Sidelines: League wrestling tourneys on Saturday

2/7/2008

Area leagues wrestling championships will be decided on Saturday.

Waite has been cast as the favorite to win the City League tournament at Rogers. But the Indians should receive challenges from Central Catholic, St. Francis, Clay and St. John s Jesuit at the meet, which starts at 10 a.m. The finals are scheduled at 6 p.m.

Springfield looks to defend its Northern Lakes League title at Anthony Wayne. The Blue Devils, led by returning league champ Garrett Manley, will be pursued by Maumee, Rossford and AW. It begins at 10 a.m. with finals at 5 p.m.

Eastwood seeks its fifth consecutive Suburban Lakes League crown at Genoa. The Eagles Eric Cubberly will look to earn his fourth consecutive title. The meet starts at 11 a.m., with finals at 5 p.m.

Patrick Henry will host a wide-open Northwest Ohio Athletic League tournament starting at 9:30 a.m., with finals at 4:30 p.m. Delta is the favorite thanks in part to the return of champs Sam Carrisales, Tyler Gombash and Derrick Yant. Bryan, Liberty Center and defending champ Archbold are expected to provide challenges.

Cardinal Stritch, Northwood and Toledo Christian will be among the teams competing in the Ohio Wrestling League tournament at Van Buren. Arcadia is favored to reclaim its title at the one-session event which begins at 9 a.m.

Other league meets include the Sandusky Bay Conference at Huron, Green Meadows Conference at Fairview, Midland Athletic League at Seneca East and Northern Ohio League at Bellevue.

Two of Michigan s top wrestling programs put on quite a show Saturday when Bedford claimed a 35-27 dual-match victory over Dundee at theWittibslager Challenge.

The Mules, ranked fifth in Division 1, went 5-0 to claim the Wittibslager Challenge hosted by Dundee, ranked second in Division 3.

But Bedford s victory over the host Vikings was interesting, to say the least. The match, which began at 135 pounds, saw the Mules win the first six weight classes to build a 26-0 lead. Dundee responded by winning six of the next seven matches, including two pins and two technical falls, to cut the deficit to 32-27 entering the final match.

Bedford freshman Brian Gibbs needed only to avoid getting pinned at 130 to seal the victory, and he earned a 9-5 win.

The loss was the only one for the Vikings in five matches at the Wittibslager, which included four state-ranked teams. Chris Rau (112), Pete Rendina (125), Chris Eggert (189) and Jimmy Rowe (215) all were 5-0 for Dundee.

Billy Osborne (140) and Pat Nusbaum (152) were undefeated for Bedford.

One of the biggest games in the area will take place tonight at Fostoria St. Wendelin as the Mohawks host New Riegel. The Midland Athletic League title will be at stake. St. Wendelin is 18-0, while New Riegel is 17-1. Both are 9-0 in the MAL.

Cardinal Stritch can earn the Toledo Area Athletic Conference title outright with a victory tonight at Maumee Valley. The Cardinals are 10-1 in the TAAC, while Danbury has lost twice in the league.

Elmwood and Genoa are tied for first entering the final night in Suburban Lakes League competition. Elmwood is at Otsego tomorrow, while Genoa is at Woodmore. Both the Royals and Comets are 12-1 in league play after splitting their two games. Genoa tied Eastwood last year for the crown.

Wayne Trace, which already has clinched a share of its first-ever Green Meadows Conference title, can earn the crown outright tonight with a victory over Ayersville.

Most other area league races have been decided.

After Liberty-Benton split last year s Blanchard Valley Conference title with three other schools, the Eagles claimed the outright crown this year thanks to a 9-0 league mark.

Stryker (18-0, 10-0) already has claimed the Buckeye Border Conference title, while Marion Harding (10-0) has earned the Greater Buckeye Conference crown.

The field is nearly set for next week s City League boys basketball tournament, with three of the four participants already determined.

League co-leaders Libbey and St. John s Jesuit, both 9-1 in the City League, already have earned spots in the tournament, as has Whitmer, which is 8-2 in league play.

The fourth spot will be determined tomorrow. Waite, which is 7-3, can claim the final berth with a win at Whitmer. If the Indians lose, that opens the door for St. Francis, also 7-3, which must beat St. John s to claim that berth.

If both Waite and St. Francis lose, Central Catholic can tie for fourth place with a win at Clay. But every tiebreaker goes to the Indians by virtue of head-to-head wins over both the Knights and Irish.

Archbold can earn an outright Northwest Ohio Athletic League title with a win tomorrow at home over Delta. The Blue Streaks (14-4, 7-0) have beaten both Wauseon (6-1 in NWOAL) and Patrick Henry (5-1).

The Toledo Area Athletic Conference title also will be decided tomorrow. Co-leaders Ottawa Hills and Toledo Christian are both 10-1 in the league entering the final TAAC contest. The Green Bears play at Danbury, while the Eagles host Northwood.

Fostoria has a chance to claim its second Northern Ohio League title in five seasons when it hosts Shelby tomorrow. The Redmen (17-1) are 11-1 in the NOL ,while the Whippets (14-3) are 10-2.

Another critical game tomorrow takes place in the Green Meadows Conference when Ayersville hosts Wayne Trace. The Pilots (6-0) stand alone in first at 6-0 and can clinch the title outright with a victory over the Raiders.

Pettisville can earn a share of its sixth straight Buckeye Border Conference title with a home win tomorrow over North Central. The Blackbirds are 7-1, while nearest pursuer Stryker is 6-2.

Findlay can claim a share of the Greater Buckeye Conference crown with a win at Fremont Ross. The Trojans are 7-1 in the GBC, one game better than Napoleon.

Taylor Langenderfer, a junior at Evergreen, is approaching 1,000 points in her career.

The 5-foot-6 guard is averaging 17.9 points and 6.1 rebounds this season for the Vikings (14-5, 5-3 in the Northwest Ohio Athletic League). She has 975 points.

She is the daughter of Evergreen coach John Langenderfer. The Vikings have a regular-season game at home Saturday against Delta, then play Feb. 16 in the sectional against the Rossford-Otsego winner.

The road to Branin Natatorium in Canton, site of the state swimming and diving meet, begins this weekend as area teams and individuals compete at several different sectional sites.

Napoleon, Fremont Ross and Ayersville will host sectional meets for boys and girls in both Divisions I and II, with the winners advancing to next week s district meet at BGSU. St. Francis also will host a swimming sectional, with Northview hosting the diving portion of the meet.

Each boys sectional will determine two qualifiers in each event, while the girls races will qualify one swimmer in each event depending on division. The rest of the 32-competitor fields in each event will be determined on an at-large method based on best times.