March 12, 2007 High School Blog
A wild and wacky weekend at Hershey
Harrisburg Central Dauphin High spoiled Nazareth High’s bid to sweep the Class AAA state titles, becoming the first Section 3 school to claim a state title in that classification this weekend.
And that was just the start of it.
Central Dauphin junior Walt Peppelