Marquee bout at 152 was one of many show-stoppers
BY ROD FRISCO
Of The Patriot-News
Tickets for the PIAA Wrestling Championships are not cheap. A single seat in finals costs eight bucks. Tickets for an entire series are $64.
For that kind of investment, one demands value. The paying customers got plenty of that Saturday night.
The Class AAA finals, as a group, were some of the best in recent memory, helped immeasurably by the buildup of the 152-pound final between two-time champions Joey Ecklof of Northampton and Donnie Jones of Greensburg-Salem plus a boisterous crowd of 8,685 that was primed from the outset.
Ecklof’s 10-3 destruction of Jones, one of the biggest “wows “in PIAA history, was the highlight, of course, earning Ecklof the Robert W. Craig Outstanding Wrestler award, possibly by unanimous vote.
But that match, in which Ecklof dropped his previously tentative approach and attacked the shocked Jones, was just one of several excellent bouts.
No. 2 on the list was the shocker at 119, where Council Rock South junior Mike Rappo outwrestled Clearfield’s Brad Pataky, a 2004 champion at 112 and a Penn State recruit.
Rappo successfully slowed down Pataky’s usually overwhelming offense and was there at the end when Pataky panicked and tried to step over Rappo’s hips while trailing by a point. Rappo flopped Pataky to his back and held him there the last 15 seconds for a win that brought much of the Giant Center crowd to its feet.
What about that match at 160 pounds featuring a pair of a sophomores, one of the very few times that two 10th-graders have met in an upper weight championship?
Council Rock South’s Austin Chambers ended an 8-6 match when he trapped North Allegheny’s Rob Waltko in an awkward position for a pin with 58 seconds left. Prior to that, the two engaged in a terrific bit of attack-counterattack.
There are other examples, but space does not permit a more thorough review. Suffice to say the 2005 finals will be remembered as a very fine set of championship bouts.
NUGGETS:
Couldn’t be prouder of the way several midstate wrestlers performed at states, including eighth-place finishers Jarred Kane (125-AAA) of Lower Dauphin, Ryan Bucher (130-AAA) of Northern and Jake Pelletier (160-AAA) of Central Dauphin.
Possibly Kane, the talented sophomore, could have been targeted for a state medal this year, especially after taking Easton’s Seth Ciasulli to the limit in the Manheim Holiday Tournament finals.
But Bucher and Pelletier? They were not podium-ready at the beginning of the season.
So it’s a credit to both with their diametrically opposed styles that they were able to reach the risers at Giant Center on Saturday night.
One must feel very good for both wrestlers. Bucher is one of the midstate’s most polite athletes; it takes a certain alteration of character for him to become a rough-and-tumble wrestler. His career is now over; he will attend Penn State and will not walk on.
Pelletier, a junior, is unlike Bucher in that he is naturally aggressive, but like Bucher he had to work very hard to rise to the level of state medalist. Like all of the midstate wrestlers who have performed to their maximum potential this year, they deserve our respect.
TIED UP:
What a wicked ride that was to the eventual tie for the AAA team championship between Connellsville and Council Rock South.
On Thursday, it appeared that Upper Perkiomen was in command of the race, but a flat round Friday and Easton’s charge through the consolations gave the Red Rovers a slim lead heading into consolations.
But Easton lost its only final when Jordan Oliver was beaten by Clearfield’s Matt Kyler at 103, opening the door for Connellsville and South.
South’s chance appeared done when defending champion Rick Rappo was beaten at 112 by Upper Perk’s Chris Sheetz, who has an astounding 91 victories as a sophomore. Especially hurtful to South’s team chances was a team point deducted because Rappo flung his headgear after the loss. But Mike Rappo’s stunner over Pataky kept them alive.
Then, Connellsville appeared to have the title locked when Steve Bell won at 125 and Primus got bonus points at 135 with his pin of Big Spring’s Josh Barrick, who by the way could be headed for the Dapper Dan Classic in Pittsburgh on March 26 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.
But when Carter got his oddball pin of Waltko, Connellsville and South finished tied. Easton was third with 67 points, in large measure because Oliver’s older brother Josh was tagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct deduction following his loss in the 130-pound consolation to Kiski Area’s Tyler Oravec.
YOUTHFUL APPEARANCES:
An even dozen underclassmen won state titles this weekend, a healthy number indeed.
Assuming all goes well, five wrestlers will defend in AAA next year: Sheetz, Mike Rappo, Nazareth’s Tim Darling (130), Primus and Carter.
Seven, including three-time champ Garrett Scott of Juniata Valley, will return in AA: Warrior Run’s Jason Guffey (103), Derry Area’s Troy Dolan (112), Line Mountain’s Kellon Balum (130), Brockway’s Andy Rendos (140), Mount Pleasant’s Donnie Ament (145) and Octorara’s Mike Letts (160).
Wrestling Gear
