Wrestling star Harry Lester continues to prove that he’s one of the most dominant athletes to come out of the Beacon Journal’s coverage area.

Lester, an Akron native and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy graduate, won a gold medal in his first Pan American Games on July 24, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Lester, a four-time Ohio high school state champion at CVCA from 1998 to 2001, lifted Anyelo Mota of the Dominican Republic in the air and slammed him onto his back for a first-period fall in the finals of 145.5-pound weight class in the Greco-Roman style.

It has been a good summer for Lester.

On June 10, Lester earned a spot on the U.S. World Team for the third consecutive year by winning a title at 145.5 pounds in the Greco-Roman style at the U.S. World Team Trials in Las Vegas. Lester, who won a World bronze medal in 2006, will get another shot at gold at the World Championships, which will be Sept. 17-23 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

If you know wrestling, you know that Lester is a favorite to win gold in the 2008 Olympics. What do you think of his recent success? Do you think he’s one of the most dominant area athletes to come our of the Akron area in the past 10 years? I do. If he wins a gold medal in 2008 and LeBron James doesn’t win a title by then, is it fair to say he could pass James in the category of dominant local athletes?

It has been reported that 2007 Canton McKinley graduate Zack Campbell has joined the University of Akron football team as a preferred walk-on kicker.

Campbell adds depth to the position and might make an immediate impact as the competition for the starting job progresses throughout the Zips preseason camp.

Campbell, 6-foot-1 and 183 pounds, earned second-team All-Ohio and first-team all-district honors in Division I as a Bulldogs senior. He made seven field goals, including a school-record, 48-yard field goal against Boardman and converted 59-of-60 extra points. He also punted 46 times for a 36.4 yard average.

I talked to Kirk Herbstreit, an ESPN college football analyst and former Ohio State University quarterback, today on the phone. Several top high school football teams from around the country, including Canton McKinley, will compete in the Burger King Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge III.

Canton McKinley will play Union High School from Tulsa, Okla., in its second regular-season game at 7:45 p.m. Sept. 1 at Fawcett Stadium in Canton. Union won Oklahoma class 6-A state titles in 2002, 2004 and 2005. Three other games are scheduled to be played at Fawcett Stadium on Sept. 1. Here is the entire Ohio vs. USA schedule.

“The fans everywhere I go are basically thanking me for bringing this event to Ohio because they love high school football,” Herbstreit said. “It’s a chance for high school football fans to see some great players and some great games.”

Tickets are now available for $13 ($15 day of event) for a three or four game session. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.ohiovsusa.com or calling the ticket offices at Fawcett Stadium in Canton (330-438-2741) or Nippert Stadium at the University of Cincinnati (513-556-2287).

As Canton McKinley’s game against Union approaches, a story will appear in the Beacon Journal.

Bob Black has returned to the football coaching staff at Firestone High School as an assistant to head coach Tim Flossie.

Black was an assistant at Wadsworth for the past four seasons after being the head football coach and a teacher at Firestone for several years. During his stint at Wadsworth, he remained a health and physical education teacher, and an assistant athletic director at Firestone.

“It is great to be wearing the green and gold again,” Black said via e-mail.

The football season starts in a month, so it’s everybody’s favorite time for predictions. Ohio High magazine predicted the 2007 state championship matchups and the winners. Two local schools, Massillon Washington and Tallmadge, were picked to advance to the state finals in their respective divisions. Here are Ohio High magazine’s predictions:

Division I finals: St. Xavier over Massillon Washington
Division II: Trotwood-Madison over Tallmadge
Division III: Dayton Chaminade-Julienne over Mentor Lake Catholic
Division IV: Youngstown Cardinal Mooney over Kettering Alter
Division V: Lima Central Catholic over Maria Stein Marion Local
Division VI: Norwalk St. Paul over Lehman Catholic

What do you think? Do you think Massillon Washington and Tallmadge will make it to the finals? Do you think any other area teams have a chance?

The Norton wrestling team held a dedication ceremony for its new wrestling facility Monday night. Look for a story about the ceremony to appear in the Beacon Journal on Wednesday.

