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Field's David Cox and Crestwood's Kenny Jackson tangle Saturday afternoon at the Portage Trail Conference wrestling championships at Rootstown.

After losing five state qualifiers to graduation, the Crestwood wrestling team didn’t look like the type of team that could win the Portage Trail Conference championship.

Yet the Red Devils, who boasted three champions at this year's PTC Wrestling tournament, rallied past the tournament field with a team score of 185 points, outlasting Field (163) and Coventry (155).

Rootstown (113 points) won the County Division, finishing above Garrettsville Garfield (107.50) and Southeast (90.50)

“Everyone thinks that since we lost all our seniors we weren’t going to do good,” said Crestwood sophomore Jake Zemaitis, who recorded a 26-1 record this season. “But we’re still pretty good.”

Despite being labeled as the underdog at the start of the season, Crestwood also ran away with the outright Metro Division title, which tallies both dual-meet and tournament scores.

“We really did truly feel we were the underdogs coming in,” said Crestwood coach Dave Wrobel, whose team won the conference last season. “We felt that Coventry had the best tournament team.  We thought Field was going to be a big challenge. 

“We wanted to make sure we were at our peak performance.”

From the start of the championship matches there was no doubt the Red Devils were on the way to a great tournament run.

The Red Devils trailed Field following the first day of action, but following solid wrestling leading up to the championship matches, Crestwood secured the top spot in the tournament.

Zemaitis, who was in the opening match of the championship round, continued that trend as he faced the only wrestler who had defeated him this season, Southeast’s Zach Gibson.

“It was pretty much a revenge match,” said Zemaitis, who wrestles in the 106-pound weight class.

Zemaitis walked away with the top spot on the podium following a 2-1 decision after six periods.

“That was a big one to avenge,” Wrobel said. “He wrestled a conservative match.

“That was a huge confidence booster for Jake.”

Along with Zemaitis, the Red Devils secured two additional championship wrestlers en route to victory: Connor Nemec (113), and Dylan Kager (132) -- a three-time PTC champion.

“The lower to middle-weights are our point scorers,” Wrobel said.  “There’s no secret to that.”

Field finished second in the Metro Division after both dual-meet and tournament scores were tallied, while Coventry placed third.

In the County Division, the Rootstown Rovers won their second-straight tournament championship (5th place overall), and were named the County Division champions with Southeast, who finished third in the tournament (9th overall).

The Rovers had two wrestlers grab championship honors at the tournament, Travis and Garrett Linton.

“One of the main reasons I’m coaching this year is to work with those boys and get them down to the state tournament,” said Rootstown coach Craig Wise.

A state runner-up a year ago, Field senior T.J. Fox repeated as a PTC champion.

2012 PTC Wrestling Results

Metro Division

1. Crestwood – 185.00

2. Field – 163.00

3. Coventry – 155.00

4. Norton -- 132.00

5. Streetsboro -- 108.00

6. Ravenna – 105.50

7. Kent Roosevelt -- 83.50

8. Springfield – 30.00

County Division

1. Rootstown – 113.00

2. Garrettsville Garfield – 107.50

3. Southeast – 90.50

4. Waterloo – 88.00

5. Woodridge – 78.50

6. Mogadore – 23.00

Individual standings

106 - 1st Crestwood’s Jake Zemaitis, 2nd Southeast’s Zach Gibson, 3rd Field’s Vince Dejulius

113 - 1st Crestwood’s Connor Nemec, 2nd Coventry’s Austin Shields, 3rd Kent Roosevelt’s Harka Subba

120 - 1st Coventry’s Jesse Gunter, 2nd Field’s Jimmy Kubitza, 3rd Norton’s Allen Beddow

126 - 1st Waterloo’s Nick Hermann, 2nd Crestwood’s Josh Hillier, 3rd Garrettsville Garfield’s Tyler Knepper

132 - 1st Crestwood’s Dylan Kager, 2nd Norton’s Tyler Smith, 3rd Mogadore’s Justin Chew

138 - 1st Field’s Zach Ladich, 2nd Waterloo’s J.J. Diven, 3rd Crestwood’s Nick Fejedelem

145 - 1st Waterloo’s Josh Horning, 2nd Southeast’s James Sampson, 3rd Woodridge’s Alex Minns

152 - 1st Field’s T.J. Fox, 2nd Southeast’s Brandon James, 3rd Ravenna’s Logan Reaser

160 - 1st Garrettsville Garfield’s Aaron Yonker, 2nd Southeast’s Tylor Brokaw, 3rd Crestwood’s Sean Keefe

170 - 1st Rootstown’s Travis Linton, 2nd Field’s Jacob Lawhorn, 3rd Kent Roosevelt’s John Spurney

182 - 1st Garrettsville Garfield’s Kevin Stock, 2nd Coventry’s Dillon Hedrick, 3rd Streetsboro’s Chris Ashburn

195 - 1st Rootstown’s Garrett Linton, 2nd Norton’s Bradley Haramis, 3rd Ravenna’s Justin Kyer

220 - 1st Streetsboro’s Bubba Baker, 2nd Rootstown’s Jake Moore, 3rd Woodridge’s Mason Hilling

285 - 1st Coventry’s Travis Gosnell, 2nd Ravenna’s Cody Hawkins, 3rd Garrettsville Garfield’s Devin Dressler