PERRY—Kirtland’s Gaetano Savelli and Louka Babic are just one win away from punching their ticket to the state championships after reaching the semifinal round at the Division III Perry District tournament.
Savelli, who improved to 41-5 on the year, opened the tournament with a three-minute pin and then defeated Cardinal’s Josh Ripley in the quarterfinals, 5-0.
Ranked 13th in the state, Savelli will wrestle Rootstown’s Cody Coontz in the 165-pound semifinals on Saturday. Coontz is ranked No. 2 in the state, but at 175 pounds.
Babic improved to 34-3 with two wins at 175 pounds.
He needed just 38 seconds to pin his first opponent and was leading his second, 15-3, before being thrown to his back. Babic fought off the pin and held on for a 15-8 victory over Orrville’s Jack Waldron.
Babic, ranked 13th in the state, will wrestle No. 14 Wyatt Morris of Saline Southern.
Kirtland’s Eddie Podojil-Schlesinger and Ian Borthwick both lost two matches on Friday and were eliminated from the competition.
