Boardman Spartan wrestlers Joe Cordova (182#) and Nick Mancini (120#) led the Green Machine Wrestling Team at the 2012 AAU Wrestling Scholastic Duals at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. last week with 10-1 records. 39 teams from throughout the country competed in the Community Division.
      Cordova scored 8 pins in winning the 10 matches and Mancini scored 6 pins in his 10 victories. For their efforts Cordova and Mancini were awarded silver medals and were named All Americans.
      “Both kids wrestled outstanding. We had some tough competition. Going through the whole tournament with only one loss, it was pretty impressive to have both of them come back with silver medals,” Head Coach Dom Mancini said.
      Also having strong performances for the Green Machine were Peter Ryan (132#) and Justin Humphreys (220#). Ryan had a 9-2 record with 7 pins and was awarded a bronze medal. Humphreys had an 8-3 record with 2 pins and was awarded a copper medal.
      “Peter Ryan was probably one of the most exciting wrestlers down in Disney. Some of the moves he hit were just incredible. He was definitely very entertaining and most of the time came out on top. He went for some big money moves and came out ahead on most of them,” Coach Mancini said.”
      He added, “I thought Justin Humphreys wrestled an outstanding tournament. He was a surprise for us. I didn’t expect him to medal going into the tournament but he was aggressive and had a nice offense going. It was nice to see him come home with the medal.”
      All four wrestlers will be seniors on this year’s Boardman wrestling team. The Green Machine team won their bracket and finished 5-6 to place 31st out of 39 teams.
      Cordova and Mancini will be leaving shortly to compete in the ASICS/Vaughn National Freestyle Championships in Fargo, North Dakota from July 14 – 21. They are in a wrestling camp this week at Lakewood St. Edward HS preparing for the Fargo tournament.
      “For their age group, Fargo is going to be one of the most difficult tournaments that these kids will ever compete in and a lot of it will depend on the kind of draw they get. We have had great wrestlers go two and out because of the draw. It is just going to depend on where they fall in the bracket and if they can get some momentum going,” Coach Mancini said.
      In early August, Green team wrestlers will be competing in the AAU Junior Olympic Wrestling Tournament in Houston, Tex.