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Sitting in the front row of Mayfield's fan section at the Division I Perry District Final on Saturday were five fans wearing matching T-shirts that read: May - Field - Wild - Cats - !
Two of the Wildcats fans can't even read yet. They are 2-year-old Winston and eight-month-old Whitley Watkins. Their mother is 1995 Mayfield graduate Kim Watkins (Delfs). The trio was joined by Kim's mother Judy and her husband Victor.
Kim lives in Maryland and made the six-hour-trip with her children in the car just to watch the game. Her husband flew in and her mother still lives in the area
"I can't believe Mayfield is going to regionals," Kim said. "We got to the district finals when I played, but we never won. I'm so happy for them."
Mayfield coach Tony Ware was Kim's former coach. Over the years, he became a close family friend and mentor who walked Kim down the aisle at her wedding in 2003.
"My kids call him grandpa Ware," Kim said. "They just love him."
Talented freshman
You may not recognize the name Jacquee Herron, but in a few years her name will be as familiar as teammates Lauren Gatto and Hope Mancini.
Herron is a 5-foot-10, freshman forward and first-year starter at Mayfield. She scored three points in the win over Mentor, but contributed in big ways by grabbing key offensive and defensive rebounds down the stretch.
"This is my first regional and it probably won't hit me until later, but I'm ready," Herron said.
- Theresa Neuhoff
Loading up
The redistricting done by the Ohio High School Athletic Association didn't just effect The News-Herald area, which will have an uncharacteristically low eight wrestlers in the Division I state tournament next week.
A lot of Division I teams were hurt when the Mentor Meatgrinder was taken away this year, replaced by a district tournament at Marion Harding - which consisted of St. Edward and virtually a bunch of nobodies.
Meanwhile, at Massillon Perry, we had the host Panthers (who won their 12th district title on Saturday), as well as Uniontown Lake, Austintown-Fitch, Brecksville, Akron Kenmore, Maple Heights, Wadsworth, Twinsburg, Mentor, Mayfield and Riverside - just to name a few. That's just an AWFUL lot of firepower in one area, and to be honest, there were a large number of wrestlers who will be sitting home next weekend because the Perry District was TOO overloaded.
Take this to the bank - there were fifth-place finishers in Massillon on Saturday who would have placed with ease at Marion Harding or any of the other Division I districts.
The good news is, word around Massillon Perry on Saturday by some officials who would know, Mentor will again host a D1 district next year as per the rotational basis.
BUT that doesn't help the seniors who had their state dreams dashed when the OHSAA loaded up this district this year.
In memorium
Massillon tournament officials paid their respects to Ed Batanian, former secretary of the OHSAA'S Northeast District Board by putting Batanians picture on the cover of the official program at Massillon Perry. Prior to the start of Saturday's finals, Chris Batanian, son of Ed, accepted a plaque in honor of his father, who died this past year.
Odds and ends from Massillon Perry
n You couldn't help but to pull for Mayfield senior Mike D'Alessandro on Saturday. The Mayfield 145-pounder was standing mat-side when his brother, Tom, laid motionless on the mat on Friday night after having his head bounced off the mat while losing the second of his two matches. With tears in his eyes, Mike was whisked out of the gymnasium by an assistant to spare him the sadness of seeing his brother virtually knocked out. On Saturday, Tom was standing in Mike's corner for his matches, but the state bid came up one win short.
n What a great tournament by Josh Kovach. Brush's 160-pounder missed a good portion of the regular season with a chest injury. If he would have beaten Austintown-Fitch's Josh Pankewicz in the consolation semifinals, he would be state-bound.
n Another unexpected district run was made by Euclid 215-pounder Dustin Cromie. He just ran into a buzzsaw in the consolation semifinals in a 6-1 loss to Mayfield's Cody Hayes. Speaking of Hayes, he said Barberton's Adam Coger - who beat him Friday - was the best wrestler he has ever faced "by far."
n Keep an eye on Mayfield next year. Of the 11 wrestlers the Wildcats sent to districts, eight were underclassmen, including all three of their state qualifiers (Tylan Coleman, Dan McNulty and Hayes). And that doesn't count injured Cory Hayes, who was a state qualifier as a freshman a year ago.
- John Kampf
Mighty Wolverines
Joe Marino was a happy coach following the conclusion of Saturday's Division II district tournament at Akron Firestone, and who could blame him?
The season is still one week from completion but Marino has already anointed his 2007-08 Wolverines the best wrestling team in school history. Victories at the Kenston Invitational and Chagrin Valley Conference tournaments, a 15-3 dual record, producing 10 district qualifiers and four more to next week's state tournament attest to that.
"No question, this is undoubtedly our greatest team ever," said Marino. "The (1984) team was pretty good. They were league champs and had three state qualifiers, but I think this team is a little better."
The challenge that awaits Marino is keeping the ball rolling at West Geauga.
"This is proof that if the guys work hard and commit to wrestling, things like this can happen," he said.
- Mark Podolski
BOYS BASKETBALL
n Bedford guard Randal Holt hit a 3-pointer late in regulation to cap a second-half rally and send the game to overtime, and the Bearcats outscored Euclid, 9-5, in the extra session to defeat the Panthers, 69-65, in a sectional final at Warrensville Heights.
Euclid senior Darrell Blanton finished a stellar season and outstanding prep career with a team-high 18 points. Darnelle Rushton chipped in 14 points for the Panthers, who finish with a deceiving record of 13-9 against one of the toughest schedules any team in Ohio faces.
Euclid led by eight at the half, and by two at the end of the third quarter, but could not hold off the final Bedford push, and Holt's triple sent the game to overtime, when the Bearcats finally prevailed.
"We let one get away tonight," Euclid coach Sean O'Toole said.
n Harvey hit nine 3-pointers in a 75-44 rout of Conneaut in a Division II sectional final at Mentor. It was the third time this year the NEC champion Red Raiders have beaten the Spartans, and it was done convincingly. Harvey led, 46-25, at the half and was never threatened. Rayshawn Journigan and Wes Paramore combined for 36 points for the Red Raiders.
n Fairport sophomore Aramis Greenwood had a night to remember with 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists in leading the Skippers past Sts. John & Paul, 61-49, and into Tuesday's district semifinal at the Division IV Warren Harding district. Danny Ward scored 20 points and Mark Burchett added 11 for Fairport, which improved to 16-6.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
n Regina completed a dominating district run, demolishing Trinity, 77-40, in the district title game to win the Division III Keystone crown. Duke recruit Shay Selby led four Royals in double figures, scoring a game-high 25 points. Regina advances to the regional tournament at Cuyahoga Falls.
HOCKEY
n Andrew Cuthbert had a goal and two assists to lead Mentor to a 4-2 win over Hudson in the Kent District quarterfinals. Jon Blomstrom and Jared Prior each had a goal for the seventh-seeded Cardinals, who will play No. 1 seed University in the semifinals on Monday at 7:30.
n Tommy Michaels scored two of Lake Catholic's three first-period goals to lead the Cougars to a 3-2 win over Solon in the Kent District quarterfinals. Andrew Payerl added the other goal for the third-seeded Cougars.
n Michael Phillips scored three goals, and Gilmour held off Walsh Jesuit, 4-3, in the Kent District. The second-seeded Lancers will play Lake Catholic in the semifinals on Tuesday at 7:30.
- Staff reports
