PPT Slide
state qualifiers who won. Rini, the second-ranked 103-pounder in Division I, wasn’t supposed to be making his first state appearance this year. As a freshman a year ago at Perry, he qualified but did not compete for off-the-mat reasons. In his tournament debut Thursday, he seemed bound to make up for lost time. Facing Central Crossing’s Corey Hinkle, Rini – who has been battling bronchitis all week – scored three first-period takedowns, the last of which put Hinkle on his back for the decisive pin. “I thought the first match would be the one to get into my head the most,” said Rini, who faces Lakewood St. Edward’s Neil Birt in this morning’s quarterfinals. “The first match is always important because it’s tough to come back after you lose early.” Mizer – also the second-ranked wrestler, at 130 pounds – had the toughest match of the trio, no surprise considering he was facing the fifth-ranked 130-pounder, Elyria’s Matt Felton. And the match lived up to the billing, as it was scoreless through the first 5:45 before Mizer was finally able to get Felton into a cradle with about :15 remaining and tilt him enough to score the necessary near-fall points in a 3-0 victory. “I just kept trying to cradle him,” said Mizer, who meets Cincinnati Oak Hills’ Eric Meyer this morning. “I finally got him there with 15 or 20 seconds left and was able to get him into the cradle and hold onto it. “I knew coming into the match that he was pretty tough. But I think our practices are harder and we wrestle better competition, so I knew I had the upper hand.” In his first match at state, Kapper was stunned at the outset when New Lexington’s Ben Fondale recorded an early takedown at the edge of the mat for a 2-0 lead. But Kapper maintained his poise, pulling in front 5-2 by the end of the first period on his way to a 13-5 major decision and a quarterfinal match against Norwalk’s Shawn Ritzenthaler. “I was pretty nervous going out there,” Kapper said. “I was taken down there on the edge of the mat there at the start, and that kind of stunned me. But then I got the escape and took him down, and I kind of relaxed after that.” St. Edward – which had 10 of its 13 qualifiers win their opening matches – has already opened up a significant margin in Division I with 34.5 points after the first round. In second place is Elyria with 15.5 points, while Perry is in fourth place with 13 points and Jackson is in 10th with 7.5. “Our four winners all got bonus points except Mizer, and I knew that would be a tough match,” Perry coach Brian Dolph said. “We’ve got five guys down here, and if we want to take second place we have to score bonus points.” St. Paris Graham and Sandusky St. Mary’s were leading the Division II and III team standings at the end of Thursday's competition.
