High Schools hit mats on Friday

by Guy Cipriano

Posted on December 4, 2008

WRESTLING

High schools hit mats on Friday

By Guy Cipriano- gciprian@centredaily.com

No stalling here. High school wrestling begins Friday in Pennsylvania and here's a look at what to expect in Centre County and beyond during 2008-09

1. The stars are gone

The county's two best wrestlers have moved onto bigger things.

Quentin Wright, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Bald Eagle Area, now starts for Penn State at 174 pounds. Steve Bosak, a two-time PIAA Class AAA runner-up at State College, has already developed into a solid college wrestler in Cornell coach Rob Koll's loaded practice room.

Who might emerge as the county's next high PIAA placer?

Bellefonte junior Mitchell Port and State College junior Erik Galloway enter the second stages of their varsity careers with a combined 132 wins and each wrestler owns a PIAA medal. Port placed fifth at 103 in 2007 while Galloway finished sixth at 112 last year. The duo could be primed for better PIAA showings this season.

Bellefonte senior Shane Alterio has made two PIAA appearances and won district and regional titles last season. State College sophomore Scott Bosak, Steve's younger brother, has an excellent pedigree and proved last year he can push some of the state's best wrestlers.

2. First-time, long-time

The county's three new head coaches are far from unknown rookies
Former Penns Valley coach Jeff Stover, a Bellefonte graduate, replaces Steve Kurzinger at State College and former Philipsburg-Osceola coach Mike Maney, a BEA graduate, replaces Larry Walker at Bellefonte.

Steve Millward, a BEA graduate, returns to his alma mater to replace Skip Pighetti. Millward served on coaching staffs at BEA, Bellefonte and State College.

The defection of three coaches leaves Penns Valley's Joel Brinker as the longest-tenured coach in the county. Brinker is entering his third year as the Rams' head coach.

Tim McCamley returns for his second year at P-O.

3. Chasing Wildcats

The team to beat in District 6 Class AAA doesn't reside in Centre County.

Central Mountain's lineup features five returning PIAA qualifiers, including junior sensations Dylan and Andrew Alton, and four other wrestlers who recorded 24 or more victories last year. The Wildcats, who went 22-1 in 2007-08 and received a No. 10 2008-09 preseason ranking from WIN Magazine, are favorites to repeat as District 6, Northwest Regional and Big 7 champions.

Bellefonte leads the group pursuing Central Mountain. The Red Raiders went 17-6 last year with three of their losses coming against the Wildcats. State College, BEA and Indian Valley also could factor into the District 6 Class AAA team mix.

Central Mountain's Dylan Alton, Andrew Alton, Jordan Rich, Glenn Barnes, Forrest Bechdel and Zach Corl, Indian Valley's Tye Boyer and Tyler Bedelyon, and Lewistown's Colton Spade are among the best District 6 Class AAA wrestlers living outside Centre County.

In Class AA, Forest Hills, Westmont Hilltop, Huntingdon and Mount Union return strong teams. Westmont Hilltop 215- pounder Zac Bennett should be fun to watch. Bennett, who signed with North Carolina last month, advanced to the PIAA finals as a freshman and won a state title as a sophomore before missing most of last season with an injury. Tyrone's A.J. Schoop and Ronnie Garbinsky, and Forest Hills' David Fogle give the district some of the state's best Class AA lightweights.

4. Smaller schedules

A later start to the season resulted in the PIAA trimming scheduling points from 24 to 22.

The reduction created scheduling issues everywhere, especially in this area where the addition of a Mountain League Tournament, Dec. 13 at Central Mountain, forced teams to abandon previous dual meet or tournament commitments.

Bellefonte and P-O, which attend the maximum four regular- season tournaments, have 11 dual meets on their schedules. Penns Valley's schedule only includes 10 matches but the Rams are attending the Juniata Duals on Jan. 17. Penns Valley begins its schedule Friday at Glendale.

State College is the only county school not involved in the Mountain League. The Little Lions' schedule includes four tournaments and 11 dual meets.

BEA's schedule experienced the biggest change. The Eagles are no longer attending the rugged Beast of the East Tournament and Cumberland Valley Duals. Instead, the Eagles are participating in the Escape the Rock Tournament from Jan. 9-10 at Council Rock South High School.

BEA is the only county team not entered in this month's King of the Mountain Tournament at Central Mountain.

6. Tough start

P-O's four big losses — Kurt McCamley (Seton Hill), Bo Reifer (Mercyhurst North East), Dimitri Sidorick (football, Maryland) and Mike Horton (Edinboro) — are playing sports in college.

Still, the schedule doesn't allow Tim McCamley to ease his young team into a competitive mode.

The Mounties compete six times during the season's first 15 days. The stretch includes dual meets against Lewistown, Bellefonte and Central Mountain.

P-O hosts its Mountaineer Tournament on Saturday. State College, Hollidaysburg, Somerset, Corry, Central Dauphin East, New Oxford and General McLane are also participating in the one-day pool tournament.

7. Good duals

It shouldn't take long to build interest in the dual meet season.

Bellefonte opens its season at Central Mountain next Tuesday. One week later, BEA begins its dual meet season at Bellefonte.

Arrive early.

8. Talent, talent and more talent

OK, we're looking ahead. But strong sophomore and junior classes should produce some outstanding matchups during this season's PIAA Class AAA Championships.

Wrestlers to watch outside District 6 include Central Dauphin sophomore Kenny Courts and junior Marshall Peppelman, Blue Mountain junior Josh Kindig, Nazareth sophomore Zach Horan, Warwick junior Antonio Giorgio and Abington Heights junior Evan Craig.

Courts, who sustained a season- ending injury while winning last December's Beast of the East, was the only member of the group who didn't participate in a state final last year.

The talented classes should keep Penn State assistant coach and recruiting specialist Matt Dernlan busy. If things fall into place, the Nittany Lions could assemble a nation-al- title contender without leaving the state

9. Great book

Lock Haven resident Tom Elling has once again produced the best wrestling guide anywhere.

Elling's 2008 "Pennsylvania Wrestling Handbook" includes 310 pages of useful information ranging from complete 2007-08 results to a list of Pennsylvania wrestlers who have earned NCAA Division I All-American honors.

For the first time, the handbook includes a compilation of the state's top dual meet teams. Five Centre County teams — '87, '97 and '99 BEA, '50 Bellefonte and '59 State College — are included in the list

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