The Cardinals had a wrestler in the finals of 10 of the 14 weight classes Saturday at Beloit and ran away with its sixth sectional title in the past seven seasons.

As expected, senior Anthony D’Alesio got a strong start to the postseason in the hopes of repeating as a state champion at 182 pounds. He breezed, pinning his first three foes and then beating Field’s Dallas Mcamis 20-4 in the final.

“I want to set the standard and show my teammates that it’s important to wrestle every match to your ability, no matter who the opponent is,” D’Alesio said. “You have to be humble and bring it against everybody. You have to respect your opponent.”

Three of his teammates — juniors Nick Barber (113 pounds) and Ethan Fletcher (120) and freshman Ty Stricko (106) — also won sectional titles, as the top four finishers in each weight class advanced to the district at Alliance, which is Friday and Saturday.

Staff photo / Brad Emerine Canfield senior Anthony D’Alesio corrals Dallas Mcamis of Field during their finals match at 182 pounds Saturday in the Division II sectional at West Branch. D’Alesio, the defending state champion, won via a tech fall, 20-4.

“We really wanted to qualify all 14, but we lost one (wrestler) to skin checks, and a few other matches didn’t go our way,” D’Alesio said. “Plus we had our 126 (Logan Miller) get disqualified in the third-place match and that means he can’t wrestle at districts. I guess he was upset (with an official). But overall, we wrestled very well as a team.

“I think we can get a handful through (to state) and a few others are on the bubble and will have to come through in their blood-matches (state-qualifying round).”

Senior Richie Hofus reached the final at heavyweight, but forfeited to place second.

“Richie has little nagging injuries and is banged up, and with his scholarship (to Fordham), we want to be a little cautious,” Canfield coach Steve Pitts said. “He took fourth last year at sectional and (was a state alternate). He’ll be just fine. He doesn’t have to worry about the pairings.

“I thought our guys wrestled really well. We competed in every match. We have a lot of young guys in the lineup and a lot of them are going to districts as freshmen and sophomores. We’re excited about that. We got bonus points at 106, 113, 120 and 182, so when you’re scoring those kinds of points, you’re really pleased as a coach. But the Alliance district is the best district in the state, so we’ve got to get ready for next week.”

Staff photo / Brad Emerine Howland sophomore Gage Gibson positions Poland senior Daniel Pagan during their finals match at 220 pounds Saturday in the Division II sectional at West Branch. Gibson won 4-2.

Canfield totaled 213.5 points to easily win ahead of Alliance (160), West Branch (153), Streetsboro (150), Howland (116), Girard (112), Marlington (107.5), Poland (103), Salem (72), Hubbard (65.5), Ravenna (48) and Field (46.5).

Howland had a pair of champions in sophomores Matthew Woomer (145) and Gage Gibson (220). Also advancing were sophomore Rian Spangler (third, 132) and juniors Georgio Frazeskos (third, 285) and Nick Mijavek (fourth, 195).

“The guys that made it through were guys we anticipated making it because of the work they’ve put in this season,” Howland coach Matt Zakrajsek said. “We knew they’d have a good shot to make it. We had some other guys that were close who just missed it and it’s a shame because they also put in a lot of work this year. It’s a tough sectional and nothing is guaranteed and some weight classes were really tough. Certain things have to go your way, but like we said all week in practice, you don’t have to win the tournament to move on. Just the top four.”

In addition, freshman Carter Mock (126), who placed fifth to be a district alternate, is expected to replace Miller after his disqualification.

Other area champions included Hubbard junior Connor Burrus (126), Girard senior Alex Delgarbino (138), Poland’s Dillon Smith (170), and West Branch senior Jacob Hurst.

Burrus defeated Marlington’s Brenden Hamilton 8-3 in a rematch of last year’s final, which Burrus also won

“I wrestled the same kid in finals last year and he’s tough,” Burrus said. “He rides hard on top and he got me in a good cradle. Last year when I went to district, my stomach was upset and I was kind of in my own head and didn’t wrestle well. But I think I’m past that now and I’m hungrier this year.”

“We had some things go really well and some things that did not go well,” Hubbard coach Nickolai Timbs said. “Connor wrestled lights-out all day, especially in the finals. But we’re in the toughest district in the state, so it’s a long road.”

Delgarbino beat Streetsboro’s Sam Miller 7-3 in the final.

“Alex did a nice job in the finals against a tough kid,” Girard coach Jim Cardiero said. “We may run into him again in the next couple of weeks. We got five guys through, but I expected a few more of our guys to make it into the finals match. Alex was the only one, but it’s OK, we’ll take what we got and maybe those other kids will come up big next weekend when it matters most.”

Smith won an exciting match 6-4 over Alliance’s Logan Bell, breaking a tie with under 15 seconds remaining. It left Alliance coaches yelling and storming off the mats after the decision remained.

“I got back points and (Alliance coaches and fans) thought it was too quick,but I’ll take it,” said Smith, who was fourth at sectional last year. “Being a champion is one of most exciting things that’s ever happened for me. I was coming in here as the underdog, but I knew what I had to do in practice to get it done.”

Hurst won the title when Hofus forfeited.