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Rea, Bozek capture Region 1 crowns

Oak Glen's Robert Bozek (Matthew Peaslee)

FAIRMONT — Weir’s Caleb Rea and Oak Glen’s Robert Bozek reached the top of the podium in Fairmont on Saturday.

They hope to reach the same summit in Huntington, next weekend.

Rea won the Region I title at 126 pounds at the Fairmont Senior Fieldhouse, with Bozek earning first place at 138 pounds.

“The overall goal has always been to be a state champ,” said Rea, a two-time state placer. “Nothing less.”

Added Bozek, already a two-time state champ, “I’ve met all my goals so far but I still have one more left.

Rea improved his record to 39-1 in his junior season with a 4-2 decision over East Fairmont’s Brock Whorton, a two-time state champion.

“It was a really big win for me,” Rea said. “He is such a great wrestler and he has the wins to prove it. He actually beat me my freshman year. I definitely felt like I was prepared wrestling the AAA state champion (Parkersburg South’s Luke Martin) twice. I’ve wrestled some of the best in Ohio and West Virginia all year long so I’ve definitely felt prepared.”

Rea’s lone loss of the year was against Martin in the OVAC title bout. He already avenged that loss by beating Martin in the Brooke Classic on Jan. 28.

“That loss taught me that you can’t be nervous going into a big match,” Rea said. “Going into college, you’re going to be wrestling a state champion every week. It’s easy to go out there a dominate a kid who isn’t on that level. Going out there and wrestling someone that is up there at the top is 10 times better.”

Rea uses his experience from each previous match going into his next match, no matter the opponent. His intuition came in handy on Saturday against Whorton when the match was tied at two late in the third period.

“Each time I see that there are 15 seconds left in a match I have it in my mind that I need to go after him,” Rea said. “I need to push him and get another point if I can. I needed to get a takedown and I had good position on him to get my points and finish out the match.”

Earlier this season, Rea earned the 100th victory of his career.

“Getting 100 wins as a junior felt really good,” Rea said. “I just have to keep racking on. It’s not about the 100th win, it’s about the wins that went into it. It’d be great to have 100 more, but all that matters is winning the next match.

“I worked really hard this offseason and I haven’t quit during this season to build up to where I want to be. They always say, ‘champions are built in the postseason,’ so that’s what I’m striving for. Now is the time when I need to wrestle my best.”

On Jan. 21, Bozek captured the first OVAC title of his four-year varsity wrestling career. This regional title was his second and now, he aims to become the fifth wrestler in Oak Glen history to win three state championships.

“I’m focused,” Bozek said. “I’m going to have to drill more and more each day, especially on my feet. Escape every time I’m on bottom.”

Thanks to an early 5-0 lead against Frankfurt’s Austin Pumphrey, his title bout opponent, Bozek found himself on the bottom late in the match as Humphrey was attempting to find some last-minute desperation points.

“I was up by a lot and I knew that was going to try and tilt me or get some back points,” Bozek said. “I just had to hold my position and stay strong. It ended up working out and I’m happy with that match.”

Bozek won by a 9-4 decision to improve to 38-8 on the year. Last year, Bozek pinned Pumphrey in the state semifinals.

“It was a huge advantage to have that lead early on,” Bozek said. “Last year, it was a very close match until I pinned him. I knew that having some extra points against him would pay off if I couldn’t get the pin.”

Rea and Bozek were two of 22 local wrestlers who placed in the top six of the region.

At 106 pounds, Oak Glen’s Ty Logston was third and Madonna’s Austin Mascek was sixth; at 113 pounds, Weir’s Wyatt Conley was fifth and Oak Glen’s Shawn Moore was second; at 120 pounds, Madonna’s Roman Baird was fourth and Oak Glen’s Peyton Hall was second; at 126 pounds, Oak Glen’s Trey Wright was sixth and Weir’s Caleb Rea was first; at 132 pounds, Madonna’s Alec Cook was second; at 138 pounds, Madonna’s Vince Pulice was fourth and Oak Glen’s Robert Bozek was first; at 145 pounds, Oak Glen’s Jonathan Creese was sixth; at 152 pounds, Madonna’s Phil Good was second; at 160 pounds, Oak Glen’s Wyatt Strum was third and Madonna’s Hunter Baird was sixth; at 170 pounds, Oak Glen’s Stevie Cool was third and Madonna’s Jacob Todd was fifth; at 182 pounds, Weir’s Nathan Fields was sixth; at 195 pounds, Madonna’s Donavan Kirby was fifth; at 220 pounds, Madonna’s Ryan Ekey was fourth and at 285 pounds, Weir’s Greg Hawkins was fifth and Oak Glen’s Tony Minnis was fifth.

The top four from each weight class advance to the state tournament. A total of 10 local wrestlers qualified for the state tournament as Madonna’s R. Baird, Cook, Good and Ekey punched their ticket, along with Moore, Hall, Bozek, Strum and Cool of Oak Glen.

Rea is Weir’s lone representative.

The state wrestling tournament begins on Thursday at Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington.

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