Parity will prevail: District 10 Wrestling Championships feature no clear-cut favorite for team title

Ed Farrell, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·9 min read

Feb. 25—This much is certain regarding this weekend's District 10 Wrestling Championships: Parity will prevail in determining the Class 2-AA team title.

Following the Section 2-AA tourney, won by Greenville High, Trojans' taskmaster John Reynolds was able to enjoy his squad's success for only a few moments before his thoughts turned to this week.

"District 10 has a lot of parity. I thought anybody could've won (D-10 Team Duals), but it's nice to win a Section championship, too. But I think (the District 10 Championships) will be very exciting, (and) similar to the Team Districts, whereas anybody can win," Reynolds forecasted.

"The team race is gonna be awesome," Hickory Hornets' headmaster Nick Clepper echoed. "With the teams from the south — us, Greenville, Reynolds — and you have a few teams from up north. Fort LeBoeuf showed that they're one of the toughest programs across the state ... Saegertown has a really nice team, and they have some really good individual talent ... and the last one people keep forgetting about is Cochranton; they're another really quality team, and they've got some really good individuals. They can put up some serious points in the team score ..."

The annual event begins 5 p.m. today at Sharon's Tiger Gymnasium with preliminaries, quarterfinals and consolation prelims. The tourney continues Saturday beginning at 9:15 a.m., concluding with the Parade of Champions and Championship Finals at 5:30 p.m.

Paced by Trojans' titlists Cole Karpinski (189) and Collin Wilson (215), Greenville (183) garnered gold by outlasting Hickory (173.5), Reynolds (162.5) and Titusville (142) for the Section 2-AA crown. Similarly, at Meadville last week Saegertown (197.5) staved off Fort LeBoeuf (187.5), Cochranton (174) and Corry (164.5) for the Section 1-AA title.

A quartet of Panthers posted championships, including Carter Beck (106), Hunter Robison (113), Owen Hershelman (120), Landon Caldwell (189) and Joshua Perrine (285). Fort LeBoeuf's Jojo Przybycien (126), Conner McChesney (152) and Ryan Welka (160) won titles, as did Cochranton's Jack Martinec (132) and Louden Gledhill (172); Harbor Creek's Conner Pierce (138); Girard's Story Buchanan (145), and Eisenhower's Cael Black (215).

D-10 Team Duals champion Hickory harvested crowns from Louie (106) and Carter Gill (145) and Connor Saylor (138). Sharon's Mike Mazurek (285) secured his 2nd straight Section 2-AA title, while Alex Rueberger (126) recorded Sharpsville's shining moment. Also, Hunter Hohman (152) garnered gold for Grove City; Commodore Perry's pair of Hunter Geibel (113) and Wyatt Lazzar (132) posted Panthers' championships, as did Conneaut Area's Hunter Gould (120) and Collin Hearn (160), and Titusville's Brock Covell (172).

Regarding Rueberger, Sharpsville skipper Tim Findley said, "A.J. Rueberger wrestled a great tournament — battling in the semifinals and coming back after being down in the finals. He will look to continue this weekend at D-10's.

"The goal of the five (Sharpsville) guys left is 'survive and advance,' Findley continued, echoing his coaching counterparts' sentiment. "The District 10 Tournament is one of the hardest to win. We need to place in the top eight to get to Regionals and give them a chance to advance to states."

"The team competitions are great — I love every bit of it," Clepper confided, "and the team races are so much fun, especially last week — that was awesome! There were three different teams that took the lead at some point, which is what this sport needs. We're all pretty equal. But the biggest thing to me is, ultimately, getting as many guys to next week, then to the state tournament. That's the ultimate goal in the individual season."

Ending as the Section 2-AA runner-up was not a setback, according to Clepper, who contended, "I don't think we need validation. The biggest thing right now is get as many guys out (to Regionals) as possible, placing one-through-eight, then we've got a whole, new tournament next week.

"A District 10 team title?" Clepper rhetorically asked. "Like I said, we're gonna go out and wrestle. and if our guys wrestle the way they can and should, I think we can definitely be in the running. But that's not the biggest thing to me; it's still getting as many guys, one-through-eight, to next week's tournament. Our ultimate goal is getting as many kids down to that state floor (Hershey's Giant Center) as possible. That's been the goal since day one, and it hasn't changed."

