Boardman High School senior and Kentucky Wildcats grid recruit, Sean O’Horo had a 43-match win streak snapped last weekend at the Ohio Div. I district wrestling tournament at North Canton Hoover, falling by a pin in the 175-lb. championship match to #2 state-ranked Luke Vanadia, of Brecksville.
      The second place finish earned O’Horo a berth in this weekend’s state mat championships at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus where more than 15,000 fans will watch the action.
      O’Horo enters the state event with a 43-1 record and will face Cleveland St. Ignatius junior Jarrell Young (23-4) in the opening round.
      In district competition, O’Horo opened with a pin over Ryan Zentkovich of Massillon Washington at the 1:35 mark of their match. He advanced to quarterfinal action with a pin over Matthew Haney of Medina Highland at the 4:59 mark of that match.
      O’Horo qualified for the state tournament in semifinal district competition, posting a 6-0 decision over Ben Romano, of Hudson High School.
      In the championship match-up, Vanadia moved out to a 13-6 lead before putting O’Horo down by a pin.
      “Sean wrestled a great first three matches to qualify for state and then ran into a buzzsaw in the finals against Vanadia and got pinned ,” Boardman Head Wrestling Coach Dom Mancini said, adding “But he’s where he needs to be and got a draw that is favorable at state.”
      His state tourney matches will be live-streamed on Facebook at Boardman Spartan Wrestling.
      Two other Spartans wrestlers participated in the district event, freshman Max Switka, at 126 lbs. and senior Ashton LaBelle, at 144-lbs.
      In first round action, Switka lost by pin to Charlie Curtis of Massillon Perry; and then fell by a hard-fought 5-4 decision to Bryce Russell, of Medina HS.
      LaBelle dropped a 5-1 decision to Creed Hill, of Medina Highland in the first round, then toppled Jamison Gurchie, of Barberton by a tech fall in his first consolation match. He won with an 8-3 decision over Mark Sobonya, of Painesville Riverside, but dropped out of the competition when he was pinned by Christian Giltz, of Massillon Perry.
      “Max wrestled hard and got a taste of where he needs to get to. He lost a close match in the wrestlebacks and that should be a motivation for next season,” Coach Mancini said.
      The mat mentor noted that “Ashton did what he always does---fought like a champion.
      “He went 2-2 just missing placing in the top six, and he avenged a loss at sectionals to Riverside along the way.”