The 25th annual
K.O. Drugs high school boxing tournament will conclude Monday with 21
championship belts on the line at St. Lucy’s Palermo Center, 404 Tenney Avenue.
There are 10 underclass
pairings, nine upperclass match-ups and two female championships slated with
all four female boxers set to make their tourney debut.
“After several weeks of
intense action, it remains the distinct pleasure of K.O. Drugs Boxing to once
again crown over 20 high school champions,” tournament founder Chuck Nelson
said. “The 21 title fights are all evenly matched and we expect every boy and
girl to give it their all in hopes of taking home a championship belt.”
Seven fighters will put 2-0
marks on the line while 20 fighters overall remain undefeated in this year’s
competition.
In upperclass action, Josh
Mango of Niles and Mike Sullivan of Struthers will put their 2-0 marks on the
line in a match-up of middleweights while Marlington’s Justin Griffin, also
2-0, takes on home school’s Robbie Elmakbah (1-1) for the featherweight title.
Zane Henricksen, also
home-schooled, and Jesse Chenevey of Marlington, each 1-0-1 in the tourney,
will square off in a super middleweight pairing while Canfield schoolmates
Hayden Smith and Tyler Tabor, both sporting wins in their only tourney
appearance, meet for the cruiserweight crown.
Also in upperclass action,
two-time winner Chris Pagley of Neshannock takes on Jonah Ortiz of Struthers
with the winner claiming this year’s welterweight title.
The two female bouts have
Campbell’s Aubreanna Hayden taking on Brindza Davidson of New Castle for the
featherweight championship and Amy Scarnecchia of Howland meeting Erica Barone
of Struthers for the lightweight title.
An interesting underclass
match-up will pit undefeated cousins Devan Trehorn of Liberty and Austin
Stevens of Austintown Fitch with the winner taking home family bragging rights
in lightweight action.
Stevens, whose father is Joe
Hippo, is 2-0 this year while Trehorn, whose grandfather is Joe’s brother Russ,
sports a 1-0 tourney legend.
Also in underclass action,
Canfield’s Aaron Jenkins (2-0) will meet home school’s Austin Gibson for the
welterweight championship while Mikey Fasline of Hubbard and Jose Minjarez of
Reynolds, both 1-0 in tournament action, will get the night underway when they
meet for the bantamweight title.
Other underclass division
fighters with an unblemished tourney mark include featherweight Addison Richards,
junior middleweight Brock Garretson of Howland, New Wilmington cruiserweight
James Bauer and heavyweight Colten Nitzsky of Jackson-Milton.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. with
the first fight at 7 p.m. Tickets are $9 for students and $15 for adults. For
more information, call Chuck Nelson at 330-423-2203 or 330-757-7273, or Pat
Nelson at (330)-727-0932. (Source)