Following the Section Tournament, Reynolds said regarding Greenville, " ... Hopefully, we're peaking at the right time and the best is yet to come. ... I think we were definitely motivated ..."

Findley's five, in addition to Rueberger, include: " ... Caullin Summers and Josh Divens both had tough loses in the semifinals at Sections, but showed great character fighting back for third place. Being able to compose yourself after a loss, then fighting back to third shows a lot of maturity for these two sophomores. ... Jonathan Bissell placed fifth. He lost to Lazzar, the (number) one seed in the semis, but didn't back down. He got 'chin-whipped' and pinned in the consy semifinals. He is having a fantastic freshman year and looking to place again this weekend. ... (And) Micheal Breneman, our senior captain and leader of our young team this year, fought back for seventh place and advanced to districts. I am really proud of his leadership and never-quit attitude.

"We have had a great week of practice and ready to battle again this weekend," Findley summarized.

Despite the stakes, there is no pressure according to Clepper.

"My guys know that the grind's already pretty much happened. The tail-end of December and the whole month of January, it is a grind, and it's all to prepare for these next three weeks," Clepper continued. "We're gonna see really good competition out of District 10 this weekend, then next weekend (Regionals) you bring in District 9 — they always have a great group of kids ....

"We're lookin' forward to it. We absolutely love this time of the year!" Clepper exclaimed. "My kids are excited to come to practice. We play a lot of games, we like to have a lot of fun, we horse-play. ... But everybody knows once the head-gear gets strapped up, this team's ready to rock and that's just how we do it. We like to have fun!

"We know what our ultimate goal is: To get to next week, then ultimately the state tournament," Clepper added. " ... and the biggest thing are the bonus points. Some of our guys who are well-known for getting pins and tech falls and major decisions — we're lookin' for them to wrestle the same way they've been wrestling. and some of our guys who maybe placed a little bit lower, try to get out and get a few falls and try and rack up as many points as possible.

"That's what we've been tryin' to do all year long, and that's how we train. We've been training like that since November, and we're gonna continue that path all the way down to the state tournament," Clepper concluded.

Notes: Saturday's schedule includes consolations (rounds 1 and 2) and semifinals, followed by consy semifinals, and 3rd-, 5th- and 7th-place bouts. ... District 10 Chairman Steve Hoover will oversee this weekend's event, assisted by Eric Mausser. ... Brackets and results are posted on FloArena.

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PAIRINGS

106 — Beck (Saegertown), bye; A.Przybycien (Fort LeBoeuf) vs. Enterline (Greenville); Lantz (Cochranton) vs. Ranalli (Reynolds); Lazar (Girard) vs. Dailey (Franklin); Chiesa (Northwestern), bye; Williams (Eisenhower) vs. Zacherl (Commodore Perry); Shetler (Maplewood) vs. Doerflinger (Slippery Rock); L.Gill (Hickory), bye.

113 — Geibel (Commodore Perry), bye; Christner (Greenville) vs. Chambers (Eisenhower); O'Brien (Hickory) vs. Rodriguez (Northwestern); Kimmy (North East), bye; Wise (Mercer) vs. Randall (Seneca); Schlosser (Cochranton), bye; Hammerschmidt (Reynolds) vs. Bayle (Corry); Robison (Saegertown), bye.

120 — Hershelman (Saegertown), bye; Mancuso (Youngsville) vs. Naser (Grove City); Bennett (Fort LeBoeuf) vs. Everett (Sharon); Gorton (Cambridge Springs) vs. Bell (Reynolds); Blake (Maplewood) vs. Wise (Mercer); Rodgers (North East) vs. Double (Slippery Rock); Proper (Corry) vs. Patel (Hickory); Gould (Conneaut Area), bye.

126 — Rueberger (Sharpsville), bye; Lynch (Slippery Rock) vs. Allen (Corry); Porter (Greenville) vs. Telega (Girard); Knopp (Mercer) vs. Gage (Cambridge Springs); Rodgers (Titusville) vs. Hill (North East); Schell (Conneaut Area) vs. Sutter (Northwestern); Krivosh (Hickory) vs. Foulk (Cochranton); J.Przybycien (Fort LeBoeuf), bye.

