Dave Ackley's PIAA Wrestling 2010 Notes and Quotes
The start of the PIAA Class AA Championships began two minutes early. Just three minutes into action, defending 103-pound state champion, Nick Roberts of North Star, recorded the first victory of the tournament. Roberts pinned Anthony Bilotta of Pius X (District 11) in 1:42. Next up for Roberts is Smethport freshman, Nate Schwab (28-4).
The tournament’s first overtime occurred in bout 15. Josh Polacek of Westmont-Hilltop took Schuylkill Valley’s Nate Giorgio down in the sudden victory period for a 3-1 win.
Corey Bush of Ridgway holds the dubious distinction of the first regional champion to drop a first-round bout. Pen Argyl freshman Matt Williams scored a 7-3 decision over the Elker at 103 pounds. Bush, the Northwest champion, came into the tournament with a 33-3 record.
Greenville sophomore Cody Copeland, the Northwest Regional 140 pound champion, also had his state title aspirations dashed. North Star’s Richard Baker, fifth a week ago in the Southwest, posted a 9-3 decision. Bentworth’s Gus Mizia made it three losses for the Northwest champions. Mizia downed Commodore Perry senior Brandon Collins 5-3.
The Northeast Region also lost two of its champions when Fairfield junior Kyle Flohr turned Muncy junior Zach Strickland for a nearfall in the final 10 seconds and with it, a 6-4 win for the Southeast fifth-place finisher and Milton Hershey’s Cris Ramirez decked Shamokin junior Wes Tillett at 285 pounds.
Also going down at 285 was junior Ben Ancheff of Williams Valley, the Southeast champion. It took 7:40 and three overtimes before Robert Oshaben of Forest Hills scored a reversal and fall
The Southwest was not immune either. Central Cambria senior Phillip Steinberg (33-2) lost a 6-3 decision to Juniata senior Seth Beitz.
The Cinderella postseason continued for Line Mountain sophomore, Adam Kritzer. The Eagles 130-pounder had a 22-9 regular season and was seeded third for the District IV Southern Sectional. The seeds held to form and Kritzer advanced to the district tournament. At the district tournament, Kritzer finished fourth and qualified for the Northeast Regional at Williamsport. Kritzer won his first two matches advancing to his first postseason tournament finals
In his PIAA opener, Kritzer scored a 10-5 win over Levi Morton of North East, upping his season mark to 32-13. His quarterfinal opponent is Boiling Springs senior Joe Spisak, who brings a 44-1 record with him.
Kritzer’s 13 losses are the most of any wrestler remaining on the championship side of the brackets.
The 135-pound weight class features two former state champions. Nick Hodgkins of Wyomissing won the tournament last year at 130 pounds while Montoursville’s Luke Frey was the champion at 103 two years ago.
District II, which qualified just three of its wrestlers through the Northeast Regional, saw all three win. Blue Ridge’s Alex Stanton won 6-5 over Elisha Gaylord of Wyomissing at 145 pounds. Lake-Lehman’s Shane Stark (171) majored Greg Baptiste of Reynolds 14-4 and Lackawanna Trail sophomore Eric Laytos downed Joseph Kreiner of Delone Catholic, 6-3.
STILL UNDEFEATED – In addition to Roberts and Frey, Reynolds’ Mason Beckman, Tyrone’s pair of A.J. Schopp and Ronnie Garbinsky, Schuylkill Valley’s Colin Shober, Muncy’s Aaron Fry, Sharon’s Jordan Moss, Nathaniel Brown of Lewisburg, and Joe Chittester of Ridway all came into the tournament and after one round all 10 still are. Shober leads the group with 50 wins this year.
LOG JAM – In the 215-pound weight class, there are four returning place winners. All four are on the same side of the bracket – paired against each other. The pairings guaranteed that one would place at least sixth and another would go two and through. Eliminated this morning was Fairfield’s Dylan Ferguson. Last year, Ferguson was the District III school’s first state medalist – placing eighth at 215. Brian Beattie of Burrell, last year’s fourth place medalist advanced with a 6-4 tiebreaker victory over Ferguson in the preliminary round while Jared Burger of Union City advanced with an 11-6 win over last year’s sixth-place winner, Nick Dawson of Montoursville. Burger finished seventh last year. Dawson pinned Ferguson in just 19 seconds to move on to the consolation second round. Burger will meet Beattie in the quarterfinals.
ALL IN THE FAMILY – Trevor McCauley of Redbank Valley is the third brother in his family to qualify for the state tournament. His older brother Jimmy and his twin Tyler and Trevor will all finish their careers with over 100 wins.