Connor McMahon walked off the center wrestling mat at Firestone High School on Saturday Night and was met by a reporter and a TV cameraman for a brief interview.

High school wrestling is a very popular sport in Northeast Ohio among its participants and fans, but televisions cameras are rare. When there is a television camera present, it means the event is a big deal and that is exactly what the Bill Dies Memorial Tournament is to the the sport of high school wrestling in greater Akron.

The Stow wrestling team participated in the Bill Dies Memorial Tournament this past weekend. The Bulldogs placed 17th of the 38 teams participating. The finals will be televised on Time Warner Cable.

Wrestling in the final round for the Bulldogs was Connor McMahon at 160 pounds. McMahon started the tournament as the top seed with a bye in the first round. He then scored pins in 0:55, 1:44, and 4:34 to advance to the semi finals. In the semi finals he won a 12-4 major decision. In the finals McMahon had one of his hardest matches of the season, but was the aggressor in the entire match and prevailed with 5-0 decision to take the title and remain undefeated on the season.

Also placing for Stow was senior Troy Steiger at 182 pounds. Steiger started the tournament with a 17-2 technical fall. After dropping the next match, he won his next three matches, which included two pins. He lost another match and then came back to win the match for seventh place with a 8-2 decision.

Stow senior Dan Garner did not place at 220 pounds, but went 3-2 for the tournament. Garner dropped his opening bout and then worked back through the consolations and had two pins and a major decision before dropping a close 3-1 match. Senior JJ Mcaffrey at 132 pounds also went 3-2 for the tournament. McCaffrey opened with a 13-0 major decision. After dropping the quarterfinal match he battled back with hard fought decisions of 5-2 and 4-3, before losing a 6-2 decision. Junior Gage Finegan at 195 pounds contributed as well with a 3-2 performance. Finegan entered the tournament without a loss on the season and continued with a pin in the first round. He lost the next match and then won decisions of 7-4 and 4-3 before losing a close 8-5 match.

Stow wrestlers also with wins in the tournament included Sophomore Joe Kollar at 170 pounds. Kollar went 2-2 for the tournament and had wins 5-4 and 11-3. Junior Dylan Hartwig at 126 pounds faced some tough competition and fell twice in close matches by 2 points, but earned an 11-3 major decision along the way. Sophomore Hunter Massey at 152 pounds also found the sledding tough, but scored a pin to help the Bulldogs.

Other wrestlers for Stow included Senior Joe Combs at 145 pounds, Senior Mike Edwards at 120 pounds, and sophomore Adam Hunt at 106 pounds.

The Bulldogs will have their hands full this Saturday when the travel to Barberton for a tri-meet with Barberton, who took second as a team in this tournament, and Coventry, who placed fourth as a team.

The Stow wrestling team made the short trip north to take on the Explorers from Hudson. After having a good run so far in the 2011-12 season, they had an off night and dropped the dual meet by a score of 44-17.

Things got off to a slow start again for the Bulldogs, which has been the case in other dual meets, but this time it was tough to rally for the comeback. At 106 pounds Freshman Anthony Valore lost a 7-2 decision. Sophomore Justin George fell behind 5-0 after one period and battled back, but lost a 7-3 contest. Senior Mike Edwards worked hard also at 120 pounds, but he fell by a 10-0 score. The bright spot was that while the Bulldogs were losing, they were not giving up pins. However, at 126 pounds, Junior Dylan Hartwig got caught in the first period and did surrender the pin. Hudson had an early 16-0 lead.

Senior JJ McCafffery at 132 pounds was a bright spot. McCaffery took a 9-4 lead after the first period and cruised to a 17-6 win. Freshman Jacob Seal wrestled tough for Stow, but lost a 4-1 decision to give Hudson a 19-4 lead. Senior Joe Combs came out aggressively at 145 pounds, but got caught and pinned to advance the lead against the Bulldogs.

If Stow was to rally it would have to start at 152 pounds. Sophomore Hunter Massey wrestled well and earned a 6-4 decision to help the Bulldogs. Senior standout Connor McMahon followed at 160 pounds. McMahon dominated his opponent, but Hudson was very careful to avoid the pin and eventually gave up the technical fall. The coaching staff felt McMahon was not given the chance to go for the pin on his last takedown as he had his opponent on his back and after voicing their opinion a team point was deducted by the official. The score at this point was 25-11 Hudson.

Stow's upperweights have rallied all season for the Bulldogs, but the clock struck midnight early on this night. Sophomore Joe Kollar had a tough match at 170 pounds and lost a 12-0 decision. Senior Troy Steiger followed at 182 pounds as a last chance, but after a close first period, Steiger was turned and pinned to give Hudson a 35-11 lead. Gage Finegan followed at 195 pounds. Finegan entered the match undefeated and remained so as he got a takedown and worked a first period pin to make the score 35-17. Senior Dan Garner followed at 220 pounds for a contest with a Hudson opponent that he has wrestled previously always with close contests. On this night it was a similar hard fought battle that came down to the closing seconds with Hudson hanging on for a 5-4 win. Zach Millush was back with the team at heavyweight after battling an illness, but he also fell to his opponent with a pin. The final score ended up in favor of Hudson, 44-17.

The Bulldogs will take part in the Bill Dies Memorial Tournament over the weekend at Firestone High School.