132 —J.Martinec (Cochranton), bye; Horn (Girard) vs. Stearns (Titusville); Beck (Cambridge Springs) vs. Maxwell (Sharon); Lopez (Northwestern) vs. Miller (Hickory); Kinney (Corry) vs. Tomasovic (Slippery Rock); Platz (Seneca) vs. Battles (Greenville); Bowers (Fort LeBoeuf) vs. Bissell (Sharpsville); Lazzar (Commodore Perry), bye.

138 — Saylor (Hickory), bye; S.Gentile (Reynolds) vs. Proper (Maplewood); Hamilton (Grove City) vs. Beers (Fort LeBoeuf); Blood (Conneaut Area) vs. S.Martinec (Cochranton); Kneeland (Greenville) vs. Huya (Cambridge Springs); Kanan (Sharon) vs. H.Savitz (Corry); Donaldson (Titusville) vs. Kiser (Saegertown); Pierce (Harbor Creek), bye.

145 — Buchanan (Girard), bye; McDonald (Youngsville) vs. Wolfkiel (Titusville); Proper (Corry) vs. McCreary (Grove City); Beckwith (Union City) vs. Klenke (Reynolds); Fountain (Northwestern) vs. Ryhal (Mercer); Morrell (Cochranton) vs. Summers (Sharpsville); Stearns (Fort LeBoeuf) vs. Buck (Sharon); C.Gill (Hickory), bye.

152 — Hohman (Grove City), bye; Schaffer (Commodore Perry) vs. Raucci (Harbor Creek); L.Gentile (Greenville) vs. Beck (Cambridge Springs); Groover (Conneaut Area) vs. Jaquay (Eisenhower); Kettering (Reynolds) vs. Albert (Cochranton); Ziegler (Franklin) vs. Thomas (Union City); J.Covell (Titusville) vs. G.Jordan (Saegertown); McChesney (Fort LeBoeuf), bye.

160 — Welka (Fort LeBoeuf), bye; Slupski (Iroqouis) vs. Hacker (Sharon); Lindell (Eisenhower) vs. Tingley (Commodore Perry); Applequist (Union City) vs. V.Gentile (Reynolds); Boozer (Cochranton) vs. Moore (Greenville); G.Jordan (Saegertown) vs. Divens (Sharpsville); Raoe (Maplewood) vs. Heckathorne (Franklin); Hearn (Conneaut Area), bye.

172 — B.Covell (Titusville), bye; Pearce (Slippery Rock) vs. Miller (Seneca); Holland (Hickory) vs Lichtinger (Fort LeBoeuf); Hayne (Greenville) vs. M.Savitz (Corry); Wagner (Reynolds) vs. Schaaf (Saegertown); Stanton (Grove City) vs. Carico (Cambridge Springs); Smith (Commodore Perry) vs. Gross (Maplewood); Gledhill (Cochranton), bye.

189 — Caldwell (Saegertown); bye; Eckart (Girard) vs. Breneman (Sharpsville); Campbell (Northwestern) vs. Schmidt (Reynolds); English (Eisenhower) vs. Brunst (Titusville); Kightlinger (Iroquois) vs. Maani (Sharon); Church (Fort LeBoeuf) vs. Osborne (Commodore Perry); Allen (Corry) vs. Figueroa (Hickory); Karpinski (Greenville), bye.

215 — Wilson (Greenville), bye; Yeager (Commodore Perry) vs. Spires (Seneca); McCloskey (Reynolds) vs. Brooks (Saegertown); Beadnall (Sharon) vs. Keep (Girard); Reich (Slippery Rock) vs. Miller (Cambridge Springs); Baker (Titusville) vs. Linkerhof (Corry); Karns (Franklin) vs. Duran (Fort LeBoeuf); Black (Eisenhower), bye.

285 — Perrine (Saegertown), bye; Hodak (Cambridge Springs) vs. Guthrie (Commodore Perry); Baldwin (Girard) vs. Crawford (Franklin); Ransom (Northwestern) vs. L.Nosko (Titusville); Reyda (Corry) vs. McFarland (Slippery Rock); Sangi (Fort LeBoeuf) vs. Maule (Hickory); Sample (Cochranton) vs. Hyde (Greenville); Mazurek (Sharon), bye.