Three WPIAL AA Wrestlers Win State Gold

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, March 8, 2014 | 6:41 PM

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The WPIAL came into Saturday’s action in AA with four wrestlers in the finals looking for gold. By the end of the afternoon, the WPIAL went three for four in Hershey.

The action started with the dominating performance by senior Jason Nolf of Kittanning. After winning two matches by fall and one by a major decision to get into the finals, Nolf wasted no time and picking up his third straight title. After a takedown within the first ten seconds, Nolf allowed an escape to his opponent, Billy Barnes of Williamson, to make the score 2-1. But then it was Nolf who got in deep on a shot and leaned in to Barnes, putting him on his back and pinning Barnes in 1:42. For his dominating performance, Nolf was awarded the outstanding wrestler award of the AA tournament. Nolf ends his high school career with a record of 176-1 with 3 state championships. He will attend Penn State University in the fall.

The WPIAL kept the streak going at 152, where Burrell senior Steve Edwards won his state title in arguably the most exciting match of the finals. In the first period, Edwards gave up a takedown to Blake Marks of Southern Columbia then picked up a reversal to tie the match at 2. Then in the second, Marks chose bottom and scored a reversal to take a 4-2 lead. But seconds later, Edwards grabbed a reversal right back to tie the match at 4. Marks would then get an escape to make it 5-4. Edwards would tie the bout in the third period with an escape of his own to tie the match at 5. In overtime, Edwards scored a takedown 33 seconds in to win the state title with a 7-5 victory. Edwards finished his high school career with a record of 142-37 while winning his first state title. He plans to attend Pitt-Johnstown in the fall.

South Fayette junior Jared Walker did not fare as well in his championship bout, dropping a 9-3 decision to Kyle Bova of Coudersport. Walker gave up a takedown and three back points to go down early 5-0. After trading escapes, Walker picked up a takedown on Bova to cut the lead to 6-3 late in the third period. But after giving up an escape, Bova collected the final takedown to seal the win and defeat Walker 9-3.

At 220, senior Jake Temple of Avella made it three for four in championship bouts for the WPIAL. In a rematch of the Southwest Regional, Temple scored an early takedown on Reynold Maines of West Branch of take an early 2-0 lead. Both wrestlers would trade escapes in the second/third period, giving Temple a 3-1 lead in the final period. But Maines was never able to get close to Temple on his feet, and despite picking up a late stalling call, it was Temple who went on to win the match 3-1. Temple becomes the first state champion (and fourth overall) in Avella history since Ryan Sella won a title back in 1988. He finishes his high school career with a record of 146-17 to grab his first PIAA gold. Temple is undecided with his college plans at this time.

The team title for the individual PIAA championships went to Bethlehem Catholic, who registered 138.5 points. The total points scored beats the record for the most points scored all time in a PIAA individual championship, knocking off the record held by Northampton back in 2000 when they netted 137.5 points. The WPIAL had three teams inside the top ten from the weekend. Burrell finished fifth with 53 points, Kittanning finished eighth with 41 points, and South Fayette finished in ninth with 40 points.

For a full recap of the PIAA AA 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 Kittanning’s Jason Nolf, Burrell’s Steven Edwards, and Avella’s Jake Temple.

Medal Round Results

106

1^st – Jake Riegel (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. John Pipa (Bishop McDevitt) 3-1

3^rd – Brian Courtney (Athens) dec. Joe Lobeck (Lancaster Catholic) 3-1

5^th – Max Murin (Central Cambria) fall Aaron Burkett (Chestnut Ridge) 4:32

7^th – Sammy Hepler (Tri Valley) dec. Ryan Carlson (Brockway) 4-1

113

1^st – Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Jonathan Gabriel (Bedford) 5-0

3^rd – Taylor Ortz (Brookville) fall Seth Hogue (Reynolds) 2:53

5^th – Collin Glorioso (Huntingdon) dec. Austin McDermitt (Burgettstown) 6-2

7^th – Faris Messai (Jamestown) dec. Kyle Drick (Montgomery) 7-2

120

1^st – Korbin Myers (Boiling Springs) dec. Todd Lane (Southern Columbia) 3-1

3^rd – George Phillippi (Derry) dec. Joey Gould (Bethlehem Catholic) 3-2

5^th – Triston Law (Forest Hills) maj. dec. Mike Stuart (Benton) 10-0

7^th – Caleb Bordner (Tri Valley) dec. Willis Gruver (Redbank Valley) 4-2

126

1^st – Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Josh Giorgio (Schuylkill Valley) 9-3

