Class AAA
Area wrestlers fare well at WPIAL Championships The WPIAL Class AAA Regional Wrestling Tournament began Thursday night at the Norwin High School gym.
On the night, 140 matches took place, as Albert Gallatin qualified 10 wrestlers for the tournament and Connellsville advanced nine.
There were 25 “pigtail” or play-in matches before the first round of the tournament began. The good news for the winners of the play-in round was that they got to advance to the main tournament bracket. The bad news was they faced top seeds in the first round.
In the pigtail round, there were five area students competing for the right to continue in the tournament. Two wrestlers won their matches and advanced, while three grapplers were defeated.
In the 103-pound weight class, sophomore Greg Hogan from Laurel Highlands (17-16) was defeated by junior Cody Deyell (17-16) from McGuffey, 18-6.
In the 130-pound class, junior John Walters (2-10) from Laurel Highlands was defeated by fall at 3:37 by junior Deshe Thomas (21-8) from Woodland Hills.
In the 135-pound weight class, sophomore Delbert Sines (16-16) from Connelsville defeated senior Brian Lamouree (13-14) from Franklin Regional, 7-3. He was pinned at 1:55 in his first round bout, however, by No. 1 seed Tom Picarsic (31-2) from Penn Trafford.
In the 171-pound weight class, junior Jeremiah Ditmore (22-6) from Uniontown defeated freshman Chris Dempsey (19-10) from Ambridge, 20-7. He was later defeated in the first round by senior Mike Corcetti from Kiski by technical fall at the 5:06 mark.
In the 189-pound weight class, junior Mike Capan (8-14) from Laurel Highlands lost a close match to freshman Jordan LeViere (19-11) from North Hills, 6-5.
In the first round of the tournament, in the 103-pound weight class, junior Jon Bittinger (25-5) from Albert Gallatin defeated sophomore Adam Caldwell (23-11) from Greensburg Salem, 9-1.
Also in the 103-pound weight class, sophomore Jason Weslager (19-8) from Belle Vernon defeated freshman Zach Small (25-9) from Latrobe, 13-4.
In another 103-pound bout, sophomore Chris Neidemeier (30-6) from Waynesburg defeated freshman Austin Rovito (14-16), a tournament play-in winner, from Peters Township, 16-0.
In 112-pound action, junior Coleman Scott (32-1) from Waynesburg defeated Deyell, (the play-in winner who defeated Hogan from Laurel Highlands) by fall at 1:17.
Also in the 112-pound class, in the first round, sophomore Steve Bell (34-5) from Connellsville defeated junior Mike Muraco (18-12) from Washington by fall at the 3:54 mark.
In the 119-pound weight class, junior Jeff Lawrence (10-9) from Albert Gallatin was defeated by sophomore Sean Clair (26-0) from Plum, by fall at the 3:33 mark.
In another 119-pound weight class, freshman Ashtin Primus from Connellsville defeated junior Aaron Sikora from McGuffey, by fall at the 1:41 mark.
Also in the 119-pound weight class, senior Drew Headlee (28-5) from Waynseburg defeated play-in winner, freshman Kyle Baickere-McKee from Mt. Lebanon, by fall at 3:17.
In the 125-pound weight class, junior Jerod Chapman (10-4) from Albert Gallatin was defeated by senior Brad Cipriani (27-3) from Franklin Regional, 6-0.
In the 130-pound weight class, junior Mark Throckmorton (14-5) from Waynesburg Central defeated his opponent, senior Jason Broadbent from Indiana, by pinning him in only 21 seconds.
Also in the 130-pound class, sophomore Josh Martin from Connellsville defeated junior Albert Lowman from Chartiers Valley, by fall at the 3:11 mark.
In the 140-pound weight class, senior Brandon Radicic (17-13) from Albert Gallatin was pinned 50 seconds into the bout by senior Kurt Lorenz (26-9) from Kiski Area.
Also in the 140-pound weight class, junior Kyle Martin (32-4) from Connellsville defeated junior Michael Gesmond (7-9), a play-in winner from McKeesport, by fall at the 3:10 mark.
One of the most-exciting bouts of the night took place in the 145-pound class, where senior Ryan Howell (22-7) from Albert Gallatin took senior Jason Monti (18-4) from Upper St. Clair into overtime, but lost, 8-6.
Also in the 145 class, senior Anthony Sayles (18-6) from Belle Vernon defeated junior Brendon Steele (23-5) from Cannon McMillan, 7-5.
In the 152-pound weight class, heavily-favored junior Jarrod King (36-3) from Connellsville pinned his opponent, play-in winner John Simmons (15-6) from Plum just 54 seconds into the bout.
Also in the 152 class, sophomore Corbin Semple (25-10) from Waynesburg defeated senior Jared Hirtz (19-11) from Albert Gallatin, 8-2.
In the 160 lb. weight class, senior Levi Harris (17-4) from Laurel Highlands was pinned by junior Kyle Deliere (28-6) from Cannon MacMillan at the 1:01 mark.
Also in the 160 class, sophomore Justin Brumley from Belle Vernon (19-9) lost to sophomore Logan Downes (28-2) from Valley, 7-3.
In another 160-pound bout, heavily-favored senior John Ptak (25-5) from Albert Gallatin (25-5) defeated junior Jon Miller (15-10) from Butler, by fall, at the 3:08 mark.
There were four matches involving area schools in the 171-pound weight class. Junior Eric Zyske (15-10) from Belle Vernon was defeated by senior Steve Chirieleison (26-4) from Plum, by fall at the 3:15 mark.
Junior Brandon Phillips (10-6) from Waynesburg defeated senior Matt Sheridan (23-8) from Hempfield, 5-2.
Sophomore Jason Doppelheuer (30-11) from Connellsville defeated senior Tony Eichler (25-5) from North Hills, 5-4.
In the 189-pound class, junior Jim Tony (31-10) from Connellsville won a close match, 7-6 against senior Andrew Joseph (24-11) from Kiski.
In the 215-pound weight class, senior Marc Berry (21-7) from Albert Gallatin won a close match against senior Josh Reiter (15-6) from Indiana, 4-3.
Also in the 215-pound class, junior Dan Newlin (20-7) from Uniontown defeated senior Steve Edwards (21-6) from Gateway, 13-3.
The round closed out with the heavyweights. In the 275 and over class, senior Steve Hughes from Connellsville (14-10) lost a close match to senior Dave Payne from Keystone Oaks (19-3), 9-7.
In the last match of the night, senior Ryan Martelli (19-5) from Albert Gallatin lost to senior Frank Cremonese (29-6) from Latrobe, 5-2.
The Tournament picks up t 5:30 today with the quarterfinal round and first round consolation matches.