Ridgway's Chittester claims silver medal

by Chris Wechtenhiser, Tri-County Sunday Assistant Sports Editor.

Posted on March 14, 2010

Ridgway's Joe Chittester, left, escapes from Richland's John Rizzo two seconds into the second period of their 285-pound state finals bout Saturday at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships. Rizzo used a third-period takedown to upend the Elker, 3-2, to win the state title.

HERSHEY - Overtime had become the best friend of Ridgway heavyweight Joe Chittester the last two weeks, especially this past weekend in Hershey as the Elker rode a trio of thrilling double-overtime or longer wins into the state finals at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships in Hershey.
And it appeared Chittester might be headed to a fourth overtime match in the finals against Richland sophomore John Rizzo, another wrestler who had won his fair share of OT decisions in recent weeks.
However, things weren't meant to be for the Elker as Rizzo (41-1) scored a takedown in the third period and held off Chittester (40-1) for a 3-2 victory. Both wrestlers escaped from the bottom in the second and third periods, and Chittester added an escape after Rizzo's takedown but couldn't come up with his takedown to win the match.
Rizzo became the first sophomore to ever win a state title in the heaviest weight class at states.
Both wrestlers were state placewinners last year. Chittester was fifth at heavyweight, while Rizzo placed fifth at 215 as a freshman.
Chittester overcame a shoulder injury suffered in practice the Monday before regionals to make the run to the state finals.
"That was a bittersweet way for Joe to end his career," said Ridgway head coach Gary Gerber. "Joe dealt with a pretty serious injury and wrestled his butt off down here and won a bunch of smart, close matches. That kid just managed to get in on him there in the finals.
"He's hurting pretty bad right now, but give it some time and he'll realize what a huge accomplishment it was for him to reach the state finals. It's just hard to see that right now."
Chittester opened states with a 5-4 tiebreaker win over Charleroi's Jake Linn Thursday, then scored a huge 4-3 tiebreaker win over Benton's Tyler DeMott in the quarterfinals. DeMott, the state runner-up at 285 last year, was ranked first in the state all year before losing in his regional finals last weekend. DeMott ended up fourth in the weekend.
The win over DeMott put Chittester in the semifinals against Southwest champ Jeff Tarley, and once again Chittester pulled out a tiebreaker win, reversing Tarley in the second 30-second double OT period for a 4-2 victory.
Starting at regionals, Chittester's last five wins going into state finals were by two points or less, with the last four coming via the overtime tiebreaker system. However, the Elker couldn't muster any overtime magic in the finals and ended his career with a silver medal.
Chittester became the 13th Ridgway wrestler to reach a state final, ninth under Gerber, but only three - Jared Kuleck (1991), Greg Puncheon (2000) and Nikko Leitzel (2006) - have come home with a PIAA gold medal.
Past silver medalists include Ken Streich (1977), Curt Olson ('78, '79), John Cappiello ('81), Gary Gerber III ('90), Dan Peterson ('91), Todd Ford ('93), Jamie Cobaugh ('94), Jeff Nelson ('96), Colby Pisani ('07).
Chittester ended his career with a 113-13 record, placing him ninth on Ridgway's all-time wins list. He became just the seventh Elker to record 40 wins in a season, joining John Cappiell (42 - 1981), Greg Puncheon (43, 2000), Nikko Leitzel (40 - 2006, 46 - 2007), Brock Leitzel (43 - 2007), Colby Pisani (44, 2007) and Garet Pisani (41 - 2007).
He also was a three-time district champ.
Not a shabby career for someone who plans on playing Division I baseball in college. Chittester has already verbally committed to play at St. Bonaventure.


©Courier-Express/Tri-County 2010

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