Published: Sunday, January 14, 2007
Jameson gets win but not big test
The Fitch junior was hoping to wrestle nationally-ranked Ben Jordan.
By ERIC HAMILTON
ALLIANCE — Fitch High wrestling standout Tony Jameson came to the Alliance Top Gun tournament this weekend for two reasons.
Although he accomplished his first goal of winning the tournament for the third straight year, he came away a bit disappointed. That's because the opportunity he wanted the most eluded him.
Fighting through a bracket that featured seven returning state placers, Jameson won his semifinal match Saturday morning to advance to the finals. That's exactly where he thought St. Paris Graham's Ben Jordan would be waiting.
Jameson, ranked No. 10 in the nation at 135 pounds, coveted the chance to wrestle Jordan, a two-time defending Division II state champion who's ranked No. 6 in the nation.
But Jameson will have to wait until next season to prove himself against Jordan, who was upset in the semifinals by Shaker Heights' Marcel Clopton.
Clopton, who was second in the 2006 Division I state tourney, gave Jameson a tough match in the finals. Jameson jumped out to a 6-0 advantage, but Clopton rallied and closed within 10-7 on a reversal with 28 seconds left.
Jameson got an escape point in the last 20 seconds to finish off his third Top Gun title with an 11-7 victory.
Disappointment
"I am disappointed I didn't get to wrestle Jordan," said Jameson (19-0), as he downed a strawberry-banana smoothie.
"There was a lot of hype for that match and I would rather have wrestled him and lost than not wrestle him at all, just to prove that I'm as good as he is. But maybe next year if they come back here.
"Clopton obviously proved how good he is by beating Jordan and he wrestled a good match against me. Usually I can just funk people, but he was pressuring me so it was harder. I just couldn't get warmed up and had bad preparation."
Jameson was the only Fitch wrestler in the championship finals, but not the only one to place. Placing in the top seven for the Falcons were J.J. Pankewicz (sixth, 160) and Matt Kuti (seventh, 189).
Boardman didn't win the Top Gun wrestling tournament, but its sixth-place finish was the highest among Division I schools that competed.
Defending Division II state champion St. Paris Graham ran away with the Top Gun team title with 228.5 points.
West Holmes (159.5) edged out Ravenna (159) for second. Claymont (158) finished fourth and Eastwood (132.5) was fifth.
Fitch (117.5) took eighth place, Alliance (73.5) was 15th and Brookfield (66.5) finished 18th.
Nice finish
"There are a lot of good Division II schools here; it's like a Division II state preview," said Boardman coach Dom Mancini. "But it's nice that we were the top big school and we beat Fitch, which is always a plus.
"We wrestled real well overall and just missed a few more guys placing. That hurt us in the team scoring, but those kids won some great matches to get that far and had good tournaments. We wrestle a tough schedule, but that's good because getting some losses gives us things to work on before the postseason."
Justin Powell was the lone champion for the Spartans, defending his Top Gun title at 215 pounds. The senior placed third at the state tournament in 2006. His season record now stands at 22-2 with losses at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and the Beast of the East tournament in Delaware.
"We don't expect him to lose the rest of the way," said Mancini. "His good losses came already. He didn't win state last year, but this year he's shooting for it."
Joining Powell as Top Gun placers were Anthony Wills (fourth, 140), Bobby Creatore (fourth, 145) and freshman Ricky Zupko (sixth, 112).
Brookfield's Tristan Thompson took fourth place at 125 pounds. His bracket was loaded with 10 wrestlers who are returning state placers. Thompson finished second at the Division III state tournament in 2006.
Brad Harnett (135) finished eighth for Brookfield and Ross Tice (160) was fifth.
Poland's Ben Pearce finished seventh at 135 pounds and Salem's Joe Hamilton was eighth at 160 pounds.
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