The second in the litany of three steps necessary to reach the PIAA state wrestling championships has begun. Five local wrestlers are participating at the Southwest Regional Tournament at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown.
Four are still alive to begin this mornings semifinals and consolation quarterfinals, hoping to become one of the top five wrestlers at each of the 14 weight classes to continue on to the Giant Center in Hershey beginning next Thursday.
Tyrone Golden Eagle A. J. Schopp (103) is the lone local wrestler in the semifinals, while teammates T. J. Albright (125), Anthony Romano (130) and Jacob Smerekar (152) will wrestle in the consolation quarters.
Bellwood-Antis senior 145-pounder Rick Shawley dropped two matches and was eliminated from further competition.
Schopp (35-3) used a first-period takedown and nearfall and two sets of back points in the middle stanza for a 10-0 major decision over Dylan Corey of Burrell, in the opening round. In his quarterfinal match. A. J. reversed a loss from the championship finals of the Thomas Chevrolet Tournament by utilizing a second-period escape and takedown to defeat District 5 champion Joe Lascari of North Star, 5-2. Schopp opened the scoring with a takedown for the only scoring of the first period, and Lascari, picking neutral to begin the second period, tied the score with a takedown of his own. At the Thomas Tournament, Lascari notched a takedown in overtime for a 6-4 win. Schopp will wrestle Pat Myers of Penn Cambria (21-5). Myers decisioned Schopp 4-1 in the District 6 Tournament two weeks ago.
Albright (29-9) won two of three matches on his first day at Regionals. T. J. jumped out in front of Drae Johnson of Valley, with a takedown and penalty point in the first period, before pinning Johnson, while working a cheap tilt in 2:52 of the second period. In the quarterfinals, Albright was reversed and turned for three nearfall points in a big second period for Cambria Heights’ Glenn Winslow. The five-point move proved to be the difference in an 8-5 loss to Winslow. Winslow led 2-0 after one period, but Albright turned a nearfall to begin the second stanza into a 3-2 lead. At that point, Winslow reversed Albright to his back to take a 7-3 advantage, adding an escape in the third period to a takedown for Albright. The Tyrone senior had Winslow on his back late in the period, but couldn’t get more than a one count from the referee. In his first consolation match, Albright led Bedford’s Tanner Ripple 6-0 when he worked for the pin at the 1:49 mark. Albright will face Sam Zimmerman of North Star, in the consolation quarterfinals today. Zimmerman defeated Albright 5-2 at the Thomas Tournament.
Romano (19-14) opened his tournament with a 4-0 triumph over Ty Basinger of Jefferson-Morgan. Romano used a first-period takedown and second period reversal for all the points in the match. In the quarterfinals, Romano lost by fall to Chestnut Ridge’s Gary Pfahler 0(31-2), the District 5 champ. In the consolations, Anthony edged Allen Park of Mount Pleasant, 4-3 with an escape with five seconds left to wrestle. After neither wrestler scored in the first period, Romano went up 3-0 on an escape and takedown, and Park tied the score with an escape and takedown of his own in the third period. Romano will battle Jeremy Broadwater of Berlin Brothersvalley in the consi-quarterfinals.
Smerekar (24-12) dropped his preliminary round match against Jeff Beal of Southmoreland, 3-2. Both wrestlers recorded reversals, but Beal added a second-period escape that was the difference. After drawing a bye in the first consi round, Jake rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win a 9-6 decision over Chad Moyer of Forest Hills. Smerekar reversed Moyer in the second period and then took him down twice and added three back points in the third period to earn the win. This morning, Smerekar will begin his consolation quarterfinals against Richland’s Chad Miller. Miller had defeated Smerekar at the district tournament, knocking the Tyrone senior into the consolation bracket with a 3-0 quarterfinal win, while Moyer bested Smerekar 9-3 in the consolation semifinals.
Shawley (29-5) dropped his first match to undefeated Shady Side Academy freshman Matthew Cunningham 6-0 and than falling to Bobby Speer of Burrell, 4-3 to exit the Regionals. In his consolation match against Speer, Shawley used two escapes to draw into a 2-2 tie after Speer scored with a second-period reversal to initiate the scoring. Speer registered a takedown that proved the winner, and Shawley closed the final score to a single point with his third escape of the match.
Wrestling action begins this morning with the semifinals and consolation quarterfinals at 11 a.m.. Consolation semifinals will be wrestled at 1:30 p.m. The consolation finals for third and fifth place will start at 5 p.m., with the championship finals to follow at approximately 6:30 p.m.
