The Jackson-Milton Blue Jays wrestling team has a young team this season with a senior leader Nick Scarl. Juniors on the team include Anthony Pizzuto, Jeremy Seka, Evan Mitchell, and Matthew Collins.

When asked about the season Scarl had this to say, “I think we have the potential to have a great season with a great new young group of kids. There is a lot of work to be done but with help from these juniors we can have a very successful season.”

The Jays started off their season on December 1st and 2nd With the Solon comet classic. The Solon tournament is a very competitive tournament with schools from all around coming to compete. The wrestling team took six of their wrestlers to compete in this tournament which Anthony Pizzuto being the only placer.  In wrestling there are different weight classes and only one person can wrestle at that weight class. If there is more than one person that wants to go that weight then the two will wrestle off during practice.

The Blue Jays wrestling team is a very young team full of potential. The wrestling team is coached by Brian Weidenthal, Alex Franco, Ed Staton, Tyler Jeffries, and Terry Stockton. The Jays have a hard time wrestling against other teams in duals due to their lack of middleweight wrestlers.

Senior Nick Scarl had this to say when asked about the duals, “We aren’t very worried on winning the duals. As long as we win our individual matches that we have then we are happy.”

They had just previously finished up a dual against Poland High School and Waterloo High School. The Jays only wrestled 5 kids against Waterloo and Poland. Against Poland Ryan Staton pinned his kid at 138 and so did Anthony Pizzuto at 145. Against Waterloo High School Zach Davis picked up a pin at 113 and was followed by Anthony Pizzuto picking up a decision win at 145.  

The Blue Jays are coming up to the final stretch of their season. The next tournament that they will be taking part in is the annual Josh Hephner memorial wrestling tournament that take place at Austintown Fitch High School. The Josh Hephner tournament is a big tournament with a lot of very tough wrestling, the Jays look forward to the competition. When asked about these tournaments senior Nick Scarl said, “These big tournaments are good because it is great practice for the end of the year when districts and state come around. Most of the time at these wrestling tournaments we are facing D1 and D2 teams, that is what gets us ready for later on in the year.” 

 They Jays have competed this past week in the Eastern Ohio Wrestling League (EOWL) tournament. This tournament was hosted at Austintown High School. There are 29 teams from all around that participate in this tournament, including the Blue Jays. It is a two day tournament with lots of touch wrestling, Jackson brought back five wrestlers for day two. These wrestlers include senior Nick Scarl, juniors Jeremy Seka, Anthony Pizzuto, and Hunter Nitzsky, and sophomore Ryan Staton. Staton returned the second day with a record of 2-0 while Nitzsky, Seka, and Pizzuto returned with a 1-1 record, and Scarl returning with a 2-1 record. The placers of the tournament include Staton at 5th place, and Scarl and Seka at 7th place.

The Jays are now preparing for their end of season tournaments. All of the varsity wrestlers go to sectionals and from there have to place top four to advance to districts, from districts the wrestlers have to place top four again to advance to state. Senior Nick Scarl had this to say when asked about their preparation for the end of the season, “We are making practices more and more intense every day to try and get our conditioning at the best that it can be. That is my hardest battle in my wrestling matches. I along with the rest of the team have to get in better shape.” Sectionals will be hosted a Rootstown High School on February 24.