The Cloverleaf softball team is in Florida this week at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex. The Colts play six games against teams from New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The basketball races in the Suburban League appear to have clear-cut front runners in the first month of the season.

And while there’s still plenty of basketball yet to play, Wadsworth’s girls and Nordonia’s boys already have cleared tall SL hurdles.

Wadsworth (5-1, 5-0) has won five straight league games after opening with a 48-47 loss to defending state champion Twinsburg. Last week, the Grizzlies pulled away in the final four minutes to defeat Green, their biggest SL challenger in recent years, 54-42.

“We’re the type of team that our offense is much better when we’re playing good defense,” Grizzlies’ coach Andrew Booth said. “I think when Green and Wadsworth play girls basketball, it’s just such a rivalry, we kind of grind against each other and almost get to a halt.”

Other than Green, Booth’s team has beaten four SL opponents by an average margin of 41 points.

Wadsworth plays at Revere on Wednesday (Dec. 21).

Nordonia (5-0, 3-0) used a 28-8 first-half surge to defeat Wadsworth 56-46 last week in SL play. Junior center Chris Scott had 17 points and senior forward Jarrett Ruffin 14 for the Knights. Scott, a 6-foot-6 lefty, is averaging 16.4 ppg, while Ruffin, at 6-foot-4, is at 11.8 ppg.

“Our style is 32 minutes of pressure,” third-year Nordonia coach Matt Cash said. “Now you are going to get some easy layups and some easy buckets because that’s what happens to pressing teams. Obviously, because we’re going to get tired, too, so we’ve got to play eight, nine, 10 guys – and we do. We sub them in and out. We keep a rotation going and if you’re not very deep you are going to get tired – and that’s what we’re hoping for.”

Nordonia plays at Tallmadge on Friday (Dec. 23).

Also on the boys side, Revere’s 29-game Suburban League winning streak, which covered the entire 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, ended when the Minutemen lost 67-44 at Copley on Dec. 13.

Canton City School Christmas Swim Meet

C.T. Branin Natatorium is the site of the OHSAA state swimming and diving championships.

To compete at this storied venue is a memory high school swimmers will treasure for a lifetime.

And although many of the 600 swimmers who competed last Saturday morning and evening at the 8th Annual Canton City Schools Christmas Swimming & Diving Meet will be back for the state meet in 2012, many will not.

“It’s really exciting to be here competing in this atmosphere,” Green boys and girls coach Mike Lazor said.  “You get to swim at the state pool.

“There are teams (78 total) from all over the place, competitive teams, top teams in the state. It’s great competition.”

Copley had five swimmers – freshmen Madison Myers and Brenda Prifti, junior Cooper Comstock, and seniors Chris Lane and Henry Signore – compete during Saturday evening’s finals.

Myers was second in the 200 IM (2:08.78) and third in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.91).

Copley’s showing was at the center of an impressive day for the Suburban League. SL swimmers placed in the top four seven times in six events.

“You come to these big meets and the kids drop their times because of the competition level,” Copley boys and girls coach Ed Burnsed said. “They call it competitive swimming for a reason. People like to race. And when you get to this level, if you have somebody beside you, you go faster. Having somebody beside you who is fast is very important.”

Revere senior Maggie Harris was second in the 50 freestyle (25.24) and fourth in the 100 free (54.98).

Wadsworth senior Mike Pavlak ranked third in both the 100 breaststroke (1:01.14) and the 200 IM (1:59.54).

“You see (a time) on swimmeet.com, or you see it in the paper, or SportsInk.com or wherever,” Lazor said. “Then you actually get to see them and swim side-by-side with them and great things happen.”

Results

Girls

50 free- 2. Maggie Harris (Revere) 25.24, 4. Ellie Surratt (Wadsworth) 25.51.

100 free- 4. Harris (Revere) 54.98, 13. Surratt (Wadsworth).

100 breaststroke- 3. Madison Myers (Copley) 1:08.91.

100 butterly- 11. Emma Gresser (Revere) 1:01.02.

200 IM- 2. Myers (Copley) 2:08.78, 8. Gresser (Revere) 2:17.92.

Boys

100 backstroke- 18. Cooper Comstock (Copley) 58.51.

100 breaststroke- 3. Mike Pavlak (Wadsworth) 1:01.14, 9. Chris Lane (Copley) 1:02.80.

