Up & down day at Hershey

by Courier Express

Posted on March 6, 2009

Curwensville's Derek Brothers, bottom, tries to work out from underneath Saucon Valley's Adam Phillippi during their 119-pound preliminary round bout Thursday. Brothers pinned Phillippi in 5:01.
AAA roundup
It was an up and down day for the Tri-County Area Thursday at the PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships, but Clearfield's Sean Owen and DuBois' Billy Morrison did their part to carry the local banner.
Owen (40-0) opened the defense of his 285-pound state crown in dramatic fashion by pinning LaSalle College senior Kyle DiGiacobbe in just nine seconds. In contrast, Morrison (29-7) pulled out a thrilling 4-3 ultimate tiebreaker win against Plymouth-Whitemarsh's JM Staudenmayer in his 160-pound preliminary round bout.
The duo were the only local wrestlers to win their opening bouts, as did Bradford's Mark Havers (152).
St. Marys' Sean Sadosky (215), Clearfield's Andrew Spicer (119) and Punxsutawney's Kody Young (125) all went 1-1 on the day to stay alive for a state medal.
DuBois' T.J. Stanton (103) and Clearfield's Holden Lowe (130) went 0-2 and were eliminated from the tournament.
Owen wasted little time in his opening match as he used his patented cement-mixer to quickly stick DiGiacobbe and give his future opponents little to scout.
"Sean went out and took care of business like he should," Clearfield coach Jeff Aveni said. "He did what we wanted him to do - get off the mat as quickly as possible so no one could really see much of him and scout him."
In stark contrast, Morrison went the full distance - 8:30 - to land himself in the quarterfinals. Staudenmayer and Morrison traded escapes in the second and third periods respectively and went into overtime tied at 1-1.
After a scoreless first OT period, Morrison reversed Staudenmayer in the final seconds of the first 30-second double overtime period to lead 3-1. Staudenmayer returned the favor in the second 30-second period to force the third and final 30-second ultimate tiebreaker period.
Morrison (29-7) held down Staudenmayer (40-2) in that sudden death period to come away with the 4-3 victory, his first in Hershey after going 0-2 last year.
The Beaver now faces Southcentral champ Kenny Courts (41-3) of Central Dauphin in today's quarterfinals.
"That first (career) win down here is always the hardest to get, and Billy battled to get it in the ultimate tiebreaker," said DuBois head coach Luke Bundy. "Overall, Billy wrestled a good match and was aggressive. That first win was big because win or lose in his next match he's in a great position to medal."
Stanton wasn't so lucky as for the second straight year he went 0-2. Stanton (28-7) dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to McGuffey's Alex Dunaway in the prelims.
Dunaway led 3-2 entering the third with the wrestlers at neutral but the Beaver couldn't get the takedown he needed and lost to Dunaway for the second straight year in Hershey. Dunaway eliminated Stanton, 7-3, last year.
Stanton tried to rebound in the consolation bracket and wrestled tough against Bayard Rustin's Corey McQuiston (31-9) but again came up just short. McQuiston led 4-2 after one period but Stanton got it to 6-4 in the second before McQuiston used a takedown to go back up four points at 8-4.
Stanton reversed McQuiston from the bottom with 28 seconds remaining in the third period to get back within two points at 8-6. Stanton nearly turned McQuiston for backpoints in the finals seconds but couldn't quite pull out the win.
"Those were both matches we felt T.J. could win," Bundy said. "We just need to learn to shed the nerves down here and get that first win. T.J. had a good year and there are some things we need to work on over the summer, but we'll be back."
Spicer (27-15) had a rough opening bout as he lost 13-3 to Southeast champ Zac Haynes (37-9) of Council Rock North. However, the Bison bounced back in a big way in his first-round consolation bout, beating Elizabeth Forward's Jake Diana (29-10) 10-3.
Spicer took a 4-2 lead into the third period, where he turned it on for the win. The Bison chose bottom, reversed Diana and took him to his back for two backpoints. Diana managed to escape, but Spicer tacked on a late takedown for the 10-3 victory.
Spicer gets the loser between Penn Trafford's Shane Young (39-1) and Easton's Mitchell Minotti (32-8) in today's second consolation round.
As for Lowe, the Bison senior drew a tough draw in his trip to Hershey. Lowe (36-8) gave up a five-point first period in his opening bout against Unionville's Mason Popham (30-5) en route to a 6-3 loss.
Then if things couldn't get worse, Lowe ran into defending state champ Cortlandt Choate (48-7) of Blue Mountain in the consy bracket after Choate was upset 4-2 in overtime by Canon McMillan's Nick Catalano.
Choate beat Lowe 9-1 earlier this year, but the Bison wrestled with Choate for most of the match as Choate held a 2-1 lead entering the third period.
Lowe decided to let Choate up with 1:19 remaining to try to get a takedown, but it was Choate who hit the late five-point move for the 8-1 victory.
"I thought Spicer wrestled well in both his matches, and I told him if he keeps wrestling like he has he has a chance to continue on," Aveni said. "And what a draw Holden got. He tried to be aggressive and go for the takedown there against Choate. He's had his ups and downs, but he's had a great career for us."
Sadosky (33-3) dropped a close 6-5 decision in the prelims to Bethel Park's Adam Lazenga (33-5), but bounced back with a strong 9-3 win over Conestoga's Greg Gruschow in the consy bracket.
Sadosky got a takedown late in the first period for a 2-0 lead before tacking on two more takedowns in the second en route to a 7-1 lead after two periods. The Dutchman added a fourth takedown in the third to help seal his first win at states.
Sadosky will wrestle the loser between Connellsville's Nate Gaffney (46-6) and Easton's Christopher Wilson (30-7). A win for Sadosky guarantees him a state medal.
"Sean should have won that first match, but getting that first win here can be tough," said St. Marys coach Wayne Fordoski. "And he was really down after that match because he knew he should have won, but he bounced back and wrestled very well.
"That was really a mental win for Sean and hopefully it gives him some more confidence. His goal was to come down here and medal and he's capable of doing it."
Havers (30-0) beat Great Valley's Travid Donnor (29-9) 3-0, while Young was pinned in the prelims but then pinned Quakertown's Colin Bynum in 59 seconds in his consy bout.


