Leopards Down Salem and Host Alliance to Advance to Regional Tournament – Wrestling
DII, Sub-Region 12-A Tournament
The Louisville Leopards Varsity Wrestling Team competed at the Division II, Sub-Region 12-A Team Tournament at Alliance High School Wednesday Evening. Louisville dominated the Salem Quakers in the Semifinals 75-4 and took down the host Alliance Aviators 40-25 in the Finals to advance to the Regional Tournament. With the result, the Leopards are now 6-2 on the season.
With the Sub-Regional Title, Louisville advances to the Region 12 Semifinals for a rematch with the #1 Seed Beaver Local Beavers on Wednesday, January 31 at 6:00 PM at Canfield High School. Beaver Local won at Louisville 33-23 to open the season back on December 8.
Semifinal: Louisville 75, Salem 4
The #2 Seed Leopards dominated the #7 Seed Quakers from start to finish in earning a 75-4 victory in the DII, Sub-Region 12-A Semifinals.
Louisville won 13 of the 14 total matches with 6 victories by fall. Earning pins to lead the Leopards were Ryan Jakubiak (113), Davin Rhoads (126), Carter Mickley (132), Daniel Kennedy (138), Jax Leonard (152), and Zach Thatcher (195). Logan Vanicek (126), Brent Paulus (170), JD Spitaleri (182), and Blake Robbins (220) also earned wins by forfeit. In the heavyweight match, Riley Brendle (285) earned victory by disqualification to give the Leopards their 11th 6-point victory.
Other winners for Louisville included Garett Lautzenhesier (106) by technical fall 19-4 and Vince Fehn (160) by major decision.
Salem’s lone victory came in the 145 matchup as Billy Robinson won by technical fall 14-2.
Final: Louisville 40, Alliance 25
Louisville next challenged the #3 Seed and tournament host Alliance Aviators. The Leopards prevailed for a 40-25 victory to punch their ticket to the Regional Tournament.
Louisville started out strong from the onset as their first three lightweight wrestlers all won by pin in less than a minute of action. Garett Lautzenheiser (106) won in 55 seconds, Ryan Jakubiak (113) took down his opponent in 28 seconds, and Davin Rhoads (120) made it 18-0 Leopards after pinning the opposition in just 44 seconds.
In the next match, Nashawn Gaffney (126) got Alliance on the board with a 10-6 decision. However, Louisville’s Carter Mickley (132) answered back with a 17-3 major decision to put LHS ahead 22-3.
The Aviators would claim 5 of the next 7 matches to shrink their deficit to 31-25. Winners for Alliance included Skyler Curry (138) by 10-4 decision, Oggy Ford (145) by 15-5 major decision, Logan Bell (160) by pin, Marcus Davis (182) by forfeit, and Kaymen Andrews (195) by a narrow 9-8 decision. The two Leopards winners during that run included Jax Leonard (152) who won by pin in the third round and Brent Paulus (170) who edged out his opponent for a 7-6 decision.
With the match hanging in the balance, it all came down to the heavyweight matchups. In the 220 match, Louisville’s Blake Robbins trailed 1-0 heading into the third round of action. But he erased that deficit and pinned his opponent with just 3 seconds remaining in the final round to clinch the victory for the Leopards at 37-25. Riley Brendle, who won on an epic ultimate tie-breaker in the Carrollton dual match last week, put on another clutch performance again to end the night. After being tied at the end of regulation and overtime, Brendle was victorious by the count of 4-2 in six periods of action. This finalized the score at 40-25 in favor of Louisville.
DII, Region 12 Tournament
Wednesday, January 31 at Canfield High School
Regional Semifinal: #2 Louisville Vs. #1 Lisbon Beaver, 6:00
Regional Semifinal: #3 West Branch Vs. #1 Canfield, 6:00
Regional Championship will follow after Semifinal Duals
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next hit the road to take on the St. Paris Graham Falcons on Friday, January 26 at 7:00 PM.
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Varsity Results
SEMIFINAL: LEOPARDS 75, QUAKERS 4
106 — Lautzenheiser (L) technical fall Hart 19-4. 113 — Jakubiak (L) pinned Frost 1:31. 120 — Rhoads (L) pinned Chamberlain. 126 — Vanicek (L) forfeit. 132 — Mickley (L) pinned Kirkland 3:17. 138 — Kennedy (L) pinned Lafleme 3:23. 145 — Robinson (S) technical fall Thompson 14-2. 152 — Leonard (L) pinned Stecker 1:39. 160 — Fehn (L) major dec. Chaffin 11-2. 170 — Paulus (L) forfeit. 182 — Spitaleri (L) forfeit. 195 — Thatcher (L) pinned Zumbar :31. 220 — Robbins (L) forfeit. 285 — Brendle (L) disqualification.
FINAL: LEOPARDS 40, AVIATORS 25
106 — Lautzenheiser (L) pinned Bailey :55. 113 — Jakubiak (L) pinned Wade :28. 120 — Rhoads (L) pinned Brooks :44. 126 — Gaffney (A) dec. Vanicek 10-6. 132 — Mickley (L) major dec. Pennington 17-3. 138 — Curry (A) dec. Kennedy 10-4. 145 — Ford (A) major dec. Thompson 15-5. 152 — Leonard (L) pinned Rodgers 5:06. 160 — Bell (A) pinned Fehn 1:56. 170 — Paulus (L) dec. Kurpil 7-6. 182 — Davis (A) forfeit. 195 — Andrews (A) dec. Thatcher 9-8. 220 — Robbins (L) pinned Young 5:57. 285 — Brendle (L) dec. Leasure 4-2 (2 OT).
