Scholastic Notebook – 03/09/2012

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 9, 2012 | 2:02 PM

Derry Area wrestler Jimmy Gulibon is in Hershey this weekend, trying to make history. The Derry senior is trying to become only the 10th wrestler in Pennsylvania to win four state titles.

If Gulibon wins, this one would probably mean the most, simply because of what he overcame this season.

Flash back to late December, when Gulibon was wrestling in the finals of the Powerade Tournament. He won, but sustained a left knee injury. Gulibon, and some others, thought the injury might be serious. They thought it might be an ACL tear.

“He was very scared because he never even really had an injury before,” said Derry coach Mike Weinell. “We didn’t know at the time how serious it was. Jimmy just knew he couldn’t do what he does. He couldn’t push off his foot or his leg.”

Gulibon thought his season might be over. He thought he might not have a chance at etching his name in the record books. But a few days later, an MRI revealed the injury wasn’t as bad. It was a torn meniscus.

Surgery wasn’t needed, but Gulibon would need to rehabilitate the knee and work to get back on the mat. He didn’t wrestle again until the section tournament. Now, here he is, on the cusp of putting his name among the greatest wrestlers in Pennsylvania history.
The injury was probably the biggest obstacle Gulibon had to overcome in his career.

“When he got hurt, it was hard to watch,” Weinell said. “Guys like him, they almost think they’re invincible at times. They keep going, going and the next thing you know, in that split second they get hurt, everything changes.

“I even tell the other kids on our team that maybe we take Jimmy for granted sometimes. Even we don’t realize how good he is.”
The first wrestler to win four state championships was Waynesburg’s James Conkln from 1940-43. The last to do it was McGuffey’s Jeremy Hunter from 1993-96. In between, the other seven four-time state champs are Clearfield’s Jerry Maurey (1947-50), Lock Haven’s Mike Johnson (1958-61), Catasauqua’s Matt Gerhard (1981-84), North Allegheny’s Ty Moore (1987-90), Benton’s John Hughes (1988-91) and Jefferson-Morgan’s Cary Kolat (1989-92).

‘Dice vs. Titans

The first round of the PIAA basketball playoffs is Friday night and Saturday aftneroon/evening, and one of the more interesting boys first-round games is tomorrow afternoon when City League champion Allderdice plays Shaler at Peabody, 3 p.m. in a Class AAAA contest.
The game features a showdown of top guards – Shaler’s Geno Thorpe and Allderdice’s Justin Dobbs. Shaler lost in the semifinals of the WPIAL while Allderdice won its third consecutive City League title. In an interesting second-round game, the Shaler-Allderdice winner will play the Gateway-Seneca Valley winner.

The Seneca Valley-Gateway game also is an intriguing matchup. They met in the WPIAL quarterfinals and Gateway needed overtime to pull out the win. Gateway went on to win the WPIAL title. Gateway senior guard Tyler Scott did not play in that game because of a suspension.

Tough Road

Winning the WPIAL Class AAA title did not make things easy for the Hopewell girls in the PIAA tournament.

Hopewell gets a tough game right off the bat when it plays Mercyhurst Prep in a first-round game Saturday. Mercyhurst Prep always has a strong team and was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the state until it was upset by Franklin in the District 10 playoffs. Merchurst Prep came back to win a consolation game and qualify for the PIAA playoffs.

Mercyhurst Prep also played Hopewell in the first round of the playoffs last year and Mercyhurst Prep won in overtime, 55-47.

If Hopewell wins, it looks like the Vikings will have another tough game in the second round. They would play the winner of Blackhawk and Bradford. Blackhawk and Hopewell split two games this season, but Blackhawk rolled past Hopewell, 56-38, in one of the games. Also, Bradford is undefeated.

Blackhawk will be bolstered Saturday by the return of sophomore guard Halle Denman, one of the team’s best players who has been out for a few weeks because of a broken hand.

Staying at Palumbo?

Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center played host to the WPIAL basketball championships once again last weekend and attendance was very good – 14,357 for two four-game sessions. The WPIAL’s contract with Palumbo is now up, and will the WPIAL stay there?

WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said the league would like to stay in the Pittsburgh area, but California University of Pa. has a new 6,000-seat convocation center and O’Malley said California wants to put in a bid to host the title games. The new facility, which hosted a pair of plaoyff tripleheaders this year, would be a great site for the WPIAL basketball championships, with travel being the only concern.

Lebo Has its Man?

It looks like Mount Lebanon is set with a new football coach.

Reports have Mike Melnyk of Manheim Township as the Blue Devils’ next coach. He is expected to be hired at a board meeting later this month.

Melnyk has been Manheim Township’s coach for 13 seasons and has a 75-63 record with six appearances in the District 3 Class AAAA playoffs. Melnyk was a kicker at the University of Michigan in the 1980s under Bo Schembechler. He coached at Warren High School (Ohio) and also Kutztown University and Washington State. He was a head coach at Pottstown High School for one year and also spent time as offensive coordinator at Albright College.

At Mount Lebanon, Melnyk would succeed Chris Haering, who left to become an assistant at Pitt.

Football Recruiting

* Adan Breneman, a junior tight end at Cedar Cliff High School who is ranked by some scouting services as one of the top 50 players in the country, will announce his college decision this evening and many believe Penn State will be the winner.

* In the WPIAL class of 2013, North Allegheny offensive lineman Pat Kugler and Central Valley receiver Robert Foster are ranked among the top 100 players in the country by Rivals.com, but there is another player who might not be as well known, but is receiving many scholarship offers.

Belle Vernon offensive lineman Dorian Johnson already has scholarship offers from Pitt, Penn State, Alabama, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Nebraska and numerous others.

Where Are They Now?

The WPIAL will have at least one player in the NCAA mens tournament. Davidson won the Southern Conference tournament and former Sewickley Academy star Tom Droney is one of Davidson’s guards. Although Droney, a sophomore, was moved out of the starting lineup late in the season, he still started 25 games. He is averaging four points.

You would think two other WPIAL players have a decent shot at getting into the tournament also. McKeesport’s Zeke Marshall and Moon’s Brian Walsh both play for Akron, which won the Mid-American Conference regular-season title. The Zips are in the MAC tournament this weekend.

Marshall, a junior, was recently named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. He has 89 blocks in 31 games. He is averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Walsh, a junior who transferred from Xavier, is averaging 8.3 points and has started 24 games. He leads Akron with 42 3-pointers and is shooting 46 percent from 3-point range.

Tags: Allderdice, Belle Vernon, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Derry Area, Gateway, Hopewell