AA roundup
The Tri-County Area enjoyed a strong opening day at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships in Hershey as four of the six local competitors won their preliminary round bouts.
Curwensville's Derek Brothers (119), Ridgway's Garet Pisani (130) and Joe Chittester (285) and Redbank Valley's Logan Shirey (171) all notched huge first round wins to get a little extra rest going into today's quarterfinals. The wins also gave the quartet a big leg up on winning a state medal as a wrestler must win two matches before losing twice to place.
Brockway senior Jaron Licatovich, an injury replacement at 140, and Curwensville senior Jeff Thomas both went 0-2 on Thursday and were eliminated.
Brothers (33-3), who placed eighth as a freshman but went 1-2 last year in Hershey, got things started with a bang for the local contingency by pinning Saucon Valley's Adam Phillippi (34-8) in 5:01. The victory was Brothers' first preliminary-round win in Hershey as he lost a tight 2-0 match to Burrell's Jeremy Landowski last year and a 4-2 overtime decision to North Star's Joe Lascari in 2007.
Phillippi actually jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with a first-period takedown, but Brothers quickly reversed him to even the match after one period.
The Tide junior then seized control of the match in the second period with an escape, takedown and three backpoints for an 8-2 advantage. Brothers added a takedown in the third period before securing the fall.
Up next for Brothers in the quarterfinals is Bedford junior Cory Thomas (35-7), the Southwest fourth seed who upset Northeast champ Mike Rhone 6-4 in overtime. Rhone placed eighth at 112 last year. A win in the quarters could set up a matchup with Southwest champ A.J. Schopp of Tyrone (37-0) in the semifinals.
"This is new territory for us," said Curwensville head coach Duane Wriglesworth. "We've struggled to win that first match down here the last two years, but Derek wrestled very well today and got a fall at states. Hopefully he can carry that momentum through.
"I was disappointed we gave up that first takedown and was a little concerned, but Derek rebounded right away with the takedown and looked really good. We were kind of shocked the Thomas kid won, and he looked very strong, but I think Derek's finesse style will be to his advantage."
Pisani (36-2) entered states on a high after upsetting Reynolds' Cody Kelly last weekend in Sharon for his first regional title. However, the Elker junior suffered an injury to his hand at home earlier in the week and it was apparent the injury caused Pisani to wrestle conservatively Thursday.
Pisani and Burrell's Tyler Berger (30-11) battled it out for 8:30 without either scoring and Pisani eventually came away with the 1-0 victory by riding out Berger in the final 30-second tiebreaker period.
Pisani will wrestle Hyndman senior Logan Sheldon (35-1) in today's quarterfinals. Sheldon's lone loss of the season came last weekend in the Southwest Regional final to Shady Side Academy's Frank Martellotti.
Chittester's preliminary bout was just as tight as his teammate's as Chittester (36-3) needed overtime to edge Lackawanna Trail junior Lance Moore (34-3), who placed fifth at 215 last year. Chittester is also battling an injury, nursing a sprained ankle.
Chittester and Moore traded escapes in the second and third period respectively, and the bout went scoreless through the first overtime. Chittester then held down Moore in the first 30-second period in double overtime and escaped in the second to pull out the victory in his states debut.
