Minerva falls to Carrollton in streaky dual

You wouldn’t think of wrestling as being a streaky sport, but Feb. 5, it proved to be in a dual match between Minerva and Carrollton.

Each team went on sustained runs as Minerva dominated in the middle to upper weight classes. The Warriors, however, made up for it with unparalleled strength in the lower weights. And that, plus a Carrollton win at heavyweight, translated to the Lions coming up short against its Eastern Buckeye Conference archrival, losing 42-29.

Starting at 138 lbs., Carrollton’s Cael Lowdermilk delivered a tech fall over Cole Sivy at 5:54. The Warriors then followed that up at 144 with a pin from John Childs over Colton Godsey (2:26).

Minerva finally got in the win column at 150 as Jason Sivy pinned Jayden Sutton in 3:58. This kicked off a string of victories for the Lions, who won the next five matches. First, Lincoln Wallace picked up a 9-1 major decision over Ja’waye Richardson at 157, followed by Ethan Weaver’s 19-9 major decision over Carrollton’s Brody Gonda at 165.

Then, at 175, Enoch Brodzenski earned a 9-2 major decision over Darion DePalmo. At 190, Timothy Kirkpatrick earned a forfeit win, and at 215, Aiden Reagan pinned Jamasen Powell (2:46).

The rest of the match, however, went all Carrollton’s way as the Warriors flexed their strength in the lower weights. Before getting to those weight classes, however, Wyatt Ridzon earned a pin over the Lions’ Draden Yost in 4:00 at 285. Then at 106, Cohen Little pinned Alex Wright (2:20), and at 113, Sawyer Broadwater also registered a pin over Minerva’s Tyler Phillips (1:25).

Carrollton’s Jaxon Sutton logged a 9-4 decision over Shawn Weaver at 120, and Ozzy Roybal (126) scored a 13-2 major decision over Kolton Almasy. Finally, at 132, Zander Spilker topped off the match for the Warriors with a pin of Kaidyn Miller in 0:55.

Bowling

Minerva’s bowlers had back-to-back matches against Louisville and Salem at Minerva Bowl Feb. 3 and 4, and swept both teams, a sign the Lions are rounding into form with sectionals up next.

First up were the Leopards, and the boys won 2,707-2,614, while the Lady Lions were victorious by a score of 1,957-1,785.

Owen Frazier was on fire, rolling games of 278 and 268 for a 546 series, while Kendrik Keister (200-229) rolled a 429 as the Lions took a 127-pin lead going into the Baker games. Minerva expanded its lead over the first two Bakers as a third big game from Louisville occurred with the victory already assured.

For the girls, Bailey Wood rolled a second game of 234 for a series of 391 to lead the Lions. Rylan Klitz (225-158) backed her up with a 383 series as Minerva took a 1,630-1,482 following the individual bowling.

The next day, Minerva hosted EBC rival Salem and it was more of the same as the girls won, 2,087-1,752, while the boys rolled to a 2.565-2,385 victory.

Wood (234-199) was masterful in rolling a 433 series, and Klitz (179-186) added a 355 as the Lady Lions ran their overall record to 14-3, with a 6-1 mark in the EBC and 7-2 in the Stark County High School Bowling Conference’s American Division.

On the boys’ side, the Lions were firing on all cylinders as Frazier (277-221) led with a 498 series and Mason Arnoto (208-210) posted a 418. Keister and Lane Hawk each added 399 series as Minerva rolled to 16-1 record, with marks of 6-1 and 8-1 in the EBC and the American Division, respectively.