Boys sectional wrestling took place Feb. 28 and girls sectional wrestling took place Mar. 1.
We’ve got several takeaways, followed by a full list of district qualifiers.
First, our quick takeaways:
- Portage County dominated its one home sectional as three local boys teams — Crestwood, Rootstown and Southeast — finished in the top four of the team standings on the Rovers’ home mats. The Red Devils secured the title with 180 points, ahead of the Rovers (2nd, 162) and Pirates (4th, 145). All told, local wrestlers won seven of 14 weight classes, including four Crestwood champions: Michael Berquist, Tye Berquist, Jacob Morris and Rocco Wrobel.
- Two 2024 state qualifiers qualified out of the Girls Division Northwest Sectional, as Mogadore’s MJ Shellenbarger and Kai Gaetjens took second and third, respectively, in their weight classes. They’ll certainly be wrestlers to watch next week in Mentor.
- Yet it was Austintown where Portage County’s girls wrestlers made their greatest waves, winning three of 14 weight classes as Roosevelt’s Penny Edwards, Southeast’s Riley Diehl and Waterloo’s Heylie Camacho snagged titles.
- The Aurora boys were among the area’s other top performers, taking fourth out of 10 teams at Division I Maple Heights, including three individual champions: Nicholas Turba, Michael Kennedy and Drake Brasiel.
- The Streetsboro boys also secured a fourth-place finish, out of 14 teams at Division II West Branch. Remarkably, the top five teams were separated by just 28 points, including the Rockets edging Howland by a half-point for fourth. Streetsboro’s success started with three individual champs: John Bollinger, Avery Conroy and Jarreau Walker. The fun included Walker recording his 100th career win.
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