Big weekend ahead for scholastic wrestlers
Wrestling enthusiasts will have their choice of two big tournaments this weekend, and both fields will be well stocked with defending champions, plus a few who fell a step or two short of the top. One of the events has been around long enough to be ranked the number five toughest in the entire country, and the other is in its third year but already building up a reputation for its strong competition.
The Powerade Tournament starts Friday morning at Trinity High School in Washington, Pa. and continues through Saturday night when 14 champions will be crowned.
Friday’s competition begins at 9:30 a.m. and continues through the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Saturday’s action starts with semifinals at noon, and concludes with the finals at 7:30.
Southmoreland High will host its third annual event at the Alverton gym, also starting Friday morning, also going throughout two days until Saturday night’s championship finals. Wrestling starts at 10 a.m. both days, with the championship finals set for 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
Along with host Southmoreland, district entries include Laurel Highlands, Jefferson-Morgan, and Beth-Center.
Rounding out the field are defending District 6 champion Forest Hills, Bentworth, Blackhawk, Blairsville, Burgettstown, Butler, Charleroi, St. Francis DeSales of Ohio, Elizabeth-Forward, Frankfort, W. Va., Girard, Greensburg Central Catholic, Hampton, Hickory, Jeannette, Meyersdale, Norwin, Penn-Cambria, South Allegheny, Steel Valley, Valley, West Branch, Woodland Hills and Yough.
There are eight defending champions returning, led by Jared Ricotta of West Branch, who is seeking his third title. Ricotta also won at regionals last year, and finished fourth in the state.
Other returnees are Shane Datz of Southmoreland, who went on to be regional champion and finish third in the state, Jake Strayer, Cody Gallaher, and Brian Angelotti of Forest Hills, Larry Hall of Jeannette, Dan Lloyd of Valley and Kerry Regner of Blackhawk.
Justin Poole of Southmoreland and Joe Davis of Butler were second last year and are back to try for the titles that eluded them.
Jordan Sweany of Beth-Center is a returning third place finisher, along with Art Moss, Shane Valko, and Jim Moss, all of Forest Hills.
Returnees to the Powerade lineup include Jarrod King of Connellsville, who won the 135-lb. championship last year, then went on to finish with a 43-2 record that included a regional championship and second place in the state.
Powerade will once again have a powerful lineup, led by district entries Connellsville, Albert Gallatin, Mount Pleasant and Waynesburg.
Joining them are Burrell, Canon-McMillan, Cedar Cliff (Dist. 2), Chartiers-Houston, Chartiers Valley, Clovis (Calif.), Colonial Forge (Va.), DuBois (Dist. 9), Ft. LeBoeuf (Dist. 10), Freedom, Mt. St. Joseph (Md.), North Allegheny, Oxford (Dist. 1), Parkersburg (W. Va.), Penn-Trafford, Seneca Valley, Solon (Ohio), State College (Dist. 6), Walsh Jesuit (Ohio), Warren County (Va.), West Allegheny and the host Trinity team.
Other returning Powerade champions include defending regional and state champion Coleman Scott, Waynesburg (103, 42-3), state champion Drew Headlee, Waynesburg, third in the regionals (112, 40-5), Jake Herbert, North Allegheny (160, 37-2), regional champion and second in PIAA; Kurt Brenner, Freedom (171, 38-1), regional and state champion, and Marc Decker, State College (189, 29-8), third in regionals and state qualifier.
Powerade runners-up back again include Steve Bell, Connellsville (29-9, 103); Dan Sandy (112), Walsh Jesuit, O., Ohio state champion Josh Zupancic (119), Walsh Jesuit; and Matt Kocher, State College (135, 36-1), regional champion and third PIAA.
Other district returnees include Jon Bittinger, Albert Gallatin (103, 26-7), fifth; Mark Throckmorton, Waynesburg (125, 18-5), second in regionals; and John Ptak, Albert Gallatin, (152, 29-7), sixth place, second in regionals and state qualifier.