Sunday, February 27, 2000
District Wrestling: Division I
Moeller grabs first district title
BY MARK SCHMETZER
Enquirer contributor
Over the past three years, Moeller had proven that it could win sectional wrestling championships. Saturday, the Crusaders climbed new heights.
Moeller doubled its previous number of state qualifiers while cruising to its first-ever Division I district championship.
Ten Crusaders qualified for next week's state tournament at Columbus while Moeller overwhelmed second-place Dayton Wayne, the defending champion, 195-168.5. Fairfield finished third while qualifying six wrestlers for the state tournament.
“It feels good,” Moeller coach Jeff Gaier said. “The kids have really responded all year. Over the past couple of years, this has always been our stumbling block, so we focused all year on this and the state.
“We changed a couple of things up this week in practice — making them shorter but more intense — and the kids responded.”
Undefeated junior Joe Zinkan (29-0) started a run of three consecutive Moeller individual championships with a 5-2 win over Carroll's Nick Terbay at 140 pounds.
Senior Bobby Lyons improved his record to 35-1 with an 11-3 win over Miamisburg's Gregg Sharkey at 145, and junior David Blanks completed the run with a 10-6 win over Centerville's Nick Kaputska at 152.
That match was punctuated by Blanks' late first-period flip of his opponent that helped turn a 4-1 deficit into a 7-4 lead. The move helped Blanks shake his cobwebs.
“I started out slow, like I usually do, and a lot of guys can take advantage of that,” Blanks said.
For the first time, five wrestlers from each weight class qualified for state, but Moeller needed the extra spot for just one qualifer, 189-pound senior Kelly Cronin. The Crusaders' nine other qualifiers all finished among the top four in their classes.
“The biggest surprise was how well they all wrestled,” Gaier said. “They all wrestled how they had to wrestle. They wrestled with confidence and poise.”
Undefeated champs
St. Xavier senior Scott Smith (125 pounds) and Lakota West sophomore Matt McIntire (130) remained undefeated while capturing district championships. Smith, 39-0, looked focused as he recorded three pins and a technical fall on his way to his first career district title.
“I feel real determined,” he said. “That's a great word for it — focused.”
McIntire, now 38-0, needed his usual three rounds in three of his four matches, including his 8-3 championship round win over Moeller's Brian Zinkan.
“Brian's always been a strong competitor, going all the way back to kids club,” McIntire said. “He said after the match that it was a fun match.”
WW's Ruth wins
Winton Woods junior Ian Ruth was the only other local wrestler to win a district championship. Ruth needed overtime to outlast Glen Este's Arlen Lampe and pull out a 3-1 decision at 135 pounds.
“It's always overtime with him,” said Ruth, who beat Lampe for the third time in four matches this season. Three have gone to overtime. “He kept coming up out of his stance, and I waited for the perfect time and then shot in.
“I was runner-up last year. I was hoping I could come back and win this year, and I was successful.”
37 total to state
Overall, 37 local wrestlers qualified for the three-day state tournament, which is scheduled to get under way at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center Thursday at 3 p.m. The championship matches are scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m.
Championship Round
103 — Depoy (Greenville) d. Candy (Moeller), 3-1; 112 — Ott (Wayne) p. Luther (Glen Este), 3:27; 119 — DiSalvo (Carroll) md. Wolf (Northmont), 10-2; 125 — Smith (St. Xavier) p. Heldman (Marietta), 1:34; 130 — McIntire (Lakota West) d. Zinkan (Moeller), 8-3;
135 — Ruth (Winton Woods) d. Lampe (Glen Este), 3-1 (ot); 140 — Zinkan (Moeller) d. Terbay (Carroll), 5-2; 145 — Lyons (Moeller) md. Sharkey (Miamisburg), 11-3; 152 — Blanks (Moeller) d. Kapustka (Centerville), 10-6; 160 — Miller (Marietta) md. Flint (Lebanon), 12-4;
171 — Clemens (Carroll) d. Doerflein (Harrison), 5-1; 189 — Lammers (Wayne) d. Jones (Lakota East), 3-1; 215 — Bond (Wayne) p. Foltz (Greenville), 1:02; 275 — Padilla (Wayne) d. Leckrone (Fairmont), 3-2.
Third Place
103 — Loebker (Anderson) d. Ocasio (Fairfield), 9-7; 112 — Suer (Elder) d. Leugers (Fairfield), 5-4; 119 — Sebourn (Wayne) p. Hill (Moeller), 2:24; 125 — Maxwell (Butler) d. Kaney (Wayne), 3-0; 130 — West (Fairborn) tf. Salyers (Fairfield), 4:20;
135 — Baria (Moeller) md. Glaser (Fairmont), 13-5; 140 — McIntire (Lakota West) p. Jablonski (St. Xavier), 4:09; 145 — Wahoff (Fairfield) md. Young (Piqua), 14-4; 152 — Ruberg (Harrison) md. McElroy (Lebanon), 15-4; 160 — Padgett (Fairfield) d. Ostholhoff (Moeller), 5-3;
171 —- Lukens (Moeller) d. Pliev (Princeton), 3-2; 189 — Farrell (Oak Hills) p. Hiller (Greenville), 4:44; 215 — Slaven (Lebanon) d. Ash (Marietta), 10-3; 275 — Hyams (Sycamore) p. Rogers (Logan), :48.
Fifth Place
103 — Watson (Fairmont) d. Luce (Sidney), 9-4; 112 — Frasca (Centerville) d. Puckett (Beavercreek), 4-3; 119 — Wolery (Lakota West) md. Patterson (Sycamore), 9-0; 125 — Kist (Hamilton) d. Flake (Lakota West), 13-9; 130 — Reiter (Wayne) d. Hautman (La Salle), 8-4; 160 — Stevens (Carroll) d. Heard (Princeton), 8-4;
135 — Bookman (Logan) d. Sommer (West Carrollton), 12-7; 140 — Eldridge (Fairborn) md. Doggett (Tecumseh), 14-4; 145 — McDaniel (Wayne) d. Moore (Harrison), 7-2; 152 — Willis (Lakota East) d. Simon (St. Xavier), 5-4;
171 — Abrams (Lebanon) d. Lacey (Marietta), 5-0; 189 -- Cronin (Moeller) md. Springer (Northmont), 12-2; 215 — Wegley (Tecumseh) d. Epps (Glen Este), 4-3; 275 — Ramsey (Fairfield) d. Kennedy (Northwest), 11-5.
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