I spoke to Drew Leonard at the event. Leonard, who will be a senior, placed sixth in the 135-pound weight class at the Division II state tounament last season. He also won sectional and district titles this past season.

Leonard said he went to the J Robinson wrestling camp, which was held June 17 to June 30 at Edinboro University. Robinson is the head coach of the 2007 NCAA champion Minnesota Gophers.

Leonard said a typical day at camp started at 6 a.m. and didn’t end until 10 p.m.

“I’m so excited coming into this year knowing how far I can push myself because they push you until you break (at J Robinson’s camp),” Leonard said.

“I want to go to the state finals next year. If I dont’ I’ll be so upset. I just want to go to a Division I college and be able to start my freshman year. That’s my ultimate goal.”

With this kind of training in the offseason, don’t be surprised if Leonard reaches his goals.

The football season is approaching, so I compiled a list of high school seniors from the Beacon Journal’s five-county coverage area who are listed as prospects on www.scout.com. There are several area players who are not on this list who will surely play in college. Nonetheless, this should give you some names to look for this season.

Here are the players, the positions they are being recruited at and their high schools (click on the player’s name for more information from scout.com and make sure to scroll down the player’s bio page to see which colleges have made offers):

DeVoe Torrence/running back/transfered from Canton South to Massillon Washington/committed to Ohio State University

Johnny Adams/wide receiver/Buchtel

Steve Yoak/linebacker/Archbishop Hoban

Will Fleming/safety/Archbishop Hoban

Eric Magnacca/safety/Perry

Whitney Mercilous/defensive end/Garfield

Larry Dawson/running back/North

K.J. Herring/runnning back/Massillon Washington

Jeff White/running back/Alliance

Carlin Isles/running back/Jackson

Kameron Alexander/running back/Buchtel

Dominic Surace/fullback/Twinsburg

Jordan Bell/wide receiver/Barberton

Chris Edwards/wide receiver/Wadsworth

Teddy Robb/wide receiver/Northwest

Justin Ray/offensive line/St. Thomas Aquinas

Reggie Comeaux/offensive line/Massillon Washington

Grady Spidell/offensive line/Buchtel

Kevin Dahl/linebacker/North Canton Hoover

David Whipple/safety/Canton South

Matthew Vick/safety/Perry

Steve Schott/kicker/Massillon Washington

Steve Yoak

I met new North football coach Ken Johnson Monday afternoon. Look for a feature story about Johnson to appear in the Beacon Journal sometime this week.

Johnson, who replaced Tom O’Neil, said he’s averaging about 42 to 45 players at summer conditioning workouts. Johnson said that is an increase from the past few years.

I also talked to O’Neil on Monday. He said he stepped down after 12 seasons as head coach of the Vikings football team to spend more time with his four children (ages 2 to 11).  O’Neil said he will coach boys and girls cross country this fall at North even though the Vikings did not have a team last season.

Johnson, who has been an assistant at North for the past 15 seasons, is optimistic even though the Vikings were 1-9 last season.

“We had a lot of key players injured last year,” Johnson said. “Our star running back Larry Dawson was injured pretty much the whole season. He’s back and healthy this year and our offense is basically focused around him.”

Dawson, 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds at the University of Akron’s football camp. Johnson said Dawson is the most highly recruited player at North in the past 15 years. Dawson has already received offers from the University of Akron, Army and Bowling Green State University, Johnson said. Dawson also carries a 3.8 grade-point average.

Johnson said Dawson reminds him of DeShawn Brown, a former standout running back at North and the University of Akron in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

“Larry Dawson reminds me of DeShawn Brown,” Johnson said. “I think DeShawn got a lot of records here, and I’m looking for Larry to break a lot of them.”

Larry Dawson

The Beacon Journal’s Tom Gaffney reported this news item:

Archbishop Hoban is looking for a new baseball coach and St. Vincent-St. Mary
is looking for a new softball coach. Ted Guscoff has left the Knights position, citing family obligations and
travel.

Guscoff, a Canton resident, confirmed rumors that he has applied for the
vacant Massillon job and is ”very interested in it.”

