By TODD REED
News Leader Sports Editor
www.tnl-news.com
Dominic Chiurco became the first Malvern wrestler since 2005 to qualify to the State Wrestling Championships.
The senior matman exorcised some demons as he claimed the 285-pound district title.
Chiurco opened the tournament with a pin at 2:33 against Bryce Stewart of Utica. He then beat Cody Setser of Northmore by injury default.
His opponent in the semifinals was a familiar one - Garaway's Danny Richards.
Richards has been a thorn in Chiurco's side for his entire high-school career. In the IVC Championships, Richards needed overtime to beat Chiurco.
With a berth at state on the line, Chiurco got the monkey off his back, beating Richards 4-3.
After a scoreless first period, Chiurco chose down to start the second, and took a 1-0 lead with an escape. Both wrestlers were penalized one point for stalling, giving Chiurco a 2-1 advantage heading into the third period.
Richards chose down, and tied the contest with an escape. Chiurco dug deep, taking a 4-2 lead with a take down. Richards was able to scramble to his feet for a point, but was unable to take Chiurco down as time expired.
With a trip to state already secured, Chiurco (37-3) went out and won the district title, beating Damien McAfee of Liberty Union 9-5.
"Dominic is peaking at the right time," stated Head Coach Doug Angeloni. "He wrestled a great match against Richards from Garaway. We tried to take Richards out of his set ups by circling and looking for duck unders. We did not want Dominic to tie up and get caught in some throws.
"Dominic has worked real hard for this district title. He had to beat four good wrestlers this weekend. We knew he had the ability to make it to state. That has been his goal from the beginning of the season.
"This weekend, he was able to stay focused and he worked hard every second he was on the mats. He stayed away when he had to, and he was aggressive when he had to be.
"The finals match was real physical. Dominic suffered a nose bleed that we had trouble stopping. He was dominating the match, but we were a little worried about blood time at the end.
"Dominic is very quick for a heavyweight, which makes it hard for his opponents to ride him. He's comfortable being in the down position. He's strong on top and is good at getting pins."
Richards ended his two-year high-school career with a sixth-place finish at 189.
Richards was pinned in his first match at 2:50 by Kaleb Miller of Amanda Clearcreek.
In the consolation bracket, Richards won three straight, pinning Roger Dyer of Trimble at 2:10 and Zach Coole of Martins Ferry at 1:22, before recording a 4-2 decision over Seth Todd of Caldwell.
Wrestling for state, Richards was pinned in 20 seconds by Ryan Fultz of West Jefferson.
In the fifth-place match, Richards (28-11) was pinned at 4:07 by Michael Little of Meigs.
"Chase is a smart kid and I wish he had wrestled his entire high-school career," commented Coach Angeloni. "He's very coachable and has great concentration. Last year, he got to districts, but was unable to win a match.
"Realistically, at this level and with his experience, we were hoping for him to win one match. He ended up one match away from state.
"He lost his first match, but fought through the consolation bracket to win three straight. One of those wins was against a kid who beat him at sectionals. Unfortunately, he couldn't win his go-to match.
"Chase puts everything into each match. His final match was his fifth of the day, and he just didn't have much left.
"Chase did an outstanding job at districts. We are as happy for him as we are for Dominic. They are both good friends and the weekend was a lot of fun for us coaches. Those two really represented Malvern well. We ended up finishing 19th out of 55 teams."
The 2010 State Wrestling Championships will be held March 4-6 at Value City Arena on the campus of The Ohio State University. Division III wrestling will get under way today (March 4) at 3 p.m.
Chiurco's first opponent is junior Bryan Eyerly of Ontario. Eyerly (32-11) placed fourth at the Owens College districts. The winner will battle either senior Greg Dailey (38-4) of Independence or junior Mike Stenger (36-7) of Clarksville Clinton-Massie. Dailey placed seventh at state a year ago at 285.
"Dominic is confident and focused," noted Coach Angeloni. "We are looking forward to seeing what he can do at state. Our goal is for him to place in the top eight. If he's mentally ready, like he was at districts, he can get on the podium."
treed@the-review.com
www.tnl-news.com
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