Silver Gloves 2008

STATE CHAMPS

BOXERS WIN STATE, ON TO REGIONALS

Jan. 7, 2008

The Ohio State Silver Gloves and Ohio qualifier for the U.S. National Championships tournaments ended last week in Cincinnati with Zanesville winning three titles.

Justin Hill will advance to regional competition in the Men’s 125-pound Featherweight Division after winning the Ohio state competition. He will move on to regionals in Illinois late February with those winners competing in March for the national title at the U.S. Olympic complex at Colorado Springs.

Hill moved into Open Men’s competition in 2007 after turning 17. He fought several times including matches in Cleveland and Charleston remaining undefeated through the year. He is a senior at Zanesville High School and has competed for over five years in boxing at PAL.

In Silver Gloves Brannon McGee and Gaige Walker advance to regional competition in Columbus, Ohio in two weeks. McGee represents the 14-15 Senior 132-pound Lightweight Division while Walker will cover the 12-13 Intermediate 132-pound division.

McGee won his state title over Sedan Scott of Cincinnati and after a stunning semifinal upset over Rashad Cobbins of Cincinnati. The hotly contested division required McGee to also compete and win quarterfinals the day previous making his first ever three straight days of competitions in a tournament.

Zanesville’s Silver Gloves team finishes includes a second place to Travis Jerig, third place to Chris Stansberry, David Lightfoot, Ken Todd Jr., and Casey Derry with and fourth place to Justin Williams and Tremayne Tittle.

Justin Novaria moved into Open Men’s Division for the first time and posted a third place finish at Super Heavyweight. 315-pound Charles Smiley of Cincinnati defeated Novaria in a tight match by split decision of the judges. The match was Novaria’s first after moving out of the Junior Olympic Division and a national ranking of third.

Trevor Mourer of Cambridge also made the competition with PAL bringing home a second place finish in his first tournament ever. The 14 year old lost in the Silver Gloves Super Middleweight Division to the number one ranked Donald Anderson of Columbus. It was Mourer’s third bout ever and first tournament.

McGee Champ

WALKER REGIONAL SILVER GLOVES CHAMP

Gaige Walker has advanced to competition at the U.S. National Finals in Silver Gloves. Region #2 includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Walker will represent his region at Independence, Missouri beginning Jan. 30 against the rest of the United States.

Walker will move into national finals in the Intermediate (12-13) Lightweight (132#) Boys’ Division with an overall record of 9 wins and 3 losses. He has boxed at PAL of Zanesville for 3 years.

Brannon McGee was defeated in the regional semi-finals by Zaul Trijillo of Easton, PA in the Senior (14-15) Lightweight Division. He has also boxed at PAL for 3 years and has posted 10 victories overall.

Boxing is a youth program of PAL of Zanesville-Muskingum County, a non-profit organization dedicated to community improvement through youth education and activities. PAL is staffed by all volunteers with all programs offered free of charges to youth participants.

PAL Zanesville is entering their tenth anniversary of operations here and will celebrate during the month of March with weekly open houses, the “Lucky Gloves” amateur boxing show and an awards banquet. Current programs include Boxing, Youth Leadership Council, Wrestling, Karate/Kickboxing, Scrapbooking and Summer Swimming.

PAL is supported by area organizations, businesses and individuals that understand investment in our futures are through our youth. Donations directly to PAL of Zanesville are used to fund operating expenses of youth programs only. PAL is an IRS #501 C-3 organization and donations may be tax-deducted.

If anyone would like to take part of Zanesville’s future, donations are accepted by mail or in person at PAL of Zanesville, 804 Pine Street, P.O.Box 1001, Zanesville, OH 43702-1001.

NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

WALKER FINISHES THIRD IN NATION

FEB 3, 2008 - INDEPENDENCE, MO.

The National Silver Gloves tournament ended Saturday at Independence, Mo. with a Zanesville boxer near the top.

Gaige Walker advanced through state and regional tournaments and into the semi-final round at the national finals in the Intermediate Lightweight division. There he met Dillon Mason of St. Paul, Mn. And the thirteen year olds battled for the decision and a seed in the final round.

“Ten-Gaige” Walker jumped out to an early lead in the first round with Mason unable to cope with the southpaw from Zanesville’s lead. In the second, Walker was tripped up by his opponent stepping on his foot and Mason was deducted a penalty point for the infraction. Mason’s 48-bout experience paid off though and a “stick-and-move” attack won the third and the match over Walker on points.

The tournament was a first for Walker having only nine bouts experience. Walker is a student at Philo Middle School and has boxed at the Zanesville PAL for about two and a half years.

Amateur boxing is among the safest contact sports in the world yet in a 2007 ESPN study by sports experts, boxers were also determined to be “America’s Best Athletes.” Their experts tested 60 sports in ten skills including endurance, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand-eye coordination and analytic aptitude. Boxers were on the top of the list at the finish.

Zanesville PAL’s Boxing program participants are trained in all aspects of the sport including conditioning, skills, nutrition, rules and theory. Training in the sport can take years to reach the top competitive levels and few athletes have the dedication, motivation and ability to get there according to PAL trainer T.J. Hartmeyer.

Currently PAL has their Justin Hill in the U.S. National Championships. He has already won his state qualifier and is set to compete at Sterling, Illinois on Feb. 23 in regional competition with finals at the U.S. Olympic Center in Colorado Springs in March if successful. Hill is a senior at Zanesville High School and has boxed at PAL for over six years.

Upcoming national tournaments for the local PAL team in 2008 include Junior Olympics, Golden Gloves, Junior Golden Gloves and the Ohio State Fair. Team competitions at shows average about 25 per year or about every other weekend all year long.