Blade
03-08-2010, 06:00 AM
Wrestling: Valley boasts four regional champs in AA
Wes Tillet was late getting to the podium for the medals presentation. While he and his fellow medalists at 285 pounds posed for photos, he struggled to hold the large replica of his bracket in the air.
But the fact that the Shamokin junior was holding the bracket meant that he was the Northeast Regional Class AA champion. And that meant he had defeated Benton’s Tyler DeMott, the returning state runner-up and ranked No. 1 in the state by both the Pennsylvania Wrestling Rankings and Off the Mat.
Tillet’s surprising 7-5 overtime victory over the Benton senior gave the Valley its fourth regional champion of the night.
Also winning gold were Line Mountain’s Zain Retherford, with a medical forfeit win over Mifflinburg’s David Sheesley at 103; Shamokin’s Brandon Pesarchick, an 8-4 winner over Line Mountain’s Adam Kritzer at 130; and Lewisburg’s Nathaniel Brown, a 7-2 victor at 171 over Lake-Lehman’s Shane Stark.
Besides Sheesley and Kritzer, others advancing as silver medalists included Shamokin’s Josh Lahr, 135; Shamokin’s Derek Shingara, 140; Warrior Run’s Elias Biddle, 145; and Ryan Solomon, Milton, 189.
The top three in each weight class advance to this week’s state tournament in Hershey. Other Valley wrestlers advancing, with third-place finishes, were Ethan Midkiff, Mifflinburg, 125; Tyler Hain, Warrior Run, 152; Garrett Llewellyn, Danville, 160; and Brandon Smith, Lewisburg, 189.
Although DeMott, now 36-2, had pinned Tillet in last week’s district final, it was in that defeat when Tillet acquired the confidence that helped him turn the tables Saturday night. Tillet reversed DeMott during that loss, and it let him know that he can score against the Tiger.
“He was unstoppable through the whole year, but when I scored on him last week, I knew he wasn’t as unstoppable as they say he was,” said Tillet, struggling to get his breath after the big win.
He also wanted to get into DeMott’s head by scoring early.
“I knew he gets mad when he gets scored on, so I tried to get in his head as much as I could.’’
Tillet did just that by getting the first takedown for a 2-0 first-period lead. DeMott escaped in the second, Tillet got out in the third, then each wrestler scored a takedown. But DeMott tied it with a penalty point for a stalling call against Tillet with nine seconds left.
“At Shamokin, we don’t get worried, we never quit. We don’t care if we’re down 100-1,” he said.
Tillet took DeMott down in overtime, nearly to his back.
“This is unbelievable. My coaches told me I could do it all week,” Tillet said.
Pesarchick had four takedowns in beating Kritzer. Frey, a 2008 state champion, made a first-period takedown stand up to beat Lahr. Stanton used a five-point move in the first period stand up in his major over Shingara.
By Harold Raker
The Daily Item
Wes Tillet was late getting to the podium for the medals presentation. While he and his fellow medalists at 285 pounds posed for photos, he struggled to hold the large replica of his bracket in the air.
But the fact that the Shamokin junior was holding the bracket meant that he was the Northeast Regional Class AA champion. And that meant he had defeated Benton’s Tyler DeMott, the returning state runner-up and ranked No. 1 in the state by both the Pennsylvania Wrestling Rankings and Off the Mat.
Tillet’s surprising 7-5 overtime victory over the Benton senior gave the Valley its fourth regional champion of the night.
Also winning gold were Line Mountain’s Zain Retherford, with a medical forfeit win over Mifflinburg’s David Sheesley at 103; Shamokin’s Brandon Pesarchick, an 8-4 winner over Line Mountain’s Adam Kritzer at 130; and Lewisburg’s Nathaniel Brown, a 7-2 victor at 171 over Lake-Lehman’s Shane Stark.
Besides Sheesley and Kritzer, others advancing as silver medalists included Shamokin’s Josh Lahr, 135; Shamokin’s Derek Shingara, 140; Warrior Run’s Elias Biddle, 145; and Ryan Solomon, Milton, 189.
The top three in each weight class advance to this week’s state tournament in Hershey. Other Valley wrestlers advancing, with third-place finishes, were Ethan Midkiff, Mifflinburg, 125; Tyler Hain, Warrior Run, 152; Garrett Llewellyn, Danville, 160; and Brandon Smith, Lewisburg, 189.
Although DeMott, now 36-2, had pinned Tillet in last week’s district final, it was in that defeat when Tillet acquired the confidence that helped him turn the tables Saturday night. Tillet reversed DeMott during that loss, and it let him know that he can score against the Tiger.
“He was unstoppable through the whole year, but when I scored on him last week, I knew he wasn’t as unstoppable as they say he was,” said Tillet, struggling to get his breath after the big win.
He also wanted to get into DeMott’s head by scoring early.
“I knew he gets mad when he gets scored on, so I tried to get in his head as much as I could.’’
Tillet did just that by getting the first takedown for a 2-0 first-period lead. DeMott escaped in the second, Tillet got out in the third, then each wrestler scored a takedown. But DeMott tied it with a penalty point for a stalling call against Tillet with nine seconds left.
“At Shamokin, we don’t get worried, we never quit. We don’t care if we’re down 100-1,” he said.
Tillet took DeMott down in overtime, nearly to his back.
“This is unbelievable. My coaches told me I could do it all week,” Tillet said.
Pesarchick had four takedowns in beating Kritzer. Frey, a 2008 state champion, made a first-period takedown stand up to beat Lahr. Stanton used a five-point move in the first period stand up in his major over Shingara.
By Harold Raker
The Daily Item