Chittester's quarterfinal opponent is Chartiers-Houston senior Marty Kisla (37-6), the Souhthwest fifth seed who upset Southeast champ Dan Fultz (33-7) of Juniata, 2-1.
"Both Garet and Joe wrestled very well and overcame their "setbacks" we'll call them," said Ridgway coach Gary Gerber. "Getting that first win here is always so important. Technically they both wrestled perfect and did what they needed to do. We tell our kids that overtime isn't a bad thing.
"Garet hadn't wrestled all week (because of the injury) and I think he was a little concerned not knowing how much pain he might have or how it might affect him. I think because of that he wrestled conservatively, but you're seeing a more mature Garet and once gain he kept his head and stayed focused.
"Joe is a big kid but fit, and I think you saw his conditioning pay off today. He was able to ride that kid out (in double overtime), then explode out to get the escape for the win."
Shirey (31-5) used a huge third period to pull away from Montoursville senior Sam Shaheen (32-12) en route to a 9-3 victory in his PIAA debut. Shirey opened the scoring with a first-period takedown but Shaheen escaped to make it 2-1 after one period. Shaheen escaped in the second to even the bout at 2-2 but the Bulldog poured it on in the third.
Shirey escaped from the bottom in the third and took down Shaheen. After Shaheen escaped, Shirey added another takedown and four backpoints for the 9-3 victory.
And similar to Chittester, Shirey won't face a regional champ in the second round as Saucon Valley sophomore Ian Gimbar (31-7), the Southeast fourth seed, upset Southwest champ Tyler Capitosti (27-2) of United, 4-2.
"Getting that first win is so big, especially with this being Logan's first time here," said RedbankValley coach Mike Kundick. "He's been on the big stage before in large tournaments in Fargo (N.D.) and nationals in Virginia Beach, but this is the state tournament and totally different. He's been wrestling really well the last couple of weeks and is in such good shape. Now that he has the first match out of the way, hopefully he can keep it going."
Licatovich (23-8), a senior, dropped a 10-5 decision to Claysburg-Kimmel's Daniel Knott in the prelims, then lost a close 8-6 decision to Littlestown's Philip Macy (36-7) in the first round of consolations. Licatovich actually was within two points at 7-5 in the third period against Knott and trailed 6-5 in the third against Macy before losing both bouts.
Thomas (30-6) saw his Golden Tide career come to end with two one-point losses to Warrior Run's Tyler Hain (33-4) and Northern Lehigh's Craemer Hedash (30-7).
Thomas trailed Hain 6-2 entering the third period in the prelims and got a takedown in the final seconds to set the final at 6-5. Hain was a state runner-up at 125 two years ago but didn't make it to states last year. Hedash used a second-period escape to beat Thomas 1-0 in the opening consy round.
"Thomas wrestled two very tight matches," Wriglesworth said. "He was just hoping to win a District 9 title this year and really surpassed that. Jeff was a senior captain and really had a great year for us. We're going to miss him."
Smethport's Tim Hubbard (125), Coudersport's Dirk Cowburn (152) and Keystone's Mike Switzer (160) all won their preliminary round matches, while Kane's Ross Nicholson (215) went 0-2 and was eliminated.
Hubbard (33-2) beat Northern Bedford's Tyler Chesney (29-4), 4-0, while Cowburn (26-3) major decisioned Bermudian Springs' Devin O'Brien (35-5). Switzer (32-3) beat Chestnut Ridge's Brennan Corle (32-5).

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