Willie Saylor, Editor

The last state to hold their championships, Pennsylvania’s individual tournament essentially closed out the high school season. And what a finale it was.

With 36 nationally ranked wrestlers, two of TOM’s Top 20 teams, there was a bevy of quality wrestling action across both AA and AAA throughout the three day event.

We’ll recap the action here; the surprising and the not so surprising, as we go weight-by-weight in each division.

The Little Engine That Did

Coached by former Penn State star, Russ Hughes, the Benton Tiger wrestling program struggles for numbers. What they don’t lack, is quality. Benton is one of the smallest schools in Pennsylvania, graduating approximately 25 male students a year and with just 10 regular starters. But after battling through a bear of a schedule that included King of the Mountain, POWERade, and the Final Four, coach Hughes and staff had their squad ready to roll in Hershey.

Benton put five wrestlers in semifinals; a rare feat in PA. Three of them went to Saturday afternoon’s AA finals, and one brought home the gold. That performance easily gave Tigers the team championship as they outdistanced Schuykill Valley and Shady Side Academy, who tied for 2nd, by 29pts.

AA Weight Class Capsules

103

North Star’s Nicky Roberts, TOM’s #1 ranked wrestler nationally and multiple Fargo titlist was upset in the semi’s. Line Mountain’s Zain Retherford, who we have ranked 14th, took Roberts out in the semi’s, 4-3. Retherford, a freshman, would go on to win the state title, finishing his season with just one loss (to AAA 3rd place finisher, #5Jordan Conaway in the New Oxford tournament.)

112

Bethlehem Catholic sophomore Randy Cruz looked to have a state title in the bag, but in the closing seconds, down 4-0, Athens’ senior David White took him down to his back. The five point move, just moments before the buzzer, gave White the title, 5-4.

119

In a dynamite weight, featuring three ranked wrestlers in TOM’s national rankings, #12Arty Walsh, the returning state champion, went 1-2 and DNP’d, preventing the anticipated semifinal match-up with TOM #3, Mason Beckman.
Beckman took care of business on his end, as did Benton’s #10 Mike Rhone. The two met up in the finals with Beckman winning a 2-0 decision, and a state title.

125

Juniata’s Zac Beitz, a returning state runner-up, became the first big name to fall at this weight. Benton’s Coltin Fought went on quite a run, taking out Beitz in the quarter’s and Burrell statndout Dave Makara in semi’s.

Fought’s run ended in the finals where Delone Catholic’s Tyler Small posted an impressive 10-4 win for the title. Reynolds’ Dylan D’Urso, who Small hit with a 5pointer in OT in the semi’s, came back to take third.

130

Spisak did it! The Boiling Springs’ senior who has been a veteran at Hershey, always coming up short, finally got his state title. Joe took out undefeated Ron Garbinsky (Tyrone) in the semi’s before winning a close 4-3 match over #13 Frank Martelloti(Shady Side), a four time state placer.

135

Schopp did it! Much like Spisak, #8Schopp has been a staple at the PIAA championships, placing three previous times, including a previous state finals appearance.

And the road to get the gold wasn’t easy. The future Edinboro Scot had to go through returning state champion, #4Nick Hodgkins(Wyomissing) in the semi’s, which he did by a 4-2 score.

One state champ down, one to go. Schopp got 2008 state champion, Luke Frey(Montoursville) in the finals, where he dispatch him by an identical 4-2 score.
Hodgkins came back for 3rd.

140

Another title for #2 Colin Shober of Schuykill Valley who was dominant in his title defense. Shober posted scores of 17-4, 13-4, and 17-2 before beating Seth Beitz (Juniata) in a rematch of the Regional finals, 11-4.

145

Another state champ went down. #7Jordan Moss (Sharon), a state champion in 2008 and runner-up to Shober in 2009, lost in finals to previously unheralded Nick Carr of South Fayette, who became his school’s first ever state champion.

152

Freshman phenom #19Cody Wiercioch first made noise in December when he took out Ohio state champion Pierce Harger to win a POWERade title and it’s OW award. In Hershey, Wiercioch took out two-time state runner-up Tyler Hain (Warrior Run) in quarters before cruising to the finals where he beat Bethlehem Catholic’s Kyle DeHaut, 8-3. Like Carr in the previous weight, Wiercioch became his school’s (Charleroi) first ever champion.

160

When #5Eric Hess (Benton) and #7Dirk Cowburn met in the finals Saturday, their combined finals appearances hit six.
Hess was a one-time runner up, one-time champ. Cowburn had two titles already under his belt.

In the end, Hess won a 1-0 decision that earned him OW honors.

This rivalry may continue as well, as Hess and Cowburn head to Pennsylvania college wrestling powers, Lehigh and Penn St., respectively.

171

#16 Nate Brown rolled into the finals with two falls and a major. Brown, who had defeated both 160lb finalists earlier in the year, remained undefeated.

But Sr. Matt Cunningham, a returning state runner-up and Cornell recruit from Shady Side Academy, prevented Brown’s storybook season. Cunningham beat Brown by the narrowest of margins, 2-1, to take the title.

