Sectional wrestling: Title fits the Jackets

Start's Roshawn Jones looks up as he battles Anthony Wayne's Luis Briceno. Jones won the 112-pound sectional crown.

ruggiero

Josh Sneyd of Waite gains control of Perrysburg's Justin Flores in the 103-pound sectional final at Rogers. Sneyd won the title with a 9-3 decision.

No team flexed more muscle at the Division I wrestling sectional at Rogers than Perrysburg did yesterday.

Tony Rodriguez, Matt Holland, Tony Castillo and Ron Tisdale collected individual titles while leading Perrysburg to team glory for the second straight year in the sectional.

Perrysburg, which finished with 247 points after seven Yellow Jackets competed in finals, had the team championship locked up before the night session's title matches.

"This week they went out and they made sure they took care of business," Perrysburg coach Jeff Bucher said.

Rodriguez set the tone for the Yellow Jackets. The senior had more than a sectional championship on his mind when he met Mansfield Madison's Joshua Speelman in the 119-pound title match. He knew a win would place him one step closer to finishing his career at least tied as Perrysburg's all-time winningest wrestler, matching Bo Tammarine's school-best 115 wins.

He wasted little time in recording a technical fall in 1:31 for his 115th victory.

"I've been thinking about it since the start of the season," Rodriguez said.

He'll have a chance to set himself apart from Tammarine and the rest of the Yellow Jackets when he takes the mat in his first match at the district.

Start's Roshawn Jones looks up as he battles Anthony Wayne's Luis Briceno. Jones won the 112-pound sectional crown.

"It's the only point of the season that matters - the sectionals, districts and state," Rodriguez said.

Holland claimed the 130-pound championship with a 11-3 rout of Waite's Vinny Lopez. He said the Yellow Jackets were focused for the sectional after finishing runner-up to Springfield in the Northern Lakes League tournament a week earlier.

"We practice together and they were all out there fighting and that makes me want it more," Holland said. "I felt like I had something to prove. He's a very good wrestler.

"We realized we weren't unstoppable, so we wanted to come out this week and show we meant business."

Castillo, a senior, came through with Perrysburg's third individual title when he stopped Anthony Wayne's Jamie White by a decisive 16-5 margin.

Tisdale, a junior, came through with a sectional title in his first year of wrestling by handing Marion Harding's William Stover a 20-9 defeat at 171 pounds.

"The true test of a championship team is how you handle adversity and defeat," Bucher said. "They came back this week and wrestled exceptionally well in every weight class."

Waite, led by Josh Sneyd, Angelo Castillo and Joey Newton - all sectional champions, finished runner-up in the team standings with 193 points. Anthony Wayne finished third with 165, followed by Sandusky 156, Southview 109.5 and Bowling Green 105.

Sneyd, a 103-pounder, was seeking his first sectional title. He too had come close in the past, finishing in the top four a year ago. He proved too much for Perrysburg's Justin Flores en route to a 9-3 victory in the title match.

"It's big," said Sneyd, of claiming his first sectional championship. "I felt confident."

Waite's Castillo looked sharp on his way to winning a second straight sectional title. The 135-pounder took care of business in the final by disposing of Southview's Eric Mayer with a 9-3 decision. It was the third time Castillo had defeated Mayer in as many meetings this season.

"I just tried to go out and wrestle hard," Castillo said.

At 152, Waite's Joey Newton knocked off Rogers' Josh Daniels by a 9-4 count.

However, Rogers' Chad Carpenter found his way to the top step of the awards' stand after outlasting Perrysburg's Akif Eren to record an 8-6 victory in the 125-pound title contest.

The Rams senior didn't disappoint the crowd in his final day of competing on Rogers' mats.

"I didn't wrestle as well as I wanted, but a win is a win," Carpenter said.

"It was my last match at Rogers, so that was really special because I wanted to go out with a win."

Start's Roshawn Jones survived a late scare against Anthony Wayne's Luis Briceno in the 112-pound finals match to record a 16-11 decision.

Jones, who had lost to Briceno earlier in the season, had a 13-8 advantage before Briceno put Jones on his back and nearly came through with a pin late in the third period. Briceno came as close as 13-11 before Start's sophomore recovered to capture his first sectional title.

"I admit I was kind of worried but I just kept fighting," Jones said. "It's just one step closer to the big show. Winning this week is important because you're not going to face the top competition to start [the district]."

Anthony Wayne's Zach Switzer defeated Perrysburg's Dan Kusnier 8-5 in the 145-pound title match while Bowling Green's Tony Donaldson stopped Waite's A.J. Newton 8-6 at 160.

Springfield had five individual champions and captured the team title at the Division I sectional at Clay. The Blue Devils racked up 220.5 points, while Celina (159) finished second and Central Catholic (156.5) was third.

Springfield got titles from Kevin Byers (112), Matt Dennis (119), Zach Vandromme (125), Cody Reitmeier (171), and Bryan McKenzie (215).

Joe Reams (130) and Evan Roth (135) took home crowns for the Irish.

St. John's also claimed two titles as Nate Savona (152) and James Kettinger (160) won. Whitmer's Todd Bowman (103) and Tim Samson (275) were victorious. Libbey's Shaun Mitchell captured the title at 140.

OAK HARBOR - Eastwood easily took first place in the Division II sectional with seven championships and four seconds, finishing ahead of Clyde 305 to 246.5.

Winners for the Eagles included Ben Llanas (112), Jan Ulinski (119), Ryan Cubberly (125), Jeremy Foster (152) Kent Smith (160), Mike Ramirez (171) and Ryan Nachtrab (215). Ulinski and Foster recorded pins in the finals.

Other champions included Clyde's Adrian Rich (103), Robbie Michaels (130), Eric Schwartz (189) and Matt Guhn (275); Oak Harbor's Kirk Tank (135) and Keith Witt (140), and Port Clinton's Josh Cornell (145).

MILLBURY - In a Division III sectional, Genoa won the crown with a 211-189.5 edge over Fremont St. Joseph.

Finishing first for the Comets were Tristan Hall (125), Kurt Wolff (145), Juan Lopez (152), Nick Purdue (160) and Aaron Horvath (189), who recorded a pin in the final.

Other champions included St. Joseph's Jeremy Foos (119), Juni Arreola (135) and Anthony Coleman (140); Woodmore's Keith Giesler (103) and Ryan Buckner (171); Swanton's Matt Taynor (215) and Xavier Taylor (275); Cardinal Stritch's Jimmy Reindel (112) and Lake's Justin Snyder (130).