McCoy, an Akron resident, compiled a 63-19 record in three seasons at
St. Vincent-St. Mary. He will remain as softball coordinator at Pinnacle
Sports.

McCoy takes over at Copley for Mike Kuthan, who resigned late in the 2007
season.

The 70^th annual Good Park Junior Golf Tournament has been completed. Here are the champions of the 36-hole tournament and their scores listed by division:

Note: At J.E. Good Park Golf Course in Akron. Par: 71.

Championship Flight

John Furlong 70-74–144

1st Flight

Steve Bednar 76-73–149

2nd Flight

Zach Seidner 76-77–153

3rd Flight

Reilly Bates 78-74–152

4th Flight (tie)

Steven Sinchok 81-77–158 and Chris Maczko 82-76–158

5th Flight

Riley Pratt 78-77–155

6th Flight (tie)

Kelcey Eberle 81-79–160 and Tom Ribelli 77-83-160

7th Flight

Josh Heckman 78-82–160

8th Flight

Danny Arch 82-85–167

9th Flight

Brandon Proudfoot 85-83–168

10th Flight

Michael Rotilie 84-81–165

Boys 10 and under (18 holes)

Brian Lutz 48-49–97

Boys 11-12

Jake McBride 73-68–141

Girls 16-18

Heather Arison 81-77–158

Girls 15 and under

Tiana Jones 78-72–150

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NOTEBOOK

CHAMPION

John Furlong, a recent Medina High School graduate and Ashland University recruit, won the championship flight Friday in his third tournament at Good Park. Furlong shot a 1-under-par 70 on Thursday and a 3-over 74 on Friday to finish with a 36-hole total of 144.

“A lot of good players have won this tournament. There are always good players in this tournament, so I feel like I’ve accomplished something. There are about three or four kids who normally play in this tournament that are over at Westfield right now. But 144, I don’t know how many kids would have beat that, so overall I’m pretty happy.”

CLOSE BEHIND

Paul Doll (148) finished second in the championship flight and Kevin Miller (149) placed third. Doll is a recent graduate of Portsmouth High School in southern Ohio and a Wright State recruit. Miller, 16, is going to be a junior at Garaway High School.

Miller pushed his older counterparts at the top of the championship flight standings. Going into the back-nine of the final round, Miller, who had three birdies, was tied with eventual champion John Furlong.

“I definitely think I could have done better,” said Miller, who was playing in his first tournament at Good Park. “My putting kind of let me down today. Other than that, I’m kind of happy with how I played.”

TWINS TAKE OVER

Twin sisters Heather and Carly Arison, who will be seniors at Copley High School, finished first and second, respectively, in the girls 16-18 division. The Arison twins said they have been playing in the Good Park Junior for six years, and Friday was the first time that they placed first and second in any tournament.

The Arisons led Copley to a second place finish in the state last season. Heather Arison placed 19^th in the state as an individual and Carly Arison was 31^st. The sisters said they are excited about being team leaders during their senior year.

“There are a bunch of girls on our team who are just starting golf, and it’s going to be fun to help them learn the game because that’s what golf is all about,” Carly Arison said.

“We also have Molly Leonard coming back and she’s good,” Heather Arison said. “It will be fun to play with her one more year and we get along with her really well.”

The Arisons said they want to play in college, but they haven’t decided where yet. However, they already decided that they will attend the same school.

LOST LEAD

Mandi Morrow, who will be a senior at Kent Roosevelt High School, finished third behind the Arison twins. Morrow shot a 3-over 74 on Thursday and had a 6-stroke lead entering the final round, but she couldn’t hang on. She shot an 88 on Friday to finish with a 162.

“I wasn’t really doing anything well today,” Morrow said. “I wasn’t getting off the tee very well and my short game wasn’t very solid.”

Morrow, who plays for the boys golf team at Kent Roosevelt, finished in second place last year at Good Park after losing in a playoff against Megan Weaver of Perry High School.

RISING YOUNGSTER

Ian Holt, an 11-year-old from Stow, finished in a three-way tie for third in the first flight. Holt was about four years younger than any other player in the first flight field.