A pair of Tyrone wrestlers will try to reach the ultimate on the high school wrestling ladder this weekend. Junior T. J. Albright (112) and senior Robert Waite (119) will travel to the Giant Center in Hershey, for the PIAA state wrestling tournament which begins Thursday, March 9 and will culminate with the championship and medal rounds on Saturday afternoon.
In all, 16 wrestlers from each of the 14 weight classes will vie for the coveted honor of placing in the top eight to earn a state placement medal.
Albright (31-4), the District 6 champ and Southwest Regional runner-up, will begin his tournament against Brandywine Heights sophomore Nick Yocco (41-5), a third place finisher from the Southeast regional. The winner of that match will meet the winner of a match between senior Kory Hiner (32-3), the Northwest Regional champ from Fort LeBoeuf, and District 5 champ and Southwest Regional forth place winner Gary Pfahler (34-8) from Chestnut Ridge. Albright defeated Pfahler 7-4 in a semifinal match at Regionals last weekend.
Waite (41-5), the district 6 champion and Southwest Regional third place winner, will face Central Columbia junior Mike Powlus (25-4), the Northeast Regional runner-up in the preliminary round. The winner of that bout will battle the winner of a match between Port Allegany sophomore Nick Nichols (42-7), the Northwest Regional champ, and Columbia senior Ryan Vera (37-5), the fourth place finisher from the Southeast Regional.
The Double-A schedule for the PIAA state tournament begins on Thursday with the preliminary round at 9 a.m., followed by first round consolations in the double elimination tournament at 12:30 p.m. Quarterfinals will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Friday morning, with second round consolations at 10:30 a.m., semifinals and third round consolations begin at 7 p.m. and fourth round consolations will start at about 8:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the third, fifth and seventh place consolation finals will begin at 12:30 p.m., with the championship finals following at 2:30 p.m.
Other District 6 wrestlers and their preliminary round matchups include: 103- Richland junior Tyler Morder (38-6) will meet Reynolds freshman Cody Kelly (37-5), the Northwest Regional champ; Forest Hills freshman and Southwest champion David Fogle (30-4) will wrestle South Williamsport senior Eric Cashera (35-3), the Northeast champ; 112- Southern Huntingdon junior Cody Myers (29-3) will meet Pen Argyl freshman Austin Williams (26-8), the champion from the Southeast Regional; 119- Cambria Heights sophomore Glenn Winslow (29-7) will wrestle Northern Lehigh junior Andrew Arnold (38-4), the Southeast regional champ; Penn Cambria junior Paul Myers (31-15) will battle Lewisburg sophomore Derek Reber (34-1), the champion from the Northeast Regional; 125- Mount Union junior Dave Grove (29-14) will wrestle Northern Lehigh junior Adam Hluschak (43-2), the Southeast champ; Northern Cambria senior Mike Paronish (35-3) will wrestle North East senior Jeff Langdon (37-3), the third place medalist from the Northwest Regional; 130- Moshannon Valley junior Ryan Jacoby (25-7) will face Ridgway junior Nikko Leitzel (36-0) a Northwest champ; Westmont-Hilltop junior Kyle Patton (34-5) will meet Reynolds junior Steve Nestor (39-8), the third place medalist from the Northwest Regional and West Branch senior Donny Clark (32-0) will wrestle Elco David Zeigler (44-5), the fourth place finisher from the Southeast Regional; 135 – Richland junior Russ Sichak (38-4) will face returning state champ Kellon Balum (46-0) from Line Mountain, the Northeast Regional champ; 140- three-time defending state champion Garrett Scott (23-0) of Juniata Valley, will open against Hamburg senior Cody Frick (33-14), the fourth-place winner from the Southeast Regional; Southern Huntingdon senior Justin Berrier (34-4) will wrestle undefeated Bermudean Springs senior Rickey Schmelyun (38-0), the Southeast Regional champion; 145- Southern Huntingdon junior Jason Foor (35-3) will wrestle Springfield junior Mike Delaurentis (33-2), the Southeast Regional runner-up; 152- Blairsville senior Mike Moore (35-1) will meet Northwestern Lehigh junior Brandon Williams (36-11), the fifth-place medalist from the Southeast Regional; Forest Hills senior Jared Baxter (32-7) will meet Athens junior Chad Sindoni (34-5), the Northeast Regional champ and Southern Huntingdon senior David Sunderland (34-1) will wrestle Benton senior Rich Clocker (30-6), the Northeastern Regional third place medalist; 171- Westmont-Hilltop freshman Zac Bennett (36-3) will face Northwestern Lehigh sophomore Ben Clymer (37-8), the third place finisher from the Southeastern Regional; Central Cambria senior Steve Makin (35-4) will meet Littlestown sophomore Cory Beaver (36-8), the Southeastern Regional fourth place medalist; 189- Richland sophomore Ryan Krouse (36-10) will wrestle undefeated Loyalsock senior Justin Hepburn (33-0), the Northeast champ; 215- Penns Valley senior Nathan Andrews (36-2) will face Annville-Cleona senior Jeremy Pence (32-8), the Southeastern Regional fourth-place winner; 275- Huntingdon junior Ryan Everhart (32-8) will wrestle undefeated Penn Argyl junior Richie Smith (31-0), the Southeastern Regional champ, and West Branch senior Tim Smeal (30-5) will wrestle Wyomissing senior Tim Katzaman (35-5), the runner-up from the Southeastern Regional.
Individual wrestling finals on PCN
High school grapplers take to the mat this Saturday – March 11 – as PCN airs live coverage of the 20065 PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships from the Giant Center in Hershey.
The AA matches are set to begin at 2:30 p.m. with the AAA bouts slated to start at 8:00 p.m. A replay of the AA finals is set for 5:00 p.m. and again at 10:30 p.m. The AAA replays are set for March 12 at 1:30 a.m. and again at 3:00 p.m.
The 2006 PIAA Individual Wrestling Finals are just the start of Championship Month on PCN. Coming up on PCN will be the finals of the 2006 boys\’ and girls\’ basketball championships along with the swimming and diving finals.
PCN\’s coverage of the 2006 PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships is being underwritten, in part, by APSCUF and PHEAA.
PCN is the exclusive home to PIAA championships in sports including football, volleyball, track and field, baseball and softball as well as wrestling, swimming and diving, and basketball. For more information on PCN, visit the network\’s website at www.pcntv.com.