189
Commodore Perry’s Steve Ceremuga was able to do what Brown didn’t; grab a state title and finish undefeated. The junior cruised comfortable into the finals where he met Towanda’s one-loss senior, Travis Chesla.
Ceremuga fended Chesla off, 5-4.

215

Lackawanna Trail became the third school to crown their first titlist when sophomore Eric Laytos put the finishing touches on surprise finalist Matt Mongera (Seneca), a fellow sophomore.

Laytos won comfortably in all matches over the weekend and scored a fall on Mongera in the finals.

HWT

In a weight that was difficult to handicap, Richland’s John Rizzo (just a sophomore) emerged as the state champion. In a very talented field in which most of the top guys had season wins versus each other, the big surprise was #6Ty Demott going down in quarter’s to eventuall runner-up Joe Chittester(Ridgeway), in overtime.

Mountain Boys Get a Title

A month ago, the Central Mountain wrestling team, TOM’s #7 ranked squad nationally, tangled with #5 Central Dauphin, who had won both the state dual and individual titles three years running. On the line was this year’s Dual Title.

Mountain’s bid for the dual crown fell short, however, as they fell by a single point to the incumbent champs. This weekend, however, they weren’t to be denied. Even without 215lber, Cody Dolan, who was out with an injury, and considered a serious medalist threat, Central Mountain led the team race from wire-to-wire. Also notable is that their 135lber, #5Jordan Rich, winning only his first match before being injured.

Despite the setbacks, Central Mountain, paced by three finalists in Andrew and Dylan Alton (145/152) and Zach Corl (HWT), separated themselves from the field to capture PIAA’s 2010 State Wrestling Crown. The title was clinched when Andrew scored a finals tech fall.

AAA Weight Class Capsules

103

In a loaded weight featuring several wrestlers either ranked or on our “Watch” list, #12Austin Miller (Hempfield) and Connor Schram(Canon-Mac) ran the gauntlet into the finals.

Schram defeated #5Jordan Conaway (New Oxford) in the quarters, and Miller took out Anthony Cabrera in semi’s.
In a finals match in which both wrestlers seemed tentative, we had an overtime rideout in our first match of the night. In regulation, Schram and Miller traded only escapes. After a scoreless first overtime, and with both wrestlers riding their opponents out, Schram got the coin flip and quickly earned the escape and state title.

Conaway came back strong for third.

112

One of the few weights of the entire tournament that went according to expectations, #2Jimmy Gulibon(Derry) and #8Cory Keener(Blue Mountain) marched to the finals where they squared off.

The aggressive Gulibon scored two quick wrap-arm takedowns in the first to end the period 4-1. He added an escape and takedown to in the second to lead it 7-2 after two, and after a third period takedown by Keener, you’re final score was 12-5.

For Gulibon, it was his second state title in as many tries in Hershey.

119

Little known on the national scene, largely due to a sophomore year injury when he would have been a state title contender, Liberty’s Anthony Marino continued his torrid post-season run which included his second District XI and Northeast Regional Titles.

In the finals, Marino met #2Nico Megaludis(Franklin) the defending state champion and Fargo national finalist. In a highly entertaining bout where Megaludis looked for wrap-arms and high-crotches while Marino worked the head for spin-behinds and ducks, Megalidis prevailed 8-4 to repeat as state champion.

125

In another clash-of-titans match, #8Zach Horan (Nazareth) and #2Mitchell Port (Bellefonte) ran through their respective brackets comfortably.

In the finals, Horan scored early on a Russian tie to a single for the first points. After an escape, Port scored off his patented ankle pick to end the first up 3-2. The second period saw lots of action, as Port was close to takedowns on a few occasions. However, it remained 4-2 after 2. After a crazy flurry in which Port nearly had nearfall, and Horan almost reversed Port to his back, no points were scored and the referree’s said no change. On the restart, Horan escaped with about thirty seconds left, and after a Horan shot, Port countered for the final points 6-3.
For Horan, it was his third consecutive runner-up finish.

For Edinboro, it was their second state champion of the tournament (Schopp, 135, AA).

130

A surprise finalist in a very solid 130lb class emerged in Central Dauphin senior Tyler Buckman. Using late heroics in consecutive quarter’s and semi’s matches, Buckman powered past Easton’s #19Mitch Minotti on a late escape and takedown to win 5-4.

Buckman met #5Steve Spearman (Erie McDowell) who cruised to the finals including a first-round win over last year’s runner-up, Tyler Rauenzahn (Blue Mountain).

If you’ve never seen Spearman wrestle, you should. He wrestles almost exclusively on a knee but is still able to consistently get his opponents out of position, which is what he did on his initial takedown in the finals versus Buckman.

Again Buckman provided some great heroics, tying the match with a funky takedown with just :15 left. In the end, an overtime takedown by Spearman sealed it 7-5. But if you have the chance, watch this match.
Rauenzahn battled back, winning five consecutive wrestleback matches for 3rd.

135

Starting a run of five consecutive weight classes where a nationally ranked #1 guy is present in the finals, #1Josh Dziewa (Council Rock South) survived a close 1-0 match in semi’s against Canon-Mac’s Nick Catalano. But the Fargo Champ’s title run was never in serious jeopardy as he rolled into the finals otherwise.

