Several Tyrone wrestlers placed at the recent the Middle Atlantic Wrestling Association (MAWA) Western Regional Championships at Shippensburg University over last weekend. T. J. Albright, Ronnie Garbinsky and A. J. Schopp all won their respective weight class and ability group and David Miller finished fourth. All will wrestle in the MAWA Eastern Nationals at Rec Hall on the campus at Penn State University April 16-17. Doors will open at 8 a.m. and wrestling will begin at 9:30 a.m.
MAWA Eastern Regionals were held last weekend also at Bethlehem Liberty High School in Bethlehem.
Ronnie Garbinsky, competing in the Intermediate 80-pound group pinned Anthony Sowa of Jonestown, in his opening match in 0:56. In the quarterfinals, Ronnie blasted Jacob Gerlach from Hanover, 9-2 and followed that triumph with a 2-1 double-overtime win over George Scheffel from Oakland, MD. in the tiebreaker. In the finals, Garbinsky edged Mitchell Port of Bellefonte, 3-2 for the title.
A. J. Schopp competed in the Intermediate 75-pound weight class. A. J. decisioned Mike Rhone of Shickshinny, 5-3 in his preliminary round match and then pinned his next two opponents to reach the finals. Schopp decked Jordan Conway of Abbotstown, in the quarterfinals in 0:40, then showed the lights to Kevin Gooding of Harrisburg in 2:14, in the semifinals. In the finals, A. J. decisioned Lex Ozias from Kitzmiller MD to claim his championship.
T. J. Albright finished on top in the Elite 117-pound division. T. J. opened his preliminary round with a fall over Chris Gonzales of Delta, then decisioned his next two foes by practically the same score to reach the finals. Albright downed Andy Morrison of Carlisle, 8-2 in the quarters and Steve Stopyra from Canonsburg, 7-1. In the championship finals, Albright edged Tyler Fishborn of Bellefonte 2-0 for the crown.
Dave Miller competed in the 142-pound Open Division and finished fourth to continue on to the Eastern Nationals this weekend.
The toughest of all the seven separate groups (Bantum, Midget, Junior, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite and Open, Miller was the only Tyrone wrestler to appear in the Open division.
At 142, Miller handled everybpdy but one wrestler, who knocked him off twice. David opened with a fall in the preliminaries, then dropped an 8-2 decision in the quarterfinals. In the consolation rounds, Miller won by fall in 3:40 and edged Josh Barrick, the AAA runner-up at the PIAA state tournament from Big Spring. In the consolation finals for third place, Miller dropped a second decision to the same kid to settle for fourth place.
