High school wrestling moves up to the second stage of post season tournaments this weekend. Four local wrestlers will be among 196 athletes who will attempt to qualify for the final step on the road to Hershey, at the Southwest AA Regional Wrestling Tournament, at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown. Wrestling will begin on Friday with the prelims at 1 p.m., with the quarterfinals set for 4 p.m., and consolation prelims going at 7 p.m. On Saturday wrestling will begin at 11 a.m. with the semifinals and consolation quarterfinals. At 1:30 p.m., the consolation semifinals will be wrestled. The consolation finals for third and fifth places will begin at 5 p.m., with the championship finals to follow at approximately 6:30 p.m.
At 103, Tyrone freshman Ronnie Garbinsky (33-2), the District 6 champion, will open the tournament against Kittaning’s Keith Cornman (25-10), a ninth grader who finished sixth in District 7. The winner of that match will wrestle the winner of a first round match between Northern Bedford senior Matt Reasy (21-13), who placed third in District 5, and Andrew Lucarini (28-3), a District 7 runner-up from Fort Cherry. Garbinsky defeated Corman, 3-1, at the Thomas Tournament. Lucarini and Reasy were both 0-2 at Regionals last year.
At 112, Eagle sophomore A.J. Schopp (34-3), the district 6 champion, draws a bye through the opening round, and will meet the winner of a first round match between Huntingdon junior Jesse Runk (30-10), who was fifth at the District 6 Tournament, and District 7 third-place finisher Jeremy Landowski (31-10), a freshman from Burrell. Schopp won a 16-0 tech fall over Runk in the dual meet.
At 125, Tyrone senior Anthony Romano (30-9), who finished fifth at the District 6 Tournament, will face North Star senior John Mort (30-6), a runner-up in District 5. The winner will draw the winner of a match between Mount Pleasant senior Allen Park (27-12), who was a fourth place finisher in District 7, and Ryan Link (38-1), a Penn Cambria senior, who was the runner-up at the District 6 Tournament. Romano edged Park 4-3, in the consolation rounds of the 2007 Regionals, at 130. Mort was 1-2 at 119, in last year’s Regional. Link went 4-1, at the 2007 Regionals, finishing third at 119, to qualify for the state meet at Hershey.
Finally, at 171, Eagle senior Shayne Tate (22-9) will wrestle Burgettstown junior Ryan Watson (29-6), who finished second in District 7. The winner of that matchup will meet the winner of a first round match between a pair of seniors-Jeff Beal (28-8) of Southmoreland, and Aaron Delano (28-6) of North Star. Beal was the fifth place finisher out of District 7, while Delano was the runner-up in District 5. Beal was 2-2 at last year’s Regionals, that included a first round 3-2 decision over Tyrone senior Jake Smerekar.
The top five wrestlers from each weight class will qualify for the PIAA State Wrestling Championship, which will begin March 6, with the finals set for Saturday afternoon for Class-AA wrestlers and Saturday even
