by Michael Leonard
Sports Editor
Aurora -- The traditional opening to the Portage County wrestling season, the Aurora Invitational produced two memorable performances Dec. 8.
The first saw a neighbor to Portage County win the team title in dominant fashion. The second saw, perhaps, the toughest girl in Portage County make her mark.
Stow-Munroe Falls dominated the team proceedings at Aurora, as the Bulldogs advanced eight wrestlers to the championship matches and won six of them. Stow finished with 279 team points to finish well ahead of runner-up Parma (207.5 points).
Streetsboro finished third wiht 180 points, while Crestwood finished with 178.5 points. Stow got individual championships from Dalton Montoney (119 pounds), Ben Welsh (125), Paul Lamana (130), Dan Jacobs (160), Tim Darlington (171) and Nick Rajcsak (heavyweight).
Before Stow got rolling in the finals, however, Crestwood 103-pounder Paige Nemec would make her mark. Nemec made the finals with relative ease and then beat Streetsboro's Mike Formick 8-3 to claim the title, making her the first female ever to win an individual title at Aurora.
For her efforts, the coaches voted Nemec as the most valuable wrestler at the invitational. Nemec's win was the first shot in a fight between Streetsboro and Crestwood for third place in the team race.
Streetsboro had a solid meet with seven placers, including individual titles from 140-pounder John Fraley (a 10-1 win over Stow's Zack Messinger) and 145-pounder Chet Holcomb (a 15-0 technical fall over Parma's Chris Pethel). Streetsboro 152-pounder Joe Rydzinski also made the finals, but was pinned in 5 minutes, 40 second by Grand Valley's Johnathon Jackson.
Streetsboro coach Rick Charlton said he was pleased for the most part with his team's effort.
"We were better [Dec. 8] than were [Dec. 7] and we were better [Dec. 7] than we were [Dec. 6]," Charlton said. "We just have to continue to improve and keep practicing hard."
The Rockets were scheduled to compete in the Hudson Invitational Dec. 14 and 15. The action begins 5 p.m. Dec. 14 and resumes 10 a.m. Dec. 15. The finals will take place at 6 p.m.
E-mail: mleonard@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3913