Junior Dominic Carone is captain of the wrestling team, and at 113 pounds, has a record of 45-6 so far this season.

Over the weekend, Carone took third in the district tournament at Alliance high school to claim his spot at the state tournament March 9-11. The state tournament will be held at the Schottenstein Center, The Ohio State University, in Columbus.

“As far as Dom,” head coach Josh Zupancic said, “he has alot of confidence because all year round he has a schedule for himself and is very self regimented.”

He recently earned his 100th win at a home match against Woodridge and Ellet competitors. Carone was awarded a trophy by Athletic Director Randy Tevepaugh, to commemorate his successes.

Sophomore year, he was the only state qualifier from the ‘Boro team, taking fifth and coming home an All-Ohio Athlete.

Freshman year, Carone went to states as a backup, in case of any injuries or problems with other state qualifiers in his weight class.

Assistant Coach Sean Kuklisin has been a major part of Carone’s wrestling career.

“I met Dom roughly when he was in fifth grade,” Kuklisin said. “Ever since then we just clicked. He looked up to me because at the time I was a high school wrestler…When my college [wrestling] career ended, I became fully focused on helping him achieve his goals, and now we are basically inseparable.”

Carone’s family is also very involved with the Streetsboro wrestling program as a whole. His father, Tony Carone, is head coach of the youth program, while brother Aiden Carone, wrestles as a fifth grader.

“Tony Carone has done a great job introducing the sport to large numbers of youth wrestlers in the community,” Zupancic said. “It takes a lot of assistance at the youth level, middle school and high school to provide our students with the best opportunities.”

Carone has enjoyed wrestling for nine years. “My favorite memory was standing on the podium at states,” he said. “A close second was having my last weigh in for the season and eating a huge cheeseburger.”

While at states sophomore year, Kuklisin had not yet gotten a coaching license and therefore, was not able to be coaching on the mat. (He was still cheering on Carone from the stands.)

“After he won his placing match, we hugged each other and he told me he could never achieve his goal without me,” Kuklisin said. “That just meant the world to me. Seeing him achieve a childhood goal of his was the greatest feeling for me in the world.”

Carone had an overall record of 114-21 as of March 4. His goal is to break the school record for wins and become a state champion before he graduates. He hopes to continue to wrestle after high school at the college he feels fits him the best.

“He is just an all-around great kid,” Kuklisin said. “He is an outstanding wrestler, student, citizen and someone I’m glad I can call family.”