The News-Messenger du lieu suivant : Fremont, Ohio • Page A4

4A SPORTS COMICS 7 A NATION 8A Clyde's Witt finishes third my community," he said. "I tried to have fun. I'm happy to be here and happy to wrestle here." The Polar Bears' Caleb Stockmaster fell 7-5 to Cincinnati Deer Park's Austin Siemon to finish eighth. Bellevue's Grant Moyer (285) beat Perry's Brandon Truhn, 3-2, before falling to Thornville Sheridan's Evan Loughman by the same score to finish fourth. The Redmen's Luke Leonard (132) lost to Wapakoneta's Tyler Copeland by default to finish sixth.

Bellevue's Collin Adkins (138) fell 8-4 to Mantua Crest-wood's Nick Wrobel to finish sixth. year at state. To get third next year I'll try to get on top of the podium." Margaretta's Deven Taylor (152) beat Creston Norwayne's Zach Steiner, 5-3, before being pinned by Clarksville Clinton-Massie's Davey Tunon in 2 minutes, 30 seconds to finish fourth Saturday. "I went out there and wrestled," Taylor said. "I wanted to climb as high as I could.

It was the last day of my high school wrestling career so I tried to leave it all on the mat." The experience was special for Taylor. "Just being able to wrestle down here in front of a big crowd with the support from By Matt Horn Staff Writer COLUMBUS Clyde's Garit Witt (220 pounds) never did it better and not until it mattered most. Witt, who finished third at the Division II state wrestling tournament at Ohio State, topped Carlisle's Reece Human, 6-4, in his first match Saturday. "It was a hard match," Witt said. "I had to change it up.

I hit a duck-under to a single the best I've done it all year." Witt beat Canfield's Jacob Esarco, 3-1, in his final match. "I kept hitting the double-leg," Witt said. "I knew what I had to do to win. It was my first LEE WELCHNEWS-MESSENGER CORRESPONDENT Clyde's Garit Witt, left, finished third in the Division II state wrestling tournament Saturday at Ohio State's Value City Arena. Buckeyes open with VCU KIM KLEMENTUSA TODAY SPORTS Cleveland forward LeBron James shoots a layup over Orlando guard Victor Oladipo during the first quarter of Sunday's game.

shown with guard Shannon Scott (3), forward Marc Loving (2) and center Amir Tournament and will face seventh-seed VCU in Portland, Ore. Ohio State coach Thad Matta, left, west as a No. 10 seed in the NCAA While OSU goes West, Cincinnati plays in Louisville Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. Shaka Smart is bringing No. 7 seed Virginia Commonwealth back to the Pacific Northwest to face No.

10 seed Ohio State on Thursday in Portland, Oregon. The Rams were sent to Portland in 2012 when they knocked off Wichita State before losing to Indiana. VCU (26-9) won only five of its last 11 regular-season games and suffered its first three-game losing streak in Smart's six seasons as coach after losing Briante Weber to a season-ending right knee injury late in a loss to Richmond on Jan. 31. But the Rams got hot in JASON MOWRYUSA TODAY SPORTS Williams (23), takes his Buckeyes open the NCAA Tournament at home, hosting Boise State in a First Four game on Wednesday night.

Teams aren't allowed to play on their home court during the tournament, except in the First Four that's held in Dayton. It was a surprise that the Flyers (25-8) were relegated to the First Four after they finished second in the Atlantic 10 during the regular season and lost in the conference tournament's title game to VCU 71-65 on Sunday. The Flyers went 16-0 at home this season and have won their last 21 games at UD Arena, tied for the seventh-longest active winning streak in Division I. No. 25 Boise State (25-8) lost to Wyoming 71-66 in overtime See NCAA, Page 5A history Irving again ignites offense Scores 33 as Cavs open it up before halftime, then cruise Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla.

