BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- Rocky River competed on sectional tournament mats Saturday, and a horde of six Pirates qualified to move on to the district stage in Ohio DII Wrestling.

One hundred grapplers from 11 schools took to the mats in the DII Beachwood Sectional Tournament held at Beachwood High School. All were aiming for a top-4 (automatic) or top-5 (alternate) finish and a chance to continue their seasons into the month of March. Six Pirates -- two more than the allotment qualified at this stage a year ago -- earned such slots and will now be headed to a DII Northeast District Tournament, which will be held at Norwalk High School in Norwalk, Ohio, Thursday-Saturday. Leading the River contingent in Norwalk will be junior Omar Abazied and senior Ryan Maloney.

Abazied -- who took fourth at the Great Lakes Conference Tournament earlier this month -- went 2-2 with two pins at 160 pounds to punch his ticket to the district meet. At 120, Maloney was 1-1 on the day going into a third-place match against Buckeye's Nick Brunst. The Pirate veteran won by fall and in quick order (36 seconds) to earn third for the tournament. Maloney's lone loss was to second-seeded Antwan Sagaris (Aurora) who went on to take second and who now totes a 25-4 season record to Norwalk. Maloney was a district alternate a year ago.

Abazied and Maloney will be joined next week by teammates Nathan Maloney (fifth at 126), Obaida Abazied (fifth at 145), Zane Lindquist (fifth at 152), and Aidan Konet (fifth at 182). Maloney, Lindquist, and Konet are underclassmen, so the March tournament experience figures to have a ripple effect into next year and beyond for the Wrestling Raiders.

The Pirates tallied 87 team points, which placed them fifth in the field of 11. Buckeye (260) edged Aurora (226.5) for most team points.