Published: February 23, 2008 12:19 am         

Bisons, Lions fulfill early expectations

WINDBER — On a night nearly devoid of drama, Bedford and Chestnut Ridge made sure that at least the team race was interesting at the District 5 Class AA Wrestling Tournament on Friday.

The Bisons and Lions each advanced a dozen wrestlers to today’s semifinal round, with Bedford piling up enough bonus points to take a 61⁄2–point lead over its rival.

Coach Brian Creps’ squad has 50 points to Chestnut Ridge’s 431⁄2 points. Four-time defending champion North Star (291⁄2 points) pushed nine wrestlers through to the semifinals and is tied for third with Northern Bedford, which has eight semifinalists.

There were very few upsets, as the top two seeded wrestlers advanced in each weight. Bedford took advantage of the one unexpected outcome of the night, as sixth-seeded Ryan Hocker pinned third-seeded Cody McDonald at 160 pounds.

“We wrestled pretty well here (Friday) evening,” said Creps, whose team won the District 5 Class AA dual-meet title earlier this month. “All in all, we wrestled pretty decent, but you don’t win the tournament (Friday) night. You win it (this) morning.”

Hocker is joined in the semifinals by teammates Trey Easter (103 pounds), Cory Thomas (112), Devin Cook (119), Zach Maust (125), Tanner Ripple (135), Brian Gibbons (140), Kevin Dudek (145), Tyler Gould (152), P.J. Brett (171), Cody Shippey (215) and Josh Krupa (285).

Chestnut Ridge, which had 13 of its 14 wrestlers seeded in the top four of their respective weight classes, suffered a minor upset as fourth-seeded Nick Stultz lost 7-1 to Tussey Mounain’s Clay Harshbarger, the fifth seed, at 189 pounds.

“We’re pretty pleased with our showing,” Chestnut Ridge coach Jim Clark said. “Everything went pretty much as expected except for at 189, where we lost a tough one there. We’re kind of in a no-win situation. If we lose one, we’re supposed to win them all except at 103.”

The Lions have Brandon Berkey (112), Andy Tomovich (119), Josh Neatrour (125), Josh Shane (130), Kyle Holderbaum (135), Gary Pfahler (140), Cameron Corle (145), Tyler Rush (152), Brennan Corle (160), Jase Deffibaugh (171), Josh McDannell (215) and Jake Beers (285) alive in the winner’s bracket.

Like Creps, Clark sees this morning’s semifinal round – where the Bisons and Lions meet six times – as crucial to winning the tournament.

“The next round’s going to determine the tournament,” Clark said. “We’re going to hit some close ones and hopefully our guys can step up.”

The only other fifth-seeded wrestlers to post wins over fourth seeds on Friday night were Berlin Brothersvalley’s Phillip Shawley (119) and Hyndman’s David Green (215).

The semifinals and second-round consolations are set for 10 this morning at Windber Area High School with the consolation finals beginning at 6 p.m. with the championship bouts to follow.

The top three placewinners in each weight qualify for next week’s Southwest Regional Tournament.

     

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