Canton Wrestler Pantaleo Wins Title; Two Others are All-State

AUBURN HILLS - Canton was three for three at the MHSAA individual state finals over the weekend.

The Chiefs sent three wrestlers to The Palace of Auburn Hills and all them placed all-state.

Sophomore Alec Pantaleo provided the biggest thrills for Canton fans with his win

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

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.

Teammate Ben Griffin wasn’t so lucky in his 112-pound finals match facing defending state champion Mitch Rogailner from Temperance Bedford.

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.

but a 15-4 major decision win over Pontiac’s Deishawn Stewart put him in the top eight of his weight bracket. He ended up winning his seventh-place consolation finals match convincingly over Rochester’s Aaron Morgan on a 12-2 major decision.

Plymouth Picks Up Two Medals

Plymouth didn’t win a state title, but it still did well.

Senior Said Youssef finished in fourth place in the 140-pound weight class while teammate Chase Kallil finished in eighth place at 125 pounds.

Youssef’s third-place consolation match was a memorable one against Rochester junior Dean Vettese. A bloodied and battered Vettese could barely breathe after the match.

He literally had tape wrapped around his whole head, over his nose, to try and stop it from bleeding.

Teammate Kaelan Richards injured Vettese's nose warming up for their consolation finals matches. With Vettese up 3-0, Youssef bloodied it during their match in the final minute of the third round.

The match stopped multiple times when Vettese's nose started gushing blood.

"It's not a bloody nose, it's a crime scene," the referee said to Rochester coach Frank Lafferty.

First the trainers tried plugging it, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. The tape around his head didn't work until the second try.

It finally worked and he scored a late takedown to win on a 5-0 decision.

"That was the hardest match of my life trying to breathe with that thing around my nose," Vettese said. "It felt like I was suffocating the whole time."

The win gave Vettese a third place finish in the 140-pound weight class.

Harrison junior Andrew Fialka beat Kallil in the 125-pound seventh-place consolation finals match with a pin in the final round.

Complete Patch Coverage

• Thursday's opening round
• Friday's consolation, championship quarterfinals and semifinals
• Saturday's consolation rounds and finals, and championship finals
• Day 3 early action
• Do you have photos to add? We have 150 already; we'd love to have more

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