3^rd – Cody Blankenship (Kane) dec. Lewis Williams (Central Columbia) 3-1 OT

5^th – Grant Bond (Boiling Springs) inj. def. John Demaske (Jefferson Morgan) 0:00

7^th – Patrick Dewitt (Valley) dec. Dante Albanese (Pius X) 4-1

132

1^st – Ian Brown (Hanover) dec. Kyle Shoop (Boiling Springs) 7-0

3^rd – Austin Harry (Lake-Lehman) dec. Tyler Vath (Saegertown) 5-2

5^th – Mike Carr (South Fayette) dec. Stephen Maloney (Bethlehem Catholic) 3-1

7^th – Ryan Easter (Bedford) dec. Andrew Sutton (Pen Argyl) 3-1 OT

138

1^st – Brock Zacherl (Brookville) dec. Kent Lane (Southern Columbia) 8-1

3^rd – Jake Wentzel (South Park) dec. George McGuire (Fort LeBoeuf) 5-0

5^th – Josh Evans (Palmerton) dec. Nick Monico (Saegertown) 2-1

7^th – Mike Labriola (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Garrett Thomas (Bedford) 6-5

145

1^st – Jason Nolf (Kittanning) fall Billy Barnes (Williamson) 1:42

3^rd – Zach Vroman (Brookville) dec. Jacob Oliver (Huntingdon) 8-4

5^th – Corey Falleroni (Burrell) maj. dec. Dakota Nixon (Muncy) 10-1

7^th – Tyler Shafer (Hanover) inj. def. Michael Communale (Pius X) 0:00

152

1^st – Steve Edwards (Burrell) dec. Blake Marks (Southern Columbia) 7-5 OT

3^rd – Cole Walter (Mifflinburg) tech. fall Grant Fetchet (South Fayette) 15-0, 3:14

5^th – Brodie Zacherl (Brookville) dec. Richie Cerebe (Cavalry Christian) 6-0

7^th – Andrew Doak (Blairsville) dec. Brad Malinowski (Fort LeBoeuf) 3-2

160

1^st – Kyle Bova (Coudersport) dec. Jared Walker (South Fayette) 9-3

3^rd – Ryan Preisch (Milton) dec. Briton Shelton (Bermudian Springs) 7-0

5^th – Jeric Kasunic (Benton) dec. Levi Niebauer (Cambria Heights) 3-0

7^th – Samuel Colebert (Oswayo Valley) dec. Jimmy Miller (Brookville) 6-4

170

1^st – Evan Delong (Kane) maj. dec. Nico Pecora (Richland) 12-3

3^rd – Dakota Geer (Franklin) dec. Nick Mort (Fairfield) 3-1

5^th – Corey Hazel (Penns Valley) inj. def. Garrett Hoffman (Montoursville) 0:00

7^th – Auston Hummel (North Schuylkill) dec. Nick Cortopassi (Bethlehem Catholic) 3-2

182

1^st – Stephen Loiseau (Lancaster Catholic) dec. Jose Ortiz (Bethlehem Catholic) 4-0

3^rd – Dylan Reynolds (Saegertown) dec. Isaiah Bobotas (Montgomery) 2-1 2OT

5^th – Terrell Fields (Valley) dec. Gavin Berkley (Meyersdale) 6-3

7^th – Colton Dull (Bermudian Springs) fall Cody Miller (Hamburg Area) 2:17

195

1^st – Tristan Sponseller (Bermudian Springs) maj. dec. Ryan Morris (Corry) 9-1

3^rd – Garrett Wesneski (Canton) fall Marcus Davenport (Valley) 2:23

5^th – Logan Womelsdorf (Benton) dec. Kyle Taylor (Boling Springs) 3-0

7^th – Tyler Oliver (United) dec. Richard Nase (Panther Valley) 3-1

220

1^st – Jake Temple (Avella) dec. Reynold Maines (West Branch) 3-1

3^rd – Andrew Dunn (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Dylan Otis (Wyalusing) 3-1

5^th – Jacob Robb (Kittanning) maj. dec. Connor Overman (Conneaut Area) 8-0

7^th – Andrew Phelps (North East) dec. Sam McCollum (Bermudian Springs) 5-2

285

1^st – Sam Breese (Lakeview) dec. Brady Mutton (Pen Argyl) 3-2

3^rd – Allan Beattie (Burrell) dec. Aaron Gill (Cambria Heights) 7-1

5^th – Jake Beistel (Southmoreland) dec. Devin Reed (Everett) 3-1

7^th – Brett Harris (Fairfield) fall Gene Ringer (Reynolds) 5:23 OT

Tags: Avella, Burrell, Kittanning