Shom
02-22-2010, 12:56 PM
Shamokin Area captures 3rd straight championship
The Indians had five champions, one less than last season, and advanced eight wrestlers overall, also one less than last season, but were overall just as formidable as in the past two seasons, overcoming an early deficit to top Mifflinburg for the team title, 163-138.
Brandon Pesarchick (130), Josh Lahr (135), Derek Shingara (140) and Wes Tillett (285) all successfully defended their sectional titles for the Indians, and were joined on the top of the podium by
junior Lee Supsic (145). Chris Pauzer and Kegan Polastre were runners-up and Chris Henley finished third to also advance for the Indians.
"I'm really happy with the way the guys wrestled this weekend," said Shamokin coach Todd Hockenbroch.
Line Mountain finished third in the team standings and advanced five wrestlers, including a pair of freshman champions, 103-pounder Zain Retherford and 112-pounder Seth Lansberry. Also advancing for the Eagles were runner-up Bryce Martz (215), and third-place finishers Mason Zimmerman (119) and Adam Kritzer (130).
Mount Carmel was a point-and-a-half behind the Eagles, and although the Red Tornadoes didn't have any champs, they had three runnerups and four third-place finishers, and Southern Columbia advanced four wrestlers, including the Tigers' first sectional champion, Nick Diak (215), since 2007.
Dylan Hornberger (135), Brett Przekop (160) and Ahmad Abuomar (285) were second for Mount Carmel, and Mick Saukaitis (112), Tyler Waricki (125), Meyrick Lamb (152) and Derek Urbanavage (189) were third.
Besides Diak, Brian Watkins (130) was second, and Logen Mensinger (140) and Zach Raup (145) third for the Tigers.
Easy and hard
Pesarchick (29-5) got the Indians' first title, and his second sectional crown, the easy way when Southern's Watkins (18-3), who had an impressive semifinal win over Kritzer, opted to forfeit to rest an injured shoulder which caused him to miss much of the last month. Pesarchick was a 12-4 semifinal winner over Mount Carmel's Nick Dusendschine in the semifinal.
Lahr (13-5), coming off an injury of his own, had to work harder, downing Hornberger 3-0. Hornberger (29-4) had two previous close losses to Pesarchick before the latter wrestler dropped a weight, but Lahr said he really didn't try to scout off those bouts.
"I didn't even think about that stuff," said Lahr, who said his knee, which is recovering from surgery, didn't bother him either. "I just went out and wrestled. Lahr scored all three points in the second period with an escape and takedown, and rode Hornberger out in the third.
"We didn't even want Josh to wrestle in the final," said Hockenbroch. "But he's a competitor and he wanted to wrestle."
Shingara (26-6) gained another title with a 12-3 finals win over Mifflinburg's Alan Miller.
Supsic (21-10) earned his first sectional title with a 4-2 win over Midd-West's Nick Kratzer in the final after a pair of pins.
"I'm so happy for Lee," said Hockenbroch. "It seems like every tournament we go to, he gets the toughest draw. This time he got one where he could pretty well sail into the final."
Tillett (29-3) had his third close battle of the season with Abuomar in the 285 final. Abuomar (27-9) led 1-0 going into the final period on a neutral point given up by Tillett. Tillett escaped, and both wrestlers fought off serious shots before Tillett finally got a takedown with about seven seconds to go. Tillett won earlier bouts by 3-2 and 7-4.
"He's really strong," Tillett said of his adversary. "I played right over him in football and I knew he was tough. If he had a little more experience, he'd be really tough."
Pauser (8-19) was a surprise finalist at 125, getting an upset win in the quarterfinals and 12-8 semifinals win over Wariki before running headlong into Mifflinburg's Ethan Midkiff (24-1) in the finals. Midkiff had a pin in 3:13.
Polastre (20-9), a champ last season, lost a tough 5-4 decision in the 171 final to Mifflnburg's Jake Heeter (23-9). Polastre had an apparent reversal at the end of the first period but was only awarded an escape, and Heeter later got an escape which Shamokin fans thought came out of bounds.
Fancy freshmen
Retherford (30-1) took easy care of defending champ David Sheesley of Mifflinburg in the 103 final, winning the first of what should be many postseason titles.
"It (varsity wrestling) has been a big step up from junior high," said Retherford. "I'm a pretty light 103-pounder, so most of the kids are a lot bigger than me. I need to try to perfect some of my moves."
Lansberry (21-12) followed his teammate with a 7-1 win in the 112 final over Mifflinburg's Dakota Noll.
"They're two of the hardest workers we have in the room," said Line Mountain coach Mike Martz. "They do a lot of stuff together in the offseason and on their own and work hard all year."
Martz (14-5) dropped his 215 final to Southern's Diak (22-8), who became Southern's first sectional champ since Josh Marks three years ago.
"The big things for me are to keep my head and stay physical," said Diak. "Those are keys for our whole team."
Mount Carmel's Przekop (28-8) had a big win in the 160 semifinal over Shamokin's Henley, 11-4, but had little answer for Danville's Garrett Llewellyn (28-4) in dropping the final, 6-1.
Other champions were freshmen Ty Walter of Mifflinburg (152) and Sean Heggs (119) of East Juniata.
