The progress continues, the work gets more results. Tyrone under head wrestling coach Blair Packer has improved their record, position and regional qualifiers in each of the three seasons Packer has been at the helm of the Orange and Black.
Thad Westley (135) and Terry Tate (275) were crowned District VI-AA champions at the district wrestling tournament held at Tyrone over the weekend to lead a group of six Tyrone wrestlers to the Southwest regionals. Heath Walk (171) finished second, Dane McCloskey (130) placed third and Brice Mertiff (152) and T. J. Albright (103) each finished fourth to punch their tickets to the Regional Tournament, which will be held Thursday, Feb. 26, and Friday, Feb. 27, at the Johnstown War Memorial.
Thad Westley (33-4), who became the first Tyrone wrestler to win back-to-back district titles since Jason Park turned the trick in 1990-91, waltzed through the 135-pound field with two pins and two technical falls. On Saturday, Thad pinned returning 2003 130-pound champ Dominic Inzana (16-3) of Cambria Heights, in 2:38. In the championship finals, Westley scored 11 points in the second period to stop his match with Nathan Owens (22-11) of West Branch, at the 3:56 mark. The Tyrone senior, who improved his career mark to 121-25, opened up a 4-0 lead after the first period with a takedown and two nearfall points, then turned it on with an escape, takedown and three more nearfalls worth eight points for the 15-0 tech fall.
Terry Tate (37-1) pinned his first three district opponents to earn his way into the finals. There he met Jon Neese (6-0) of Marion Center, who was the 2003 runner-up at districts, regionals and states, all to Central Cambria’s Matt Morris who won all three titles as a senior. Although limited to just three matches prior to the districts due to injury, Neese drew the second seed due to his performance last year. Tate pinned Rich McKrush (19-5) of Portage, in 1:04 in the semifinals. In the championship finals, the Tyrone junior improved his career record to 94-22 with a first period takedown and second period escape and added a final-period penalty point when Neese was called for stalling for the second time for a 4-1 win.
“We teach or preach that if you pay your dues good things will come,” said Tyrone coach Blair Packer. “I tell them that the harder you work, the luckier you get. Both Thad and Terry work hard for what they get. Thad Wesley has been a leader all through the season and the last couple of years and the same is true for Terry Tate. They deserve what they have earned here this weekend.”
Sophomore Heath Walk (20-6) wrestled his way into the district finals in his first season of varsity wrestling. Walk pinned Brenton Ditchcreek (26-10) of Central Cambria, in 5:47 of the semifinals. In the finals at 171, top seed Derek Krouse (28-2) of Westmont-Hilltop, notched a takedown in the first period, but Walk put him on his back for a reversal and two back points to take a 4-3 temporary lead. Krouse escaped and took Walk down, then added a third-period escape for a 7-4 win.
Dane McCloskey (31-7) dropped a 7-0 decision to returning state champ Garrett Scott of Juniata Valley, in his first match on Saturday. Scott (29-0) later won the 130-pound title. In the consolation rounds, Dane majored Arnold Bernard (12-12) of Forest Hills, then edged Stephan Crate (19-9) of Marion Center, 5-3 to win the third place medal. Earlier in the tournament, McCloskey had defeated Bernard 14-0 and Crate 11-2.
T. J. Albright (33-11), the top seed at 103, dropped a semifinal match to Bill Moore (27-4) of Blairsville, to drop into the consolations. Albright majored Snuff Walters (20-15) 10-0. The Tyrone freshman had shutout Walter twice, 9-0 in the Zeigler Tournament and 7-0 in the dual meet. In the third place consolation final, Moshannon Valley ninth grader Ryan Jacoby (26-5) decisioned Albright 7-0, jumping out to a quick 5-0 advantage in the first period and coasting for the win.
Brice Mertiff (17-9) pinned his first two consolation round foes on Saturday, decking D. J. Chverko (20-14) of Penn Cambria, in 1:39, and Justin Wilkerson (13-11) of West Branch, in 0:54. In the third place final, Bob Thompson (22-6) of Penns Valley, edged Mertiff 4-2. Mertiff and Thompson had split their first two meetings, Brice edging Thompson 6-5 in the dual and Thompson taking just 0:55 to pin Mertiff in the district quarterfinals on Friday.
Tyrone junior David Miller (24-10) finished his tournament one win short of qualifying for a trip to regionals. Miller pinned Brad Shannon (14-16) of Somerset, in 0:54, and majored Brad Dumire (25-5) of Westmont-Hilltop 13-3, before getting pinned by Mike Dunlap (25-5) of Blairsville in the consi-semis. In the battle for the final regional spot at 140, Scott Godin (21-7) of Moshannon Valley majored Miller 10-1 to send him to the sidelines.
Robert Waite (24-14) and Sam McCloskey (19-14) both fell out of the tournament early on Saturday.
