Streetsboro Rockets’ Coach Mark Skonieczny said he wanted his team to compete in the toughest Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II sectional meet to prepare them for the district meet. The Rockets rose to the challenge by taking fourth place at the Division II St. Vincent-St. Mary sectional by scoring 188.5 points, crowning four champions and advanced nine district qualifiers and one district alternate.
“Some of them have already been down there and others are going down for the first time and it shows these other underclassmen if you work hard enough, you can continue on and make it down to the districts and can give yourself a chance to make it to the state tournament,” said the first-year coach. “That’s what I want these young kids that are coming out of middle school to see.”
The Rockets had five wrestlers compete in championship bouts and four won a sectional title. The Streetsboro wrestlers will fight for a state bid at the Division II Kenston District in Bainbridge Township on Friday beginning at 5:15 p.m.
“This district is nasty this year and it is like the district meets from around 2012-2013 where you had weight classes with four or five state places all in the same bracket and only four were getting out,” Skonieczny noted. “It is getting to be like that again.”
Streetsboro’s first champion was 106-pound freshman Jarreau Walker who went 3-0 to clinch his first sectional championship.
The Streetsboro freshman advanced to the semifinal match by pinning Youngstown Chaney sophomore Gage Exline with 1:12 remaining in the first period of the quarterfinal match and earned a championship bid when he pinned sophomore Gael Aranda from Painesville Harvey with 1:09 left in the first period.
In the final, Walker dominated St. Vincent-St. Mary freshman Alex Daugherty to win by a 22-7 technical fall.
“Jarreau wrestled his style,” Skonieczny said. “He loves to be on his feet. He loves to get those takedowns and his best position is on his feet with takedowns so Jarreau always keeps himself comfortable in his best positions. He will take you down, kick you out, take you down and kick you out because that is always where he is comfortable and has his most confidence.”
113-pound senior Aidan Carone repeated as a sectional champion with a 2-0 record to become Streetsboro’s second champion of the meet.
After earning a bye into the semifinal match, Carone advanced to the championship when he pinned Harvey sophomore Josue Gutierrez with 28 seconds left in the second period and wrapped up his title by dominating junior Trevor Alford from St. Vincent-St. Mary to win by a 15-0 technical fall.
“It was important to Aidan,” said Skonieczny. “He only had a handful of wins as a freshman, and he is closing in on that 100th victory. He is two away now so for him to be able to run that sectional as a senior was extremely important on top of a chance to get his 100th victory before he ends his high school career.”
The Rockets continued excelling in the lightweights when 120-pound sophomore Anthony Sindelar snagged a sectional title with a 3-0 record.
In the quarterfinal match, Sindelar pinned freshman Dakota Fertig with 1:18 remaining in the first period and advanced to the final by pinning West Geauga sophomore Caden Kaleal with 18 seconds left in the first period.
Sindelar won the championship when he defeated senior Christian Osbourne from St. Vincent-St. Mary by a 10-6 decision.
“Christian Osbourne from St. Vincent-St. Mary is a stud, and he is legit,” said Skonieczny. “He has a ton of experience, and this kid has been in Columbus and has won multiple sectionals and Anthony just did a beautiful job against him.”
Streetsboro’s final champion was junior 150-pounder Cohen Klimak, who went 3-0 to capture the sectional title.
Cohen received a bye in the first round and advanced to the semifinal match when he dominated Ravenna senior Tyler Dohm by an 18-4 major decision and qualified for the championship by beating senior Gabe Vance from Akron Springfield by a 9-1 major decision.
Cohen’s semifinal victory marked the 100th victory of his high school career, making him the second Streetsboro wrestler to achieve such a feat in as many weeks.
He capped off his day by surviving an intense duel against senior Ethan Bartlett from West Geauga, prevailing with a 3-1 decision.
“They were two of the same in body style, build, aggression, offense and defense,” said Skonieczny. “It feels like you are mirroring yourself and that was a tough match. These guys were two of the same, but Cohen got the back points.”
Streetsboro’s other five qualifiers were 126-pound junior Matt Klimak, who went 3-1 to take third place, followed by 132-pound senior Jacob Joltin who went 3-1 to capture third place, 138-pound junior Justin Wargo who posted a 2-1 record to finish as the runner-up, 144-pound senior Hunter Smith went 3-2 to snag fourth place and 157-pound freshman Gerry Benci qualified with a 3-2 record to snag fourth place.