His opponent, Shawn Greevy of Cumberland Valley, had a storybook run to the finals, knocking off several solid wrestlers along the way including multiple state medalist, Travis Shaffer (Derry).

In the finals, Dziewa left little doubt as he used a slide by and then an arm bar to stick Greevy in 1:28.

140

The semifinals were particularly interesting with nationally ranked wrestlers #1Josh Kindig (Blue Mountain) and #3Mark Hartenstine (Easton) finding the offense slow-going. Kindig outlasted Garnet Valley’s Joe Marino, 2-1, while Hartenstine fell 2-0 to Pittsburgh central Catholic’s Loranzo Thomas.

Kindig was in control early using two takedowns to two escapes to lead 4-2 going to the third. In that frame, he used a reversal and a takedown to seal his second state title, 8-3.

Hartentsine beat Marino 5-0 in the third place match.

145

#1 Andrew Alton had a TF and two falls on his way to the finals where he faced an otherwise surprising finalist in Aaron McKinney (West Allegheny).

Andrew attacked from the opening whistle scoring 5 takedowns and and a stalling point to end the first period 11-4.
Andrew would keep racking up the points, scoring a technical fall, 23-8, in the third period; a performance that would ultimately earn him the Outstanding Wrestler Award.

The most exciting aspect of this weight came in the fight for third. Middletown’s Bo Candelaria had beaten Ryan Krecker (Nazareth) in triple overtime in the quarterfinals. The two met up again in consolation finals with Candelaria coming out on top again, 3-2.

152

#1Dylan Alton wasn’t without game challengers as he faced tough Jayshon Wilson(Carlisle) and Northampton’s Auston Sommer in earlier rounds, winning 17-7 and 10-6, respectively.

His finals opponent, another surprise, was LaSalle sophomore Shane Springer who was dominant all weekend, pinning his way through to the finals.

Give Springer some credit for staying in there and battling Alton. Dylan would prove way to much however, as he would take the match 11-4 and capture his third state title.

160

Looking for his third state title in his fourth finals appearance, #1Marshall Peppelman (Central Dauphin) scored a :36 fall, a 3-0 win, and a semifinal forfeit from injured Pat LaBuz (Hazelton) to get to the finals.

His opponent, West Allegheny’s Troy Reaghard won two close ones, 1-0 and 5-3OT, to win get to the finals from the top bracket.

Up 4-0 midway through the second, Marshall used a tightwaist and half to put Reaghard away at the 3:02 mark.

171

In a rematch from sectional finals, #4Kenny Courts(Central Dauphin) faced Cumberland Valley’s Tristan Warner in the state finals.

Courts, the state runner-up last year as a sophomore, got to the finals via three pins.

After a close match with Hazleton’s Jared Kay (1-0), Warner easily dispatched previously unbeaten Ty Wilps (Chartiers Valley) in the semi’s.

Midway through the first, Courts hit on a low single. When Warner tried to fend it off just a bit too long, Courts scored 2 near-fall.

That would hold up as Courts would ultimately win a 6-4 decision to earn his first title.

189

One of the most top-heavy weights in the tournament, 189 featured three nationally ranked wrestlers. #16Andre Petroski(Springfield-Delco) took out Warwick’s #8Antonio Giorgio in the quarters, 3-1 on a third period tilt.

In the bottom bracket, #7Jamie Callaendar(CR North), who was a state runner-up last year, cruised into the finals setting up another Regional rematch. Callendar had defeated Petroski a week earlier in the SouthEast tournament.
Petroski scored the opening takedown and led 2-1 going to the second when he allowed the escape to knot it at 2.

Petroski scored again in the second on a shrug and led 4-3 going to the third. On the start Petroski was hit with his third caution for a point, tying the score again at 4-4.

Shortly after a Petroski escape, he was hit with a stall call. Callendar then pushed Petroski, and, as Petroski tried to circle back in when he was called for stalling again forcing overtime.

In OT, Callendar scored the winning takedown on a slide-by to a low single.

Please see the video to see how egregious the officiating is.

215

Heading into the finals, #2Spencer Myers cumulative scoring total was 35-1. Myers (Selinsgrove), who was on the precipice of a state title in last year’s final before being injured, appeared to be on a mission.

His opponent would be Zach Nye of East Pennsboro, an undefeated junior.

Myers was able only to score a first period takedown and rode out the second to hold the lead 2-1 going to the final stanza. Another Myers single would close out the scoring, 5-2.

Also of note, defending state champion, Nate Gaffney, forfeited after losing his first match.

HWT

Returning state champion, #5Evan Craig (Abington Heights) made his third finals appearance. The big man pinned his way through the bracket, including over Adam Lazenga, who would come back to place third.

Opposite Craig was Central Mountain’s Zach Corl, a TOM honorable mention.

But Craig wasn’t to be stopped. He outwrestled and outmaneuvered a very good talent in Corl, coming close to the fall before ultimately recording it in 2:45 for his second state title.