Falcon Pride Top Ten #7: Wrestling Claims Sectional Title with EOWL Champion and Four State Qualifiers

As the unofficial start to the 2026 fall sports season quickly approaches, AustintownAthletics.com will close the month of June by taking a look back at the top ten sports moments from the 2025-2026 school year. The list will feature the most memorable and notable individual and team performances, achievements, and milestones as selected by members of the Austintown Fitch Athletic Department. The Falcon Pride Top Ten Countdown will begin on June 20 with #10 and continue through the end of the month with the #1 sports moment of the year. As always, thank you to all of Falcon Country for your continued support of our student-athletes both on the field and, most importantly, in the classroom. Keep celebrating your Falcon Pride! #7) Wrestling Claims Sectional Title with EOWL Champion and Four State Qualifiers The Fitch wrestling team continued to add to its storied history as the Falcons had plenty of highlights during another season of success in 2025-26 as the year started with a team title at the 2025 Everett Hoppel Memorial Tournament hosted by Beaver Local in December. That was followed up with another team title at the 33rd Annual Joshua Hephner Memorial Tournament which was held over two days on Greenwood Chevrolet Falcon Court and featured a field of 35 schools. Fitch hosted the EOWL Tournament on the last weekend of January and saw senior Noah Bolen walk off the mat as its lone individual EOWL Champion after pinning his opponent in the second period of the 285 lbs. championship match. As a team, the Falcons put together a strong showing and finished as runners-up to their soon-to-be fellow All-American Conference resident Louisville. (As for the 2025-26 AAC championship, the Falcons blew out Canfield by a score of 60-17 to lay claim to the league title on Senior Night.) The team then went on to win the OHSAA Division 1 Boys Wrestling Sectional Meet with 12 wrestlers advancing to the District Meet including two individual champions as Evan Protopapa (138 lbs.) and Stephen Medved (190 lbs.) each stood atop the podium. The duo helped the Falcons score 241 team points to run away with the Sectional Championship as runner-up Medina scored just 180.5 points. At the District Championships, Fitch placed sixth overall but had four wrestlers advance to the State Meet in Columbus. Chayce Kemble and Noah Bolen took third place in their respective weight classes while Stephen Pontius finished fourth in his. Evan Protopapa rounded out the state quartet as an alternate by placing fifth. The team said goodbye to a strong senior class made up of Noah Bolen, Kai Cosa, Reggie Danko, Mason Darby, Josef Jones, Stephen Medved, Evan Protopapa, Jayson Quesada, and Ronnell Strickland. However, as has been the case for many years, the program has plenty of young wrestlers who are ready to take the next step and continue the program's long tradition of winning.