Lake sends seven wrestlers to district, finishes third at Perry sectional; girls basketball season ends in district semifinal

Talk about some serious talent at the boys’ Div. I Massillon Perry sectional tournament, held at where else but Perry High School Feb. 28.

Lake advanced a total of seven wrestlers to the district tournament, which will be hosted by Wadsworth High School March 6 and 7, and still only finished third as a team.

Division I Perry won the team title with 12 district qualifiers and 294.5 points, while Wadsworth was second with 10 wrestlers advancing and 229 points. That left Lake in third place with seven wrestlers headed to Wadsworth districts after scoring 175 points.

Despite having such a large contingent of grapplers still plying their trade, the Blue Streak had only one sectional champion. That would be junior Andrew Cassety, wrestling at 105 pounds, who led Lake after scoring an 18-0 technical fall over Mason Gable Stow-Munroe Falls in only 1:35.

The Blue Streaks may have only fielded one sectional champion, but they had four runners-up who live to wrestle another day. They include Sophomore Devin Wisener (113), who placed second place after losing to the aptly named Tony Perry III of Perry. Wisener is joined by senior Julian Pniewski, who lost to Seth Cavazos of Perry in the 138-pound finals.

Meanwhile, junior Lukas Jordan dropped a 10-3 decision to Kyle Jardine of Wadsworth in the 157-pound finals, while senior Boston Abdul (175) placed second after dropping a bout to Brennan Warwick of Perry.

Also advancing for Lake are two promising youngsters – freshman Mason Tyner, who placed third after pinning Willie Clemis of Bedford in just 1:50, and sophomore Logan McGrath, who also came in third following a pin at 3:45 of Wooster’s Owen Bailey.

Girls Basketball

After rolling by Warren Howland in their Div. III Northeast 4 District sectional final, the 16-th seeded Blue Streaks saw their season come to a close as they ran into No. 3 seed Canfield in district semifinal action Feb. 25 on the Cardinals’ home court.

But Lake made a game of it after trailing 25-9 in the second quarter, embarking on a 16-9 run to draw within nine at 34-25. The Blue Streaks couldn’t get over the hump and eventually dropped a 59-51 decision.

Boys Basketball

The Blue Streaks dropped their opening round sectional game in Div. III Northeast 6 District to 11th-seeded Akron Garfield Community Learning Center, 58-33. With the win, the Rams improve to 19-3 and advance to the district semifinals. Lake finishes with an 8-15 record. No other game information was made available.

Lake Center Christian Boys Basketball

Fifth-seeded Lake Center Christian stayed scorching hot as the Tigers kicked off their postseason with an 84-56 defeat of Mapleton in a Division VI Northeast 1 sectional championship.

Noah Harper and Brody Zook each scored 25 points in Lake Center’s rout. Zook did much of his damage through the air as he made seven 3-pointers for Lake Center (18-5). Jacob Rainieri added 13 points for the Tigers, who have won nine straight games.

Marlington Wrestling

Competing in the Div. II Northeast District West Branch Sectional Tournament, Marlington’s wrestlers placed ninth with 81 points. In a battle, West Geauga nosed out West Branch for the team crown, 196.5 to 189, while Alliance was third with 179.5

West Geauga’s team title came with nine district qualifiers and four sectional champs. Meanwhile, Clayton Lowe was the lone sectional champ for Marlington at 126 pounds. Joining Lowe at the district tourney is senior Roman Albert at 215 pounds, who placed second.

Lowe earned a 13-0 major decision over Alliance’s Jackson Masters to claim his sectional title. Both wrestlers squeaked by their opponents in the semifinal round, winning one-point decisions. Albert dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to Gavin Hang of West Branch