Heading into the second day of the 14th annual Walsh Jesuit Ironman - one of the nation’s elite high school wrestling tournaments - 11 area wrestlers were still alive in the championship bracket.

After Saturday’s quarterfinals and semifinals, only four of the 11 have advanced to a title match.

Perry junior Seth Horner and Wadsworth sophomore Brad Squire will face off in the championship match of the 130-pound weight class, meaning one area wrestler is guaranteed to win a title. Squire went 34-0 and won a Division I state title last season. Horner has placed third at the Division I state tournament each of the past two seasons.

Perry junior Sam White, a defending Divison I state champion, will meet Monroeville sophomore Logan Stiebler in a championship match in the 119-pound weight class. White finished fifth at Ironman last year, and Stieber placed second.

Walsh Jesuit senior Chase Skonieczny will face St. Edward junior Collin Palmer in a title match in the 135-pound weight class. Skonieczny, a Kent State University recruit, took third at the Division II state tournament and second at Ironman last season. Palmer is a two-time Division I state champion.

I’m at the tournament now, and I will update after the finals. Stay tuned.

Eleven area wrestlers went 2-0 during the first day of the 14th annual Walsh Jesuit Ironman and will advance to the championship quarterfinals, which are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Here are the 11 area wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket of one of the nation’s most prestigious high school tournaments:

103 pounds: Aurora sophomore Ty Mitch; Walsh Jesuit freshman Johnni Dijulius.

112: Wadsworth junior Alex Gray.

119: Aurora senior Johnny Papesh; Perry junior Sam White.

125: Perry senior Dan Genetin.

130: Perry junior Seth Horner; Wadsworth sophomore Brad Squire.

135: Walsh Jesuit senior Chase Skonieczny.

152: CVCA senior Jared Kusar.

215: Walsh Jesuit senior Tom DeRoia.

Check out this cool video from the first day of Ironman. At the very end of the video, CVCA senior Jared Kusar (152) pins one of his opponents.

Stay tuned for more updates Saturday.

The 2007-2008 high school wrestling season started this week and is already in full swing with the some of the best wrestlers in the nation competing Friday and Saturday at the 14th annual Walsh Jesuit Ironman.

Stay tuned for Ironman updates and click here to check out a notebook from the Beacon Journal’s wrestling preview.

Click here to check out a story about the Beacon Journal’s featured wrestler: Barberton senior Adam Cogar.

ED SUBA JR./Akron Beacon Journal

Barberton senior Adam Cogar lifts a tire during his wrestling training. Cogar finished second in the 215-pound weight class at the Division I state tournament in Columbus last March.

Wadsworth senior Dru Jones will miss the high school wrestling season for the second year in a row.

Jones, a Division I All-Ohio selection at running back who rushed for 2,096 yards and 17 touchdowns, injured his knee midway through the football season but finished the season, Wadsworth wrestling coach John Gramuglia said. Jones had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on Tuesday.

Jones was a standout wrestler for the Grizzlies during his freshman and sophomore years, but he missed last season because of another injury.

Barberton senior Adam Cogar has committed to continue his academic and wrestling career at the University of Virginia.

Cogar was a runner-up in the 215-pound weight class at the Division I state tournament last season. cogar, who has a 4.3 grade-point average, said he plans to major in pre med.

“It’s a great wrestling program,” Cogar said. “I love the coaches, I love the wrestlers and they have what I want academically.”

He finished the season with a record of 50-2. Cogar’s only two losses were against Justin Powell, a recent graduate of Boardman. Powell defeated Cogar by a 1-0 decision in the Division I state championship match.

As a sophomore, Cogar went 50-8 and finished sixth the 171-pound weight class in Division I.

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?

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.

Harry Lester, a former wrestling star at CVCA, made the U.S. World Team for the third consecutive year.

Lester, who won four high school state championships from 1998 to 2001, won a Greco-Roman title at 145.5 pounds on June 10 at the U.S. World Team Trials in Las Vegas.

Lester, a 2006 World bronze medalist, will get a chance to vie for a gold medal at the World Championships on Sept. 17-23 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“The next couple of months, I have to train my butt off, get myself prepared and go get a gold medal,” Lester said.

Look for a feature story about Lester to appear in the Beacon Journal in the near future.