The first group of eight players named to the 46th annual Big 30 Charities Classic has been released and it’s headlined by Pioneer’s Mike Rigerman, the Big 30 Player of the Year and a trio of players from Bradford High.
Besides Rigerman, also in the first group added for New York are Zariah Armstrong (Salamanca), Martin Stonemetz (Wellsville) and Ryan Gernatt (Gowanda).
For Pennsylvania, the Bradford High trio is Jason Ambrose, Nate Blauser and Patrick Caskey and they’re joined by Collin Smith (Port Allegany).
Eventually, both rosters will number some 40-plus players.
Ambrose was a 5-foot-10, 170-pound wide receiver/safety for a Bradford team that went 7-3 and 6-5 the past two seasons.
A Big 30 football all-star, he was the Owls’ Defensive MVP as a senior and was tabbed to the District 9 large-school all-star team on both offense and defense.
He was a 4-year letterwinner in football and lettered three times in wrestling.
Ambrose will attend Slippery Rock University, with an undecided major, and hopes to play football.
President of his class and a member of the yearbook staff he was named a United States Ambassador Honor Roll member.
His favorite memory playing football was “Senior Night against Clarion and winning, 34-14.”
Blauser was a 5-11, 175-pound quarterback/wide receiver on offense and defensive back. He was a 4-year letterwinner and also plans to attend Slippery Rock and major in exercise science.
Caskey was a 5-10, 160-pound wide receiver/outside linebacker who won three letters in football and four in baseball.
He will attend Pitt-Bradford and major in criminal justice.
Of the Charities Classic, he noted, “I remember watching the game from the stands and it inspired me to play.”
His most memorable moment playing was “beating Clarion on Senior Night when everyone thought we would lose.”
Smith was a 5-9, 170-pound wide receiver/running back on offense and middle linebacker on defense. He has yet to choose a college but will eventually enter the National Guard.
Rigerman, 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, has enjoyed an amazing high school career at Pioneer.
As a junior, he was the consensus Big 30 Defensive Player of the Year, then, his senior season, the Panthers tailback rushed for 2,116 yards, tops in Western New York, and he scored 29 touchdowns en route to both Big 30 Player of the Year and Connolly Cup honors.
Besides being first team All-Western New York, Rigerman also earned WNY All-Academic honors.
In 2017, he helped Pioneer (6-3) to its first Section 6 Class B playoff appearance in four years and, last fall, he guided the Panthers to a 10-1 record, the lone loss coming in the Class B-1 finals, a 14-7 defeat at New Era Field as Cheektowaga rallied from a 7-0 deficit with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Then there’s wrestling.
Rigerman, the top seed in New York state at 220 pounds, won the title on Saturday in Albany, finishing 43-0 with 29 pins and never trailed in a match all season. As a junior he finished fourth in the state.
He has earned a scholarship to Div. II Findlay (Ohio) for football and will major in physical therapy.
His most memorable moment in football was, “playing at New Era Field.”
Armstrong was a 6-4, 170-pound quarterback/safety who earned Section 6 Class C All-Star honors at both positions.
He has year to choose a college but will major in criminal justice.
Armstrong’s most memorable moment playing football was “beating Maple Grove on our Senior Night.”
Stonemetz was a 6-foot, 290-pound center/nose tackle who twice won the Coaches Award and was team captain as a senior.
He will major in civil engineering when he selects a college.
Gernatt was a 5-8, 190-pound running back/linebacker who was a Section 6 Class C North All-Star and Connolly Cup nominee. He was also on the WNY All-Academic team.
He will join the Maryland State Police Cadet Program.
Gernatt’s most memorable moment playing football was “beating Silver Creek, 30-0, on Senior Night.”
