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Firestone High School hosts the 25th annual Bill Dies Memorial wrestling tournament this weeknd. Thirty-eight schools will compete in the two-day event which starts at 3 p.m Friday.

This weekend Firestone High School will host the 25th annual Bill Dies Memorial Tournament, which will bring 38 wrestling teams to Akron. The event is named after the co-founder of the Ohio Youth Wrestling Association, William Dies.

Not only will all five Akron City Series wrestling teams be there, but 23 schools in total from the SportsInk.com coverage area of Summit, Medina and Portage counties will try to knock Brecksville-Broadview Heights from its perch as three-time defending champion.

“(The Bill Dies tournament) means a lot to this area,” Barberton coach Dave Mariola said.  “The tournament is run really nicely with a lot of good people helping out, and there’s a lot of great competition from Round 1 to the finals.”

The Magics will look to be contenders again after placing third at the tournament last January as they bring back returning champions Cobey Fehr (126) and Aaron Tschantz (195).  Both wrestlers are ranked first in their respective weight classes, as is Barberton senior Austin Rice at 152 pounds.

The Copley Indians, coached by Jim Dies – grandson of Bill Dies - returns as the runner-up to the B’s and has seven seeded wrestlers in the tournament.  Seniors Zack Walker, Matt Nedolast, Isaiah Wheeler and Jason Tomayko are all seeded in the top five of their weight classes.

“Every year it’s a big deal,” Dies said.  “It’s kind of unique because it’s not a whole lot of private schools, it’s a lot of Summit County schools and some of these local bordering schools.”

Last season the Highland Hornets added yet another top-five Dies finish to their resume taking fourth place.  This year’s edition of the Hornets features top-seeded junior Adam Kluk at 170 pounds, as well as James Kunzler, Colin Rininger and Lazar Vilimonovic ranked amongst the top five in their weight classes.

“We’ve always been competitive at the Dies tournament,” Highland coach Paul Casey said.  “We’re working towards the end of the season and we need to be building momentum and chart a course for success with the Suburban League meet two weeks away.”

Kenmore looks to repeat as the top city performer welcoming three seeded wrestlers to the mat in Steve Vinson, Caleb Easton and Kevel Fields.

The host Falcons will have four wrestlers seeded in the tournament, starting with 170-pounder Edmund Williams, ranking sixth.  Williams is joined by Stewart Lindgren (126, 11th), Art Sherman (285, 14th) and Tom Lehman (152, 15th).

Looking at the other city wrestling teams, North seniors Josh Miller (170) and Darian Veal (138) are seeded 14th and 17th respectively.  Ellet junior Aaron Thomas is seeded 12th at 145 pounds, while teammate Andrew Crawford is seeded 19th at 285.

Wrestling begins at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon and the action will pick up again at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, before the finals kickoff at 6 p.m.

More Dies

Here is a listing of all the local wrestlers that are seeded in the top eight of this weekend’s tournament to help prepare you for all of the action.  Full seedings by weight class and school can be found at billdies.com.

Barberton: Cobey Fehr (126, 1); Austin Rice (152, 1); Aaron Tschantz (195,1); Sonny Shump (120, 3); Vern Rowe (220, 4); Austin Hopkins (160, 6); Hunter Thornton (182, 6); Sam Hymes (170, 8).

Brunswick: Tyler Hughes (170, 3); Tim Reagan (285, 4); Zack Taylor (113,6).

Buckeye: Alex Sherman (160, 4); Jake Thayer (170, 5); Tyler Carrow (195, 6).

Copley: Zack Walker (138, 2); Matt Nedolast (145, 3); Isaiah Wheeler (182, 4); Jason Tomayko (132, 5).

Coventry: Jesse Gunter (120, 1); Dillon Headrick (195, 4); Travis Gosnell (285, 5); Zack Hartley (132, 6); Michael Fagan (106, 7); Austin Shields (113, 7); Andy Ethington (182, 7); Brandon Rang (152, 8).

Cuyahoga Falls: Collin Taylor (138, 3); Rudy Ware (220, 8).

Garrettsville Garfield: Aaron Yonker (160, 2); Kevin Stock (182, 2); Tyler Knepper (126, 7); Devin Dressler (285, 8).

Green: Chris Doyle (106, 3); Ryan Kaminski (120, 7); Noah Schaub (113, 8).

Highland: Adam Kluk (170, 1); James Kunzler (132, 2); Colin Rininger (152, 5); Lazar Vilimonovic (160, 5); Marko Vilimonovic (106, 8).

Hoban: Kevin Swaney (126, 3); Michael Belknap (136, 6).

Kenmore: Steve Vinson (220, 1); Caleb Easton (145,7).

Kent Roosevelt: John Spurney (170, 7); Brian Karavantas (145, 8).

Manchester: Kyle Ferguson (120, 2); Bobby Bowen (106, 5); Lucas Dies (195, 8).

Norton: Tyler Smith (126, 4); Allan Beddow (120, 8).

Revere: Stephen Suglio (182, 3); Matt Peterson (132, 8).

Stow: Connor McMahon (160, 1); Gage Finegan (195, 3).

Twinsburg: Mike Labry (138, 1); Michael Baker (182, 1).

Woodridge: Mason Hilling (220, 3); Alex Minns (145, 5); Brian Downs (152, 7).

Boys Basketball: Meet the East Road Warriors

The East Dragons boys basketball team has made a lot of noise this season, not the least of which came with East’s thrilling 100-97 double-overtime victory at Firestone on Tuesday en route to a perfect City Series record halfway through the season.

However, maybe the biggest news is the road – or roads – the Dragons have taken to get to their 10-1 start and seven-game winning streak.  East has played just twice at home this winter, winning eight of nine games in front of hostile crowds.

“This is the best start we’ve had since I’ve been there,” East coach Ross Fiorello said.  “If you’d have told me this would be our record I’d have taken it in a second.”

The result of playing those games on the road for the Dragons though is getting to know their gym real well over the last month and a half of the season.  Starting with Friday night’s game against North, East will be home for four straight games and seven of its last eight.  The Dragons' only remaining road game is a trip to Kenmore at the beginning of February.

Girls Basketball: Unlucky No. 20

It’s been a week since City Series girls basketball teams have faced off in league play and that Thursday night presented an interesting trend.  Three players scored more than 20 points in their respective games, but two of them came in losing efforts.

North senior forward Aleyah Carmona scored 29 points in the Vikings' 68-47 loss to Garfield, and East sophomore forward Airelle Sibley poured in 22 points as the Dragons fell to Ellet 63-48.

The Rams and Orangemen both had three players reach double figures, making their balanced scoring attack more effective.

Firestone senior guard Shaia Horton scored 25 points in the Falcons' 82-24 win over Buchtel for the one winning 20-plus point performance.  Firestone also picked up 57 points from players other than Horton in the win.