Fallsnewspress.com - Warrior's DiJulius wins second straight state title

by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

Walsh Jesuit junior Johnni DiJulius said he looked up to Walsh's multi-time state champions like Clint Musser and Joe Heskett when he was young.

Now the Aurora native can claim his place among those legendary names.

DiJulius won his second straight state championship March 6 at the Division II state wrestling meet at Value City Arena in Columbus.

DiJulius' efforts led the Warriors to a seventh-place tie with Wapakoneta in the Division II team race. Walsh finished with 44.5 points.

DiJulius' win gave Walsh its 41st state championship -- and the last in the tenure of coach Bill Barger.

Warriors co-head coach Joe Boardwine said it was an appropriate way for Barger to go out.

"I think it's special for Bill," Boardwine said. "He's leaving an incredible legacy."

Boardwine said he knows how it will be to fill Barger's shoes.

"Not easy but I'm excited about it," Boardwine said.

DiJulius' run to his second title was much more dominant than his first. He opened up with a pin against London's Arron Johnson in 3:39, followed by a 5-3 win over Padua Franciscan's Andrew Romanchik.

DiJulius then dominated Lisbon Beaver's Arizona Miller 10-0 in the semifinal.

In the final, DiJulius faced Oak Harbor's Drew Stone. It was a rematch of the 119-pound state title match at last year's state tournament, which DiJulius won 1-0 by riding Stone out in the final period.

"We watched Stone quite a bit heading into the match," Boardwine said. "Basically, [our strategy] was to stay on offense. We didn't want it to come down to a one-point match."

"I didn't want him to hang on my arms," DiJulius said. "I just made myself small and went after him."

DiJulius took control of the match in the opening 30 seconds, taking Stone down and turning him for a two-point nearfall. DiJulius got an escape at the beginning of the second period and took a 5-0 lead into the third.

"He was wide open for the dump," DiJulius said.

Although DiJulius gave up a point due to a pair of stalling calls, he once again rode Stone for the entire third period to preserve a 5-1 win.

After the win, DiJulius said it was still dawning on him that he joined the likes of Heskett and Musser among Walsh's multi-time state champions.

"It's awesome," DiJulius said. "Those names are the ones I grew up idolizing as a kid."

"Johnni's one of the greatest winners I've ever seen," Boardwine said. "You have a lot of guys who are great wrestlers, but they just have a hard time winning."

Boardwine said DiJulius' win was all the more impressive considering how hard the last year had been for him off the mat. DiJulius lost his mother last spring.

"It's kind of incredible for him to do this," Boardwine said. Even after the difficult loss, DiJulius "just keeps going."

DiJulius said he hoped his teammates would be able to join him on top of the podium next year and was quick to praise Walsh's incoming freshman class.

The rest of the Walsh contingent had a bit of a tough time at states this year.

Sophomore 130-pounder Nate Skonieczny had high hopes to also win a state title, but he was once again denied by a St. Paris Graham star.

Skonieczny started with a 20-5 technical fall over Bethel-Tate's Dustin Davidson and then dominated Sparta Highland's Mike Sheppard 14-4.

However, the semifinals saw Skonieczny run into Graham's Bo Jordan in a match many felt was the real state title bout.

Jordan got the match's lone takedown in the first period and hung on from there for a 3-1 win.

"We knew that was going to be a very tough match," Boardwine said. "Bo Jordan is a heck of a wrestler. Nate got hit with a quick shot and that was his only mistake."

Skonieczny rebounded by beating Lexington's Nick Hile 11-3 and then took third place with a 2-1 win over Padua's Brent Fickel.

"It hard to see someone work so hard and not come up with the title," Boardwine said.

The other three Warriors who made it to states finished off the podium.

At 140 pounds, John Novak went 1-2 in his second trip to states.

"I think John didn't do as well as he could have," Boardwine said. "John is probably a 130-pounder wrestling at 140. When you're giving up that much weight, the margin of error is very small."

Senior 171-pounder Dillon Magalski saw his body betray him again after a career marred by injuries. He finished 1-2.

"He's so beat up," Boardwine said. "You really would have liked to have seen him go out on the podium."

Boardwine said he has little doubt about Magalski's future, noting the senior is looking at possibly attending an Ivy League school.

"Dillon's a total winner," Boardwine said. "He's going to be successful no matter where he goes."

Junior 189-pounder Anthony Melchiorre went 0-2 in his first trip to states.

E-mail: mleonard@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113