Waite was edged 3-2 by Jared Baxter (20-14) of Forest Hills at 103. McCloskey pinned Steve Hanes (12-18) of Mount Union, in 2:31, but then was pinned by Merv Killion (17-12) of Glendale in 2:09.
“It has just been an awesome weekend from my standpoint.” said Tyrone coach Blair Packer, who was voted District VI-AA Coach of the Year, in a vote by his fellow coaches. “It comes down to a lot of talent on the team, a lot of good kids, even those who did not qualify for the regional tournament, are all part of it. I can’t say enough about this team. We were within striking distance -six points of taking the team title. It could have happened just about anywhere. But it has been a great weekend having that many kids go to regionals.”
Bellwood-Antis wrestlers all lost their first matches on Saturday to exit the tournament.
Eli Colyer (17-9) lost a 7-3 decision to Jon Fisher (19-12) of Marion Center, at 119. Josh Ervine was edged 5-4 by Kyle Cravener (22-12) of United at 135. Dwayne Cherry (12-15) lost a 13-7 decision to Matt Lawrence (20-11) of West Branch. Lawrence had pinned Cherry in the dual meet. Tyler Narehood (12-15) lost by fall to Tony Paris (26-5) of Claysburg-Kimmel.
“It’s back to the drawing board for us for next year,” said Bellwood-Antis coach Ron Wilson. “It would have been nice to have a full team, instead of just eight wrestlers. We didn’t get blown out, our kids wrestled some pretty close matches. Everybody is back next year and there should be some good kids coming up from the junior high program. We came up a couple points short in some matches. We hope next year, we can come with the few more points and make the difference. This was a quality tournament with a strong caliber of competition. Hopefully we will learn from the experience.”
District Notes: Central Cambria won the team title with 176 points, Forest Hills was second with 175.5 and Tyrone was third with 170 points…. Forest Hills had the most champs-four….Central Cambria qualified eight for regionals….Forest Hills’ Jake Strayer won his fourth district title and was selected the Outstanding Wrestler by the media…. Strayer’s teammate Art Moss captured his third title….Westley, Adam Whetstone (Claysburg), Shane Valko (Forest Hills) and Sean Kisel (Forest Hills) each won their second title….The Southwest-AA Regional at the War Memorial begins at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Championship Finals
103 – Doug Ritchey (Central) dec. Bill Moore (Blairsville) 9-5
112 – Adam Whetstone (Claysburg) dec. Mike Paronish (Northern Cambria) 11-4
119 – Shane Valko (Forest Hills) maj. dec. Gary Paronish (Penn Cambria) 9-1
125 – Jake Strayer (FH) pinned Donnie Clark (West Branch) 3:40
130 – Garrett Scott (Juniata Valley) maj. dec. Ryan McIntyre (CK) 9-0
135 – THAD WESTLEY (T) tech fall Nathan Owens (WB) 15-0, 3:56
140 – Chuck Boring (United) dec. Steve Makin (Central Cambria) 8-5
145 – Dave Sunderland (Southern Huntingdon) dec. Jon Clemens (Mount Union) 3-0
152 – Art Moss (FH) dec. Simon Fowler (CC) 1-1, TB
160 – Brad Dugan (CC) pinned Alan Collins (Glendale) 3:45
171 – Derek Krouse (Westmont) dec. HEATH WALK (T) 7-4
189 – Sean Kisel (FH) dec. Trey Rogers (MU) 6-5
215 – Zac Adams (PC) dec. Nick Paluch (FH) 3-1 OT
275 – TERRY TATE (T) dec. Jon Neese (Marion Center) 4-1
Third place conslation finals
103 – Ryan Jacoby (Mo Valley) dec. T. J. ALBRIGHT (T) 7-0, 112 – Kyle Patton (WH) dec. Jared Baxter (FH) 2-1, 119 – Russ Sichak (Richland) maj. Nathan Berzansky (CC) 11-0, 125 – Brock Scott (JV) dec. Matt Moore (BL) 5-1, 130 – DANE MCCLOSKEY (T) 5-3, 135 – Dominic Inzana (Cambria Heights) 5-1, 140 – Preston Shawver (Penns Valley) dec. Mike Dunlap (BL) 3-2, 145 – Corey Deffibaugh (CK) dec. Craig Sheehan (CC) 7-6, 152 – Bob Thompson (PV) dec. BRICE MERTIFF(T) 4-2, 160 – Ian Leslie (CK) dec Nick Detorre (BL) 3-2, 171 – Bryan Rusnak (Portage) pinned Brenton Ditchcreek (CC) 2:17, 189 – Mike Gaston (BL) pinned Jeff Pennington (MC) 0L23, 215 – Zach Buzzinotti (U) dec. Brandon Bishop (CH) 3-1, 275 – Mark Anderson (CC) pinned Rich McKrush (Por) 1:37.
