To qualify for PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships in Hershey is a tough task in itself, many wrestling teams across the state do not have one wrestler entered into the prestigious tournament.
The Tyrone Golden Eagles under head coach Blair Packer not only entered two young grapplers into the tournament, but both have now reached the state semi-finals earlier this morning, racking up impressive victories to guarantee medals in Hershey.
Golden Eagle 103 lb. freshman Ronnie Garbinsky (38-3) won by 5-3 decision over a very tough Brian Scritchfield (32-11) out of Jefferson-Morgan High School in District 7. Garbinsky will move on into tonight’s semi-final match, where he will wrestle District 10 Reynolds High School standout, Mason Beckman. Beckman won his quarterfinal bout in a tie-breaker by a 3-2 decision over David White of District 4 Athens High School to move into the match-up with Garbinsky.
The soon-to-be Garbinsky/Beckman bout had a common opponent between the two grapplers. Tyrone’s Schopp wrestled Beckman twice earlier in the year at the King of the Mountain Tournament, where Beckman won the first match, and Schopp winning the second match.
As for Schopp (38-4), a sophomore and returning silver medalist in last year’s championships, won this morning decidingly by a score of 7-3 in the 112 lb. bout over District 4 Mount Carmel’s Josh Malick (37-3). Schopp will also move into this evening’s semi-final round, where he is also guaranteed a second medal in his young career at Tyrone. Schopp will face off with Joe Spisak of District 3 Boiling Springs, who was a quarterfinal winner over District 6 United High School’s Evan Henderson by a score of 9-7. Schopp defeated Henderson in the district final three weeks ago in Altoona.
The PIAA Class AA semi-finals begin tonight at the Giant Center in Hershey at 6:30 p.m. The Tyrone duo, Garbinsky and Schopp, will be trying to cement their feet in Hershey history and take one more step in capturing a gold medal.
The Tyrone Golden Eagle wrestling team has never had multiple state champs in one season throughout the long and rich history of the program.
Good Luck Ronnie and A.J.!
