Feb 14, 2014 By Mike Dudurich for The 3 min read

Wrestlers from six area schools will begin their pursuit of individual championships this Saturday at the WPIAL Section 2-AA Individual Wrestling Tournament at Charleroi High School.

Bentworth, Beth-Center, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, Washington and West Greene comprise Section 2-A, while Charleroi, Derry, Jeannette, Mount Pleasant, Southmoreland and Yough make up Section 2-B.

All will be at Charleroi competing to advance to the WPIAL Class AA Championships at Chartiers Valley next Friday and Saturday.

“The biggest thing I’ve been telling the kids in the practice room is just to advance,” Jefferson-Morgan coach Mike Lesko said. “It doesn’t matter where you finish, 1-through-5. If you can just get through to the next week, there are always new opportunities. There are so many variables that can happen: a grades problem, sickness, an injury. You never know, you could be at the right place at the right time.”

There are a few headliners who will be competing at Charleroi. Jefferson-Morgan’s John Demaske will be trying to become a four-time section champion. He won titles at 103, 113 and 126 pounds in his first three years.

Demaske, who finished fourth in the PIAA Tournament last year, is 31-0. He’s the top-ranked Class AA 126-pounder and is ranked second in the state. He’s also one of five No. 1 seeds for the Rockets. The others are: 113-pounder Brendan Howard (27-5), 138-pounder Jason Miller (19-1), 160-pounder Ryan Zalar (24-5) and 170-pounder Bill Bowlen (32-3).

“We’ll be taking 12 wrestlers this weekend and I could see as many of 12 of them moving on to the WPIALs,” Lesko said. “It’s a mental thing and each kid has his own way of handling that. Ryan Zalar needs three wins to reach 100 for his career. I’m sure that will help him get going.”

Southmoreland’s Austin Griffiths (26-2) will try to become a three-time champion on Saturday. He won his first two titles at 106 and will be at 113 this year.

He’s the No. 2 seed this year, while Scotties’ heavyweight Jacob Beistel (27-2) is the top seed.

“Both of those guys are very capable, obviously,” said Southmoreland coach Ryan Shaw. “Austin is beginning to become that vocal leader every coach is looking for and leads that was and with his work ethic.

“Jake is in a tough weight class and even though he’s been as high as eighth in the state, our region is just loaded with heavyweights.”

Shaw also has 12 wrestlers entered and would like to see all of them get to Chartiers Valley.

“Being a realist, I’d like to have half of those guys get over there,” Shaw said.

Another wrestler worth watching Saturday is Derry sophomore George Phillippi, the top-seeded 120-pounder with a record of 28-4. Phillippi had a spectacular season in 2013, winning a PIAA title as a freshman.

The tournament gets underway at 10 a.m. with the first round followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, consolation quarterfinals and consolation semifinals. The consolation finals and championship finals are scheduled for 6 p.m.

Five wrestlers from each class advance to the WPIAL Class AA Championship Feb. 21-22 at Chartiers Valley High School.