Local wrestlers earn top seeds in Section 2-AA tourney
Jefferson-Morgan’s Gavin Teasdale, Brenden Howard and Bill Bowlen, Southmoreland’s Evan Myers and Jacob Beistel, Mount Pleasant’s Ethan Charlesworth, and Beth-Center’s Jason Stay and Anthony Welsh are all top-seeded in Saturday’s Section 2-AA tournament hosted by McGuffey High School.
The top five wrestlers advance to the WPIAL Class AA Championships on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21.
Teasdale, a freshman with a 33-0 record, is the top seed at 106 pounds. Southmoreland’s Tyler Griffiths, also a freshman, is seeded second at 106 with a 28-4 mark.
Howard, a senior, is top-seeded at 120 pounds with a 31-5 record. The Rockets’ Bill Bowlen, a junior, is the No. 1 seed at 182 with a record of 26-5 and has a bye into the semifinals.
Beistel, a junior, sports an overall record of 27-2 as the top seed at 285. The Scotties’ Evan Myers, a sophomore, is the No. 1 seed at 138 pounds with a record of 29-7.
The Bulldogs’ Jason Stay, a senior, is the No. 1 seed at 160 pounds with a record of 26-4, while junior Anthony Welsh is 24-2 as the top seed at 170 pounds.
The Vikings’ Charlesworth is the top seed at 152 pounds.
Securing No. 2 seeds were West Greene senior Sheldon Phillips (113, 20-8), Southmoreland junior Jake Virgin (132, 15-11) and senior Brennan Coles (170, 21-10), Mount Pleasant senior Austin Mears (145, 29-6), Jefferson-Morgan junior Trevor Kniha (160, 22-12) and senior Anthony Patterson (195, 22-14), and Beth-Center senior Nico Brown (182, 24-6).
California has one wrestler in the field. Junior James Campbell (12-6) faces Mapletown sophomore Sean Shubert (17-9) in the quarterfinal round of 138 pounds.
Frazier has three wrestlers, all sophomores, in the tournament. Chad Kolitska (0-2) faces Jefferson-Morgan senior Parker Woodring (9-15) in a 170-pound preliminary round bout with the winner to wrestle Coles. Dalton Kmetz (1-2) squares off with Brown in the 182-pound quarterfinals. Tyler Girvin (5-5) faces Mapletown junior Harley Gee (8-6) with the winner advancing against Yough’s Tom Sever, top-seeded with a record of 21-4.