CLARION – It’s been the year of the Elkers and this weekend’s
District 9 Class AA championships were no different.
Much like the rest of the season has gone, Ridgway continued its
near dominance of D-9 wrestling, placing six in the finals, winning
five individual titles and rolling to the team championship
Saturday evening at Clarion University’s Waldo S. Tippen
Gymnasium.
Seniors Brock Leitzel (130), Colby Pisani (135) and Nikko
Leitzel (140), along with freshman Garet Pisani (103) and sophomore
Derek Konen (112) won championships while Jerico Weitzel (189) was
a runner-up.
It was the third title in four tries for Nikko Leitzel (40-0) –
his only defeat was in overtime to Brockway’s Lenny Calhoun in 2005
– while Pisani (37-2) won his third championship and Brock Leitzel
(38-1) his second.
The younger Pisani (38-2) used a late takedown to knock off
Curwensville’s Derek Brothers (27-6), 3-2, to avenge an earlier
season 4-2 loss while Konen, who was third at districts as a
freshman, picked up a 12-2 major decision over Redbank Valley’s
Levi Bell (13-6).
The Elkers then knocked off three in a row with Brock Leitzel
beating Smethport’s Juston Switzer, 8-3. Pisani a 17-2 technical
fall over Brockway’s Jaron Licatovich in 3:36 and Nikko Leitzel
downing previously undefeated Dick Cowburn of Coudersport, 3-1.
The only one to stop the Elkers perfect championship run was
Curwensville’s Nick Sipes, who downed Weitzel, 3-2, in one of the
feature bouts of the night. With his victory, Sipes became the 22nd
wrestler in either Class AA or Class AAA to win four D-9
championships after DuBois’ Zach Lundgren did it earlier in the
evening.
In the process, Sipes avenged an earlier 2-1 loss to Weitzel
with a third meeting between the two possible at the PIAA Northwest
Regional Championships this weekend in Sharon.
Both Colby Pisani and Sipes shared the Joseph J. Kata Award as
the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.
But Sipes wasn’t the only Class AA four-time district champ
crowned Saturday.
Two bouts later Brookville’s Eli Morres joined the club with an
impressive 7-0 win over Cameron County’s Chad Schatz (32-3) in the
285-pound finals. Morres (39-0) also became the first wrestler to
win four championships in one weight class. The last to win three
was Clearfield’s Matt Kyler at 103 from 2003-2005.
Ironically, both Morres and Sipes became four-time winners on
the campus they will spend their next four years. Both have signed
to play football at Clarion while Sipes will wrestle as well.
The other individual honor handed out Saturday went to Ridgway
head coach Gary Gerber, who won the Lenny Ferraro Award as the
coach of the year. It’s the first time Gerber won the award since
2000, the last time Ridgway won the district team championship.
The Elkers finished Saturday with 199 points, a whopping 83 over
runner-up Redbank Valley. It was the largest margin between the
first and second place teams since Brockway outdistanced Brookville
by 50, 174-154, in 2002.
After Friday’s competition, Ridgway had 13 of its 14 wrestlers
still alive in the tournament, including eight in the semifinals
Saturday morning. Senior Troy Betts (215), ended up losing to
Clarion’s Anthony Driscoll by fall at 2:44 while senior Ben
Thompson (285) was pinned by Schatz at 2:09.
Thompson ended up reaching the consolation finals, where he lost
to Johnsonburg’s Jack Schreiber, 5-2. Freshman Sam Skraba (125)
also reached the consolation finals but ended up falling to
Brockway’s Levi Ruff, 3-2, for the second time in the
tournament.
Oswayo Valley’s Zeke Drake won the 160-pound title. Drake (28-0)
pinned Redbank Valley’s Logan Shirey (31-11) at 4:53 for his second
district title.
Redbank Valley and Clarion were the only two other schools
outside of Ridgway to crown multiple champs Saturday.
Redbank Valley senior Jimmy McCauley (145) won his third
straight district championship, pinning Curwensville’s Brett
McCracken in 1:48, to improve to 23-4 on the season while junior
Jonathan Brothers (152) followed with a 4-1 win over Johnsonburg’s
Judd Zilcosky for his first title and stay perfect at 37-0.
Clarion’s two titles came from Brad Rapp (171) and Driscoll.
Rapp (36-3) won his second straight championship with a 5-2 win
over Kane’s Matt Mix while Driscoll (34-6), downed Keystone’s
Markus McHenry, 8-3.
Johnsonburg qualified a total of five wrestlers for
regionals.
In addition to Zilcosky (24-7), Chase Gardner (19-5) reached the
125-pound title bout and battled Port Allegany’s Nick Nichols
(38-2). But for the second year in a row, Gardner came up short,
3-0. For Nichols, it was his second district crown.
Joining Schreiber as third-place finishers for the Rams were
Dylan Nelson (160) and Mike Cherry (171).
Brookville and Curwensville will send four wrestlers apiece to
Sharon this weekend while Brockway qualified three.
Joining Morres is Brandon Sansom (119), Justin Moore (140) and
Shane Ross (145).
Both Sansom and Ross lost in the championship semifinals while
Moore fell in the quarterfinals to Johnsonburg’s Josh Woodford.
Samson ended up beating Brockway’s Eric Greeco, 4-3, to take
third while Moore avenged his first lost to Woodford with a 9-2
victory. Ross pinned Sheffield’s Brad Heeter in 4:02, his second
victory over the Wolverine senior in the tournament.
Despite losing to Colby Pisani in the finals, Licatovich, a
sophomore, ended up as one the biggest surprises in the tournament.
Unseeded despite a 17-9 record coming in, Licatovich ended up
knocking off Smethport’s Kevin Smith, the second seed, 9-6 in the
quarterfinals and third seeded Ken Kiskadden, 4-2, in the
semis.
Joining Licatovich and Ruff at regionals is junior Dillon Park
(130).
Park lost to Switzer, 8-7, in championship semis when Switzer
got an escape with three seconds left in the bout. Park came back
and downed Curwensville’s Jeff Thomas, 9-3, in the third-place bout
to qualify for regionals for the third time.
Tide sophomore Tyler Peters (112) is also headed to regionals.
He beat Keystone’s Zach Baughman, 5-1, to finish third.
The regional tournament gets under way Friday at 6 p.m.