200 IM- 3. Pavlak (Wadsworth) 1:59.54, 18. Henry Signore (Copley) 2:07.82.

Viking Invitational

Summit County high school divers made an impression last Saturday at the 37th annual Viking Invitational at Cleveland State’s Busbey Natatorium.

Walsh Jesuit freshman Kailey Francetic won the girls 1-meter event, accumulating 392.30 points. Cuyahoga Falls sophomore Nicole Rozsa placed second (364.75).

On the boys side, Nordonia sophomore Stephen Romanik won the 1-meter competition (470.15) by 60 points over the next closest diver.

Wrestling: Hudson Holiday Tournament

Copley’s 138-pound senior dynamo Zach Walker was named the MVP of the Hudson Holiday Tournament.

"It's a great experience," Walker said. "I couldn't do this without everybody pushing me in the room."

Walker's Most Valuable award recognized the difficulty of his weight class and the intangibles he brings to a relatively inexperienced Copley squad.

Walker defeated Beachwood's Ryan Harris 3-1 in his semifinal and Crestwood's Nick Fejedelem 6-4 in the final.

"Yesterday, I'm glad I had a hard match from a kid from (Warren) Howland, a really tough kid, to get my blood moving," Walker said.

For a Copley squad which graduated eight seniors out of its starting lineup, including state champion Sam Wheeler, leadership is paramount, and Walker is just the man to fill the void.

"Right now we're trying to rebuild our team," Walker said. "I'm mentoring the guys like they did for me when I was their age."

Parma, team champion of the Aurora Invitational earlier this season, nosed out Copley for fourth place, but seventh-year Indians' coach Jim Dies was not disappointed.

"We had a great day today," Dies said. "We had 14 wins and four losses today overall. We had a really, really good day all day long. We won a lot of close matches and guys wrestled their butts off."

Copley had champions in Matt Nedolast (145) and Isaiah Wheeler (182), in addition to Walker.

"I've told the guys, 'It's not a couple of years in a row of being good and then going back,'" Dies said. "We're going to stay up in the pack."

Wrestling: North Canton Holiday Tournament

While neither school could match nationally-ranked Canon-McMillan (Pa.) in the team race at the North Canton Hoover Holiday Tournament last Friday and Saturday, Wadsworth’s John Gramuglia and Highland’s Paul Casey both saw growth in their respective squads.

Neither coach was all that thrilled with recent outings by their teams, but found solace in strong performances Saturday.

A week after being shut out at the Walsh Ironman Tournament, the Grizzlies finished second at North Canton and had placers in Kagan Squire (132 pound, 1st), Nick Tavanello (2nd, 285), Aaron Warstler (3rd, 138), Chris Baughman (3rd, 145), Cody Gordon (3rd, 152), Mathias Zollinger (5th, 120), Connor Gray (6th, 106) and Brett Spinelli (6th, 220).

After an embarrassing Suburban League dual with the Grizzlies where the Hornets scored nine points, Highland bounced back in Stark County with Adam Kluk (1st, 182), James Kunzler (3rd, 132), Lazar Vilimonovic (3rd,160) and Colin Rininger (5th, 152) placing.

Tavanello’s loss to Cody Klempay of Canon-McMillan in the finals might have been an upset, but it was the first action the two-time state champion has seen this year. Then again, Klempay – a returning state placer and Powerade champion – wasn’t a slouch, scoring a takedown in overtime to win 3-1.

“This was a big rebound for us,” Gramuglia said. “Walsh (Ironman) was tough without everybody in the lineup (the squad was missing two-time state champion Tavanello, state qualifier Brandon Jones and state alternate C.J. Edwards last week), it was tough.

“But this weekend was the sign of a champion. We had almost everyone back in the lineup (Jones was still out) and showed what we’re made of.”

The Grizzlies are on track for their 20th straight Suburban League title.

(by Brad Bournival)

More Wrestling

At the Canfield Holiday Duals on Dec. 17, Revere opened with a 43-29 win over Rootstown, followed by a 46-27 win over SL foe Tallmadge. The Minutemen lost to host Canfield, 42-31 and Manchester, 44-30.  Three seniors -- Matt Peterson (132), Justin Smith (138) and Eric Roose (145) – were undefeated on the day.  Smith registered four pins.

(Revere wrestling website)