By BRAD WILSON
The Intelligencer
Our annual look at the PIAA wrestling championships from A to Z …
A is for attendance. More than 61,000 fans attended the tournament.
B is for boo, which some – a few, but too many – of those 61,000 people did far too much.
C is for cradles. Connellsville’s Ashtin Primus doesn’t do much else – remember, CB West’s Pete Ferrara rode him for three solid minutes in which Primus did next to nothing – but his deadly crossface cradle was good enough to bring him a Class AAA 135-pound state title. And Quakertown’s Kevin Orr rode his impeccable cradle to a third-place finish.
D is for Dragon, as in Lake Lehman’s Matt Dragon, who needed just 2 minutes and 58 seconds to score a 17-1 technical-fall win over Pius X’s James Sciascia in the 152-pound Class AA final. Dragon is a Penn recruit.
E is for Easton, as usual. Somehow, the Red Rovers, who didn’t have a state champion and suffered multiple upsets, kept it together enough to come in third in the team standings with 67 points.
F is for firsts. Pennridge’s Dan Goetter (215 pounds) and Emmaus’ Bryan Reiss (275 pounds) won the first state crowns for their schools.
G is for Gumby, which is the nickname of Semple, the AAA 171-pound champ, who can contort his body into all kinds of odd positions.
H is for Hontz, as in Tom, the Upper Perkiomen coach and Quakertown graduate who picked up his first state champion when Chris Sheetz won Class AAA’s 112-pound bracket.
I is for intimidation, which, in the past, was what happened when many wrestlers saw a Northampton or Easton singlet. Maybe not any more as the Konkrete Kids and Rovers went just 7-7 in first round matches.
J is for Dallastown’s Justin Terhune, who recovered from a serious stroke he suffered as a freshman to reach the 215-pound Class AAA final.
K is for Clearfield’s Matt Kyler, the AAA 103-pound champion and the 39th Clearfield state champion, the most of any school.
L is for Lonny Moore, the longtime District One wrestling committee member and chairman and former Phoenixville coach, who was inducted into the state Hall of Fame Saturday.
M is for mats. The PIAA went to a four-mat layout for each class’s semifinals and later consolation rounds, a fan-friendly move placing the proper emphasis on the semis’ importance.
N is for Nauroth, as in Nate. Quakertown’s all-time win leader ended a spectacular career with 155 victories and a second-place state medal.
O is for Outstanding Wrestler, the award named after longtime Newport and Cedar Cliff coach Bob Craig. Craig won 513 dual meets and was a PIAA tournament administrator for over 30 years before his death in 2004.
P is for Pennridge. The school now has a state champion, Dan Goetter.
Q is for Quakertown. Two second-place medals, one third, 62 team points – putting the Panthers ahead of, among others, Northampton, Nazareth, Upper Perkiomen, State College and Clearfield.
R is for rideouts, which there were far too many of.
S is for Scott, as in Garrett, the Juniata Valley junior who will enter his senior year with a chance to become just the 10th four-time PIAA champion.
T is for Class AA 275-pound champion Terry Tate of Tyrone. Say it three times fast.
U is for upsets, of which there were swarms. None were bigger, perhaps, than the 9-3 beating Council Rock South junior Mike Rappo gave previously unbeaten Brad Pataky of Clearfield.
V is for victory celebrations, the best of which came after Rappo’s win.
W is for wow, which is what everybody in the Giant Center was saying after Northampton’s Joey Ecklof destroyed Greensburg Salem’s Donnie Jones, 10-3, in a matchup of two-time state champions in the Class AAA 152-pound final.
X is for Pius X, the tiny Roseto Class AA school which had its first state finalist and three medals overall.
Y is for yes, which is what the PIAA should say if someone wants to buy them a matching collection of mats for the states.
Z is for Council Rock North junior Dave Zeek, sixth at 140 in Class AAA.
Brad Wilson is the Associate Sports Editor of The Intelligencer. He can be reached at (215) 345-3184 or [email protected].
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