Canton Sophomore Alec Pantaleo Wins State Wrestling Title

AUBURN HILLS - Canton sophomore Alec Pantaleo wrestled with a chip on his shoulder this weekend at The Palace of Auburn Hills – literally.

“Every year we get pins for our varsity jacket,” Pantaleo said. “So I had four matches to win the state tournament, so I put four pins on my shoulder and I was wrestling with a chip on my shoulder. Every time I got a win I took one off.”

On Saturday night, he took off the last one after beating Detroit Catholic Central sophomore Malik Amine in the Division 1 finals (135 pounds) on a 9-5 decision.

“He said coming into this tournament he was going to win,” Chiefs coach Cory Mancuso said, smiling. “He actually did.”

And he did it in impressive fashion.

He came out in the first round ready to strike, scoring his first takedown 10 seconds into the match.

“He was the aggressor,” Mancuso said. “He was doing all the offense early and built himself a nice lead.”

Pantaleo (53-3) scored two takedowns in the first and second round. He kept letting Amine back to his feet only to knock the Catholic Central grappler down again.

“I have a lot of respect for Malik, we’ve been going at it for two years,” Pantaleo said. “He knows what I do, and I know what he does.”

In the second round, Pantaleo was called for a technical violation that made it a one-point match at 6-5. Malik grabbed a hold of his foot and swung him wildly back and forth. Pantaleo was near the out of bounds line trying to escape.

“He called us for fleeing the mat, but the official never blew the whistle so they were never out of bounds,” Mancuso said.

If the violation fazed Pantaleo, he didn’t show it. After the match, he said he was “in the flow” and the penalty didn’t bother him. Pantaleo came right back with a takedown in the final five seconds of the round.

Teammate Ben Griffin wasn’t so lucky in his finals match facing defending state champion Temperance Bedford junior Mitch Rogailner (112 pounds).

The final 30 seconds of in the second round of their match proved to be decisive. Down 3-2, Rogaliner hit a reversal to take control and went right into a pin attempt. He didn’t get both Griffin’s shoulders on the mat, but he did get three points for a nearfall to go up 7-3.

A four-point deficit proved to be insurmountable for Griffin, who didn’t hit a single takedown the entire match.

With a 9-4 lead in the third round, Rogaliner wasn’t bothered when he was hit with a stalling warning and then a penalty.

Griffin will get a chance to avenge the loss next year. Both Pantaleo and Griffin give the Canton wrestling program a solid foundation.

“We have a lot to build on,” Mancuso said smiling.

Pantaleo was already talking not one, but two repeats after his win.

“I’m only a sophomore so I got two more to go,” Pantaleo said, laughing.