By CHUCK SOUDERS (Sports Writer chuck_s@newsitem.com)
Published: February 21, 2010
The Indians had five champions, one less than last season, and advanced eight wrestlers overall, also one less than last season, but were overall just as formidable as in the past two seasons, overcoming an early deficit to top Mifflinburg for the team title, 163-138.
Brandon Pesarchick (130), Josh Lahr (135), Derek Shingara (140) and Wes Tillett (285) all successfully defended their sectional titles for the Indians, and were joined on the top of the podium by
junior Lee Supsic (145). Chris Pauzer and Kegan Polastre were runners-up and Chris Henley finished third to also advance for the Indians.
"I'm really happy with the way the guys wrestled this weekend," said Shamokin coach Todd Hockenbroch.
Line Mountain finished third in the team standings and advanced five wrestlers, including a pair of freshman champions, 103-pounder Zain Retherford and 112-pounder Seth Lansberry. Also advancing for the Eagles were runner-up Bryce Martz (215), and third-place finishers Mason Zimmerman (119) and Adam Kritzer (130).
Mount Carmel was a point-and-a-half behind the Eagles, and although the Red Tornadoes didn't have any champs, they had three runnerups and four third-place finishers, and Southern Columbia advanced four wrestlers, including the Tigers' first sectional champion, Nick Diak (215), since 2007.
Dylan Hornberger (135), Brett Przekop (160) and Ahmad Abuomar (285) were second for Mount Carmel, and Mick Saukaitis (112), Tyler Waricki (125), Meyrick Lamb (152) and Derek Urbanavage (189) were third.
Besides Diak, Brian Watkins (130) was second, and Logen Mensinger (140) and Zach Raup (145) third for the Tigers.
Easy and hard
Pesarchick (29-5) got the Indians' first title, and his second sectional crown, the easy way when Southern's Watkins (18-3), who had an impressive semifinal win over Kritzer, opted to forfeit to rest an injured shoulder which caused him to miss much of the last month. Pesarchick was a 12-4 semifinal winner over Mount Carmel's Nick Dusendschine in the semifinal.
Lahr (13-5), coming off an injury of his own, had to work harder, downing Hornberger 3-0. Hornberger (29-4) had two previous close losses to Pesarchick before the latter wrestler dropped a weight, but Lahr said he really didn't try to scout off those bouts.
"I didn't even think about that stuff," said Lahr, who said his knee, which is recovering from surgery, didn't bother him either. "I just went out and wrestled. Lahr scored all three points in the second period with an escape and takedown, and rode Hornberger out in the third.
"We didn't even want Josh to wrestle in the final," said Hockenbroch. "But he's a competitor and he wanted to wrestle."
Shingara (26-6) gained another title with a 12-3 finals win over Mifflinburg's Alan Miller.
Supsic (21-10) earned his first sectional title with a 4-2 win over Midd-West's Nick Kratzer in the final after a pair of pins.
"I'm so happy for Lee," said Hockenbroch. "It seems like every tournament we go to, he gets the toughest draw. This time he got one where he could pretty well sail into the final."
Tillett (29-3) had his third close battle of the season with Abuomar in the 285 final. Abuomar (27-9) led 1-0 going into the final period on a neutral point given up by Tillett. Tillett escaped, and both wrestlers fought off serious shots before Tillett finally got a takedown with about seven seconds to go. Tillett won earlier bouts by 3-2 and 7-4.
"He's really strong," Tillett said of his adversary. "I played right over him in football and I knew he was tough. If he had a little more experience, he'd be really tough."
Pauser (8-19) was a surprise finalist at 125, getting an upset win in the quarterfinals and 12-8 semifinals win over Wariki before running headlong into Mifflinburg's Ethan Midkiff (24-1) in the finals. Midkiff had a pin in 3:13.
Polastre (20-9), a champ last season, lost a tough 5-4 decision in the 171 final to Mifflnburg's Jake Heeter (23-9). Polastre had an apparent reversal at the end of the first period but was only awarded an escape, and Heeter later got an escape which Shamokin fans thought came out of bounds.
Fancy freshmen
Retherford (30-1) took easy care of defending champ David Sheesley of Mifflinburg in the 103 final, winning the first of what should be many postseason titles.
"It (varsity wrestling) has been a big step up from junior high," said Retherford. "I'm a pretty light 103-pounder, so most of the kids are a lot bigger than me. I need to try to perfect some of my moves."
Lansberry (21-12) followed his teammate with a 7-1 win in the 112 final over Mifflinburg's Dakota Noll.
"They're two of the hardest workers we have in the room," said Line Mountain coach Mike Martz. "They do a lot of stuff together in the offseason and on their own and work hard all year."
Martz (14-5) dropped his 215 final to Southern's Diak (22-8), who became Southern's first sectional champ since Josh Marks three years ago.
"The big things for me are to keep my head and stay physical," said Diak. "Those are keys for our whole team."
Mount Carmel's Przekop (28-8) had a big win in the 160 semifinal over Shamokin's Henley, 11-4, but had little answer for Danville's Garrett Llewellyn (28-4) in dropping the final, 6-1.
Other champions were freshmen Ty Walter of Mifflinburg (152) and Sean Heggs (119) of East Juniata.
By CHUCK SOUDERS (Sports Writer chuck_s@newsitem.com)
Published: February 21, 2010