Kyrie Irving scored 33 points, J.R. Smith had 25 and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled past the Orlando Magic 123-108 on Sunday night. LeBron James finished with 21 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have won four straight and six of seven. Cleveland went 18 for 35 from 3-point range. Irving was 5 for 6 from beyond the arc.

The Magic got as close as 112-103 in the fourth quarter, but a jumper by James and 3 by James Jones helped the Cavs close it out. Victor Oladipo led the Magic with 25 points. Tobias Harris scored 24, and Nik Vucevic finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Orlando has lost four straight. Cleveland blew the game open in the second quarter, out-scoring Orlando 40-27.

Irving then had 16 points in the third, including two of the Cavaliers' six 3-pointers in the period. The Magic controlled the tempo to open the game, before allowing Cleveland to take its first lead of the night during an 11-0 spurt in second quarter. Irving had a solid second period as well, going 4 for 4 from the field, and scoring nine points. James helped facilitate a lot of offense, handing out five assists. James posted his 18th double-double of the season.

James has scored in double figures in 628 consecutive games for the third-longest streak in NBA history. Cleveland shot 62 percent in the first half after starting the game 1 for 6 from the field. Cleveland will be back in action Monday at Miami. MORE INSIDE Check out the full NCAA Tournament bracket. Page 6A the American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.

Cincinnati has made the tournament in each year since 2011, losing its first game in each of the last two seasons including a 61-57 setback to 12th-seeded Harvard last year. Octavius Ellis leads the Bearcats with an average of 10 points per game. The Boilermakers (21-12) return to the tournament for the first time in three years, bolstered by wins over Iowa, Indiana and Ohio State during a four-game stretch in late January. Dayton gets a home game in First Four DAYTON Dayton gets to on Buckeye He's already there when it comes to Ohio State's history. Only 47, Matta entered the postseason needing just one more win to reach 400 for his career.

He also needed one more victory to top Ohio State legend Fred Taylor as the winningest men's basketball coach at the school. But legacy doesn't appear to motivate Matta. "Honestly I'm like I just want to win the next game," he said last week. Since coming into the Big Ten in 2004-05, only Bo Ryan at Wisconin has more conference the Atlantic 10 tournament, beating Dayton in the title game. Ohio State (23-10) was ousted in the Big Ten quarterfinals by Michigan State and was 4-4 in its final eight games.

But the Buckeyes are dangerous because of freshman D'Angelo Russell and his 19.3 points per game. Bearcats make fifth straight appearance CINCINNATI Cincinnati earned its fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth, opening as a No. 8 seed against ninth-seeded Purdue in the Midwest Regional in Louisville on Thursday. The Bearcats (22-10) solidified their spot in the tournament with a late-season five-game winning streak before losing on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against Connecticut in Thad Matta? He's an "everyday guy," according to his sen iors. And the Ohio State men's basketball coach is OK with the description.

"I think I am a regular dude," he joked last week. While Matta doesn't have the wins or the championships on his resume like Calipari, Boeheim, Pitino or Krzyzewski, if he Rob McCurdy Gannett Ohio continues with the pace he's set over the last 11 years for the next 11 years, he'll likely join them in the pantheon. Matta making his mark 'Regular dude' on his way to the top of his profession COLUMBUS It's hard to imagine a Kentucky player calling John Calipari an "everyday guy." The same goes for Jim Boe-heim at Syracuse, Rick Pitino at Louisville or Mike Krzyzew-ski at Duke. All are Hall of Famers or on their way to being one; all are college basketball royalty when it comes to coaching; all are faces of their wins. In terms of overall games, Matta has the highest winning percentage in the league at .765.

Ohio State's 188 home wins in that span ranks second nationally. No school has won more regular season championships (5) or league tournament titles (4) in the Big Ten than Matta over the last 11 seasons. His 58-17 record in March ranks only behind Calipari in winning percentage, ahead of guys like Shaka Smart at VCU, Bill Self at Kansas and Roy Williams at North Carolina. He's taken the See MCCURDY, Page 5A.