Area wrestlers geared up for sectional competition
Regular season competition is over, and scholastic wrestlers are ready to take that first step on what they hope will be a trip to Hershey and state honors. It’s still a long route, but the first step for local wrestlers – the sectional competition – takes place this weekend at two sites. From there the top three places will advance to the WPIAL competition.
Wrestlers from Section 3-AA will compete for championships and advancement honors Saturday at West Greene High School.
Pairings were announced Thursday by the WPIAL with Beth-Center drawing two No. 1 spots, and Jefferson-Morgan one.
Rob Haines (14-2), of Jefferson-Morgan, drew the No. 1 spot at 135 and is paired in an opening bout with Raphael Longoni of Brownsville (3-6).
That winner then meets the survivor between fourth-seeded Andy Wright (11-5) of Bentworth and Joe O’Dowd (11-13) of Charleroi.
Mike Morgan (24-5) of Beth-Center drew the No. 1 spot at 152 and has an opening round bye. He will meet the winner between fourth-seeded Ron Ermlick (11-13) of Charleroi and D.J. Lohr (9-14) of host West Greene.
Beth-Center’s Brandon Palmer (21-10) drew the No. 1 role at 215, and has an opening round bye. His second round opponent will be the winner between fourth-seeded Matt Adamson (7-11) of Bentworth and Pete Stanley (6-5) of South Park.
Other top four seedings include:
103 – Jordan Scritchfield of Jefferson-Morgan (14-12) is seeded third. He is paired in the first round with Josh Stepp (5-13) of Beth-Center.
112 – Ed Maison of Jefferson-Morgan (12-10) is seeded fourth and will meet Zach Catalina (12-16) of Beth-Center.
119 – Aaron Beck of Beth-Center (20-9) is seeded second. He has an opening round bout against Michael Gasdick (6-11) of South Allegheny. Charles Stephenson, Brownsville (5-4), is seeded fourth. His opening round opponent will be Josh Brewer (9-11) of West Greene.
125 – John Hill of Jefferson-Morgan (18-6) is second-seeded and meets Matt Stewart (11-14) of West Greene.
145 – Stush Demaske (24-4) of Jefferson-Morgan is seeded third, with an opening test against Andrew Taylor (11-14) of Washington.
152 – Jonathon Sobek (8-7) of Brownsville is seeded third with Shane Miller (6-11) of Bentworth as his opening opponent.
171 – Mike Myers (21-3) of Jefferson-Morgan is seeded second, and Steven Campbell (807) of Brownsville is the fourth seed. Myers will meet Brian Nowlen (4-13) of South Park in the first round, while Campbell opens against John Szarell (3-10) of West Greene.
In Section 1-AA, WPIAL champion Mount Pleasant leads the seedings with three firsts, six seconds, one third and one fourth.
Southmoreland has drawn two top seeds and one second.
Southmoreland’s defending champion Shane Datz has drawn the No. 1 spot at 189 and will open defense of his title against Dave Sweeney (3-9) of Riverview.
Justin Poole (21-3) owns Southmoreland’s other No. 1 placement, along with an opening round bye. His second round opponent will be the winner between Erik Emanuele (12-9) of Riverview and Chris Kowatch (5-8) of Derry.
The Scotties also drew a third seeded spot with Stephen Zubach (21-5) who tests Nathan Dubich (7-10) of Yough, in the first round.
The top three places in both events will advance to the WPIAL Class-AA finals next weekend.