Eight WPIAL AAA Wrestlers Win State Gold

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, March 8, 2014 | 11:21 PM

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After a strong showing on Thursday and Friday, the WPIAL continued their dominant trend in AAA on Saturday, advancing 19 wrestlers into the finals. Out of those 19, the WPIAL brought home 8 PIAA Champions out of a possible 14 weight classes including winning a title in the first 7 bouts.

Franklin Regional’s Devin Brown and Spencer Lee took the first two at 106 and 113, with both of them controlling their opponents to lead them to titles. Luke Pletcher of Latrobe had to sweat it out to win at 120. After exchanging escapes with Scott Parker of Pennridge, the match went in to overtime. In the overtime bout, Pletcher got a shot on the ankles of Parker and kept his toes in bounds to win the match 3-1.

After Dalton Macri of Canon McMillan won at 126, Penn Trafford freshman Cameron Coy kept the streak alive at 132. Wrestling senior Chase Zemenak of Nazareth, Coy was trailing 1-0 in the third period when he received a penalty point on a locked hands call on Zemenak. After receiving the point, Coy then escaped to take a 2-1 lead. He would then fight off a couple of Zemenak attempts to win the match 2-1.

138 featured a pair of WPIAL wrestlers who were 1-1 against each other. Vincenzo Joseph of Central Catholic and Michael Kemerer were tied at 1 going into overtime when Kemerer got in deep on a shot. He went for the head of Joseph to lock in a cradle and more importantly the takedown and when Kemerer went to roll Joseph he went too far. Joseph was able to fall on top of Kemerer and pinned him 32 seconds into the overtime bout. In a battle of defending state champions, Solmon Chishko of Canon McMillan had his way with Joe Galasso of Father Judge, picking up a pair of takedowns and a reversal to win his second state title 7-2.

The streak would end at 145, but it wasn’t by much. Josh Shields of Franklin Regional at 152 gave up an early takedown to TC Warner of Cumberland Valley but did not give up. Shields trailed 4-1 going into the third period before he escaped and picked up a stalling point to cut the lead to 4-3. Unfortunately Shields could not add a late takedown or grab a third stalling call and fell just short of PIAA gold. Zack Zavatsky of Latrobe would claim the eighth and final gold for the WPIAL at 182, defeating Kellan Stout of Mount Lebanon for the third time this season 3-1. Zavatsky netted a takedown in the second period that proved to be the difference maker.

History was also made on Saturday in Hershey, as not one but two wrestlers joined rarified air in becoming four time PIAA Champions. Chance Marsteller of Kennard Dale won his fourth PIAA Championship at 170 by beating Central Catholic’s Kyle Coniker by major decision, 14-2. In addition to winning four titles. Marsteller also remained perfect in his high school career, finishing with an overall record of 166-0. Marsteller was named the tournaments outstanding wrestler for his efforts. He plans to attend Oklahoma State University in the fall.

Joining Marsteller with four PIAA Championships was Solanco’s Thomas Haines. He won the title at 285 with a victory over Pat Finn of Pottsgrove by the score of 6-1. Haines ends his career with an overall record of 174-5 and plans to attend Ohio State University next fall.

The team portion of the PIAA AAA individual championships were won by Franklin Regional, who recorded 119 points to capture the title. Franklin Regional’s head coach Eric Mausser was also honored on Saturday for being the Pennsylvania Coach of the Year in AAA. Latrobe would finish second in the team points with 60. Also finishing in the top ten were Canon McMillan, who was seventh with 50.5, and Central Catholic, who was ninth with 44.

For a full recap of the PIAA AAA wrestling championships, join Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle Monday night at 7:00 PM on the MSA Sports Network. Joining us on the show will be the WPIAL wrestlers who brought home gold from Hershey, including Franklin Regional’s Devin Brown and Spencer Lee, Latrobe’s Luke Pletcher and Zack Zavatsky, Canon McMillan’s Dalton Macri and Solomon Chishko, Penn Trafford’s Cameron Coy, and Central Catholic’s Vincenzo Joseph.

AAA Medal Round Results

106

1^st – Devin Brown (Franklin Regional) dec. Dan Moran (Northampton) 7-6

3^rd – Connor Sheehan (Solanco) fall Kordell Rush (Pennridge) 4:34

5^th – Brett Kulp (Exeter Township) dec. Gage Curry (North Hills) 6-5 OT UTB

7^th – Riley Palmer (Council Rock South) dec. Luke Werner (Liberty) 5-2

113

1^st – Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) maj. dec. Joe Wheeling (General McLane) 15-5

