Feb 19, 2007 By The 3 min read

West Greene had four champions and Jefferson-Morgan finished with three, including one major surprise, Saturday as WPIAL wrestlers began their individual quest for district, regional and state medals. Those seven wrestlers will be joined by many other local grapplers who finished in the top four of their respective section tournaments in the WPIAL Class AA Individual Wrestling Championships which begin Friday night at Charleroi and continue on through Saturday.

The Rockets’ Ethan Virgili pulled off a big upset by catching Mount Pleasant’s Nic Harris, the top seed at 189, in a headlock which led to a pin at the 2:06 mark to win that title.

Brian Scritchfield had a tough bout at 103 pounds in the Section 2-AA championship at Mount Pleasant, but he managed to hold off Derry’s Dante Decario for a 5-2 decision. Teammate Ty Basinger was in control for his section crown at 130 pounds, winning a 10-2 major decision against Mount Pleasant’s Allen Park.

Brad Phillips finished third for the Rockets at 119 pounds after he pinned Jeannette’s Chris Finlay at 4:10. Nathan Elkins (125) and Craig Johnson (135) finished fourth.

The Pioneers’ Kory Bissett was top-ranked at 140 pounds in Section 1-AA, and lived up his billing with a fall at 4:50 over South Side Beaver’s Colin Checkan. Tucker Conklin followed in the 152-pound bout, and eked out a 5-4 decision against South Side Beaver’s Keagan Donnan. The Pioneers made it three in a row when Patrick Morris won a 6-3 decision at 171 pounds against South Side Beaver’s Sal Ruggeri. Garrett Johnston won the fourth crown for West Greene when he edged Carlynton’s Dean Baker, 6-5.

A pair of Pioneers finished second with Colton Blumer losing a 4-1 decision in the 112-pound final and Chris Horr dropping an 11-6 decision at 189 to Fort Cherry’s H.J. Mroz.

Three Pioneers wrestled back to the consolation finals, but Kevin Courtwright (forfeit), Josh Durbin (9-0 major decision), and Keith Watson (14-2 major decision) all finished fourth.

Aaron Hrutkay was Beth-Center’s lone champion in Section 2-AA, winning a 9-2 decision at 160 pounds over Southmoreland’s Erik Frund. Two teammates advanced to the finals, but Dominic Moore lost a 4-0 decision at 135 pounds and Chris Stay was pinned at 5:29 by South Allegheny’s Phil Sorrentino.

The Bulldogs’ Jordan Kinder lost by fall at 4:37 in the consolation finals at 112 pounds, and teammate Cody Catalina lost a 7-1 decision at 171.

Southmoreland’s Scott Wildey needed overtime to finish third at 103 pounds and Jeff Beal slipped past Derry Nick Sofranko, 2-1, for third place at 152. Zach Berch dropped a 2-0 decision in the consolation final at 145 pounds

Mount Pleasant had section champions in Zack Sheridan (125) and Stefan Firmstone (215). Paul Snyder dropped a 3-2 decision in the 285-pound final and Colin Sheridan was pinned at 5:31 at 119 by Derry’s Troy Dolan.

The Vikings’ Larry Pospisil won by injury default over Beth-Center’s George Cramer at 140 pounds in the consolation finals. Tim Hough lost a 4-0 decision at 160.