestling Site “State Champion Poll”, 62% of voters believed that Tony Jameson would be the state champion (and presumably, then the District Champion), 16% believed it would be Spicel, 11% Clopton, and 4% Habat.  I believe that to be the correct order of finish- and I look for Clopton to rebound against Habat in the consolations finals Saturday.

Weight Class to Watch Part II

With all the talk of how great the Firestone (Division II) 125 lb. weight is………the competition here at 125 lbs. is just as fierce- with eight of the top 13 wrestlers coming from this bracket.  The action will heat up from the first round, with #8 Dustin Crine meeting #9 Kevin Kretz (winner to face #3 Lambert), and #7 Ricky Garrett meeting #11 Jeff Liggitt (winner to face #4 Horner).  In my view Horner and Lambert are a half-step above the field, though even Horner (3rd at state last year, did not place at Ironman or Medina this year) is up and down.   After that it is a total crapshoot.  Crine defeated Kretz at Bill Dies, so I have him winning that match and eventually beating William Palmer in the consolation semis.  Marks has a great draw to the semis.  If he loses to Lambert he is likely to face the winner of Ricky Garrett and Jeff Liggitt. 

Victim of the Draw: Kyle Leek, 119 Warren Howland

#10 Leek must have enemies at the OHSAA. His efforts in winning a tough Sectional backfired- as he is in perhaps the worst spot of any wrestler in this state this weekend.  Leek is a solid bet to make the semifinals, however, in that round he projects to have #1 ranked Brad Squire, and should he lose that match, he projects to have the loser of #2 Dante Rini and #4 Pat Zamaria.  Ironically, the best thing that could happen to Leek would be if he were upset in the quarterfinals- which would most likely lead to him having #14 Tyler Dalton or #15 Garrett Henry in the go-to-state match rather than Rini/Zamaria.  His brother (Cody Leek) also has a very unfavorable draw. 

Who’s going to Columbus?

103 LBS
1. #2 Sam White
2. #3 Jerome Robinson
3. #4 David Bolger
4. #8 Dan Foore
5. #13 Matt Meuer
6. Shawn Ague

Other Contenders: #20 Jerry Pasquale, #21 Justin Toth

112 LBS
1. #2 Kyle Lang
2. #3 Dan Genetin
3. #5 Scott Mattingly
4. #17 Mike Hillock
5.#11 Zach Zupanic
6. #16 Ray Kelly

Others Contenders: #14 Alex Gray, #15 Jack Lichtenberg, #21 Joey Farkas, #25 Ricky Zupko

119 LBS
1. #1 Brad Squire
2. #2 Dante Rini
3. #4 Pat Zamaria
4. #11 BJ Boosz
5. #10 Kyle Leek
6. #14 Tyler Dalton

Other Contenders: #15 Garrett Henry, #18 Zach Martin, #21 Chris Yutzy, Kyle King, Rodney Jones, and Joe Brenner.

125 LBS
1. #4 Seth Horner
2. #3 Tyler Lambert
3. #10 Ryan Marks
4. #8 Dustin Crine
5. #9 Kevin Kretz
6. #13 William Palmer

Other contenders: #7 Ricky Garrett, #11 Jeff Liggitt, Kyle Marrone, David Criss.

130 LBS
1. #3 Adam Haas
2. #4  Zack Cline
3. #7 Wes Price
4. #6 Kurt Wentink
5. #17 Joe Parra
6. #25 Kevin Shadrach

Other contenders: #19 Greg Ryan

135 LBS
1. #1 Tony Jameson
2. #2 Richie Spicel
3. #3 Marcel Clopton
4. #4 David Habat
5. #10 Denny Millsaps
6. #25 Shannon White

140 LBS
1. #6 Anthony Wills
2. #7 Nick Heflin
3. #12 Mike Mencini
4. #14 Marc Bryan
5. #17 Brett Potts
6.  Matt Haxton

Other Contenders: #18 Cody Leek, Vince Manzano

145 LBS
1. #1 Kevin Hardy
2. #10 Jared Lijoi
3. #18 Devin Marrone
4. #14 Todd Casper
5. #16 Bob Creatore
6. #17 Matthew Snodgrass

Other Contenders: #15 (140) Terry Smith, Kevin Carabello, Matthew Rowe, John Polz, Adam Rubesich

152 LBS
1. #1 Thomas Straughn
2. #6 Kevin Brochetti
3. #10 Nick DeMarinis
4. #19 Mark Smilek
5. #20 Brian Weidenthal
6. #23 Dan Olson

Other Contenders: #22 Darren Rhodes

160 LBS
1. #2 Derek Foore
2. #5 J.J. Pankewicz
3. #6 Matt Coleman
4. #7 Ross Ambrose
5. #10 Alex Badovick
6. #22 Frank Saraniti

Other Contenders: #19 Alex Denman, Matt Evans, Eric Lehman

171 LBS
1. #2 Dustin Kilgore
2. #7 Ryan Saks
3. #14 Marcus Roman
4. #12 Jake Brown
5.#13 Alex Fosco
6. #14 Marcus Roman

Other Contenders: #16 Paul Kordich, #19 JP Kalenterides, #20 Cory Dalton, #23 Andrew Phillips, #24 Zack Click.

189 LBS
1. #2 Mike Pushpak
2. #7 Morgan Snyder
3. #14 Corey Welch
4. #12 Dustin Schilling
5. #13 Matt Kuti
6. #9 Tony Oblisk

Other Contenders: #17 Dominic Jontony, #19 Tim Darlington, #22 Jim Masterson, #25 Josh Robertson, Jon Sevastos

215 LBS
1. #1 Justin Powell
2. #3 Tyler Rasho
3. #2 Adam Cogar
4. #5 Jim Neumanitis
5. #18 Ronam Lawson
6. #19 Deonte Booker

- Other Contenders: #20 Josh Zifzal, #21 Ethan Rigg, #23 Kyle Sonagere, #25 Kevin Green

285 LBS
1. #9 Zach Stolarsky
2. #16 Mike McCarthy
3. #23 Steve Yoder
4. #25 Chris Millar
5. Ben Buzzelli
6. Ryan Jones

Other Contenders: James Meder, Darius Williams, Jeremy Johnson 

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