3^rd – TyShawn White (Central Dauphin) dec. Derek Gulotta (Owen J. Roberts) 4-3

5^th – Jacob Lizak (Parkland) fall Michael Scheetz (Northampton) 1:38

7^th – Ryan Hayes (Spring Ford) dec. Dustin Steffenino (Upper Perkiomen) 2-1

120

1^st – Luke Pletcher (Latrobe) dec. Scott Parker (Pennridge) 3-1 OT

3^rd – Tyrone Klump (Nazareth) dec. Ethan Lizak (Parkland) 7-3

5^th – Jake Gromacki (Cathedral Prep) dec. Michael Marino (Garnet Valley) 7-2

7^th – Brendon Hasson (Belle Vernon) dec. Chandler Olson (Shippensburg) 5-2

126

1^st – Dalton Macri (Canon McMillan) dec. Zach Valley (Northampton) 5-1

3^rd – A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg) fall Sam Krivus (Hempfield) 4:46

5^th – Rodney Sunday (Dallastown) maj. dec. DJ Fehlman (Warren) 11-3

7^th – Dan Martoccio (Council Rock South) dec. Ben Ross (Pennridge) 6-1

132

1^st – Cameron Coy (Penn Trafford) dec. Chase Zemenak (Nazareth) 2-1

3^rd – Tyler Smith (Franklin Regional) dec. Zach Elvin (Central Dauphin) 6-4 OT

5^th – Matthew Grossman (Manheim Township) dec. Ty Buckiso (Peters Township) 6-1

7^th – Jalen Palmer (Delaware Valley) dec. Tommy Stokes (Bensalem) 7-2

138

1^st – Vincenzo Joseph (Central Catholic) fall Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional) 6:32 OT

3^rd – Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley) dec. Colby Ems (East Stroudsburg South) 5-2

5^th – Kaleb Young (Punxsutawney) dec. Hayden Hidlay (Mifflin County) 8-3 OT

7^th – Cortlandt Schuyler (Manheim Township) dec. Demetri D’Orsaneo (Owen J. Roberts) 10-3

145

1^st – Solomon Chishko (Canon McMillan) dec. Joe Galasso (Father Judge) 7-2

3^rd – Josh Maruca (Franklin Regional) dec. Chad Wickard (Big Spring) 5-2

5^th – Max Good (Cedar Cliff) dec. Fancesco Fabozzi (Central Bucks East) 3-1

7^th – Michael Hartman (Spring Grove) dec. Nathan Cheek (Wyoming Valley West) 4-3

152

1^st – TC Warner (Cumberland Valley) dec. Josh Shields (Franklin Regional) 4-3

3^rd – Paul Dunn (Bethel Park) dec. David Hollingshead (Altoona) 5-3

5^th – Michael Springer (Norristown) dec. Josh Ortman (Parkland) 7-2

7^th – Mason Bentzel (Spring Grove) dec. Jake Shaffer (Latrobe) 1-0

160

1^st – Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin) maj. dec. Ian Shannon (Carlisle) 17-7

3^rd – Jonathan Avon (North Hills) dec. Matthew Carr (Abington Heights) 7-3

5^th – Ehrin Lee (Titusville) inj. def. Dominic Scalise (Latrobe) 0:00

7^th – Bobby Fehr (Northampton) dec. Chad Reese (Central Mountain) 3-2

170

1^st – Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale) maj. dec. Kyle Coniker (Central Catholic) 14-2

3^rd – Cody Seibert (Big Spring) dec. Noah Wilps (Chartiers Valley) 2-0

5^th – Ben Swarr (Garden Spot) dec. John Dambro (Garnet Valley) 3-2

7^th – Idris White (Father Judge) dec. Connor Martinez (Dallas) 8-4

182

1^st – Zack Zavatsky (Latrobe) dec. Kellan Stout (Mount Lebanon) 3-1

3^rd – Nicolino Sevi (Nazareth) dec. Kyle Koser (Northern York) 6-4

5^th – Alex Price (North Penn) dec. Casey Glunt (James Buchanan) 6-4

7^th – John Shorter (Manheim Township) dec. Tyree Spearman (McDowell) 6-3

195

1^st – Jan Johnson (Governor Mifflin) dec. Nezar Haddad (Parkland) 6-0

3^rd – Tom Sleigh (DuBois) dec. Andrew Phipps (Norwin) 3-2

5^th – Jovon Reyes (Dieruff) dec. Cole Macek (Montour) 5-1 2OT

7^th – Jordan Wertz (Boyertown) dec. Dylan Herb (Shippensburg) 3-2 OT UTB

220

1^st – Michael Boykin (Coatesville) dec. Jordan Wood (Boyertown) 5-2

3^rd – Jake Gunning (Liberty) dec. Bo Spiller (Solanco) 3-2

5^th – Dwayne Pepper (Shikellamy) dec. Antonio Pelusi (Lasalle) 8-5

7^th – Omar Haddad (Parkland) dec. Fred Mantsch (Hempfield) 3-2 OT UTB

285

1^st – Thomas Haines (Solanco) dec. Pat Finn (Pottsgrove) 6-1

3^rd – Shane Kuhn (Kiski Area) dec. Tracey Green (Methacton) 4-0

5^th – Scot Augustine (McDowell) dec. Ryan Monk (Dallas) 3-1 OT

7^th – Joey Goodhart (Hempfield, D3) dec. Zeynul Zaynullayev (Mount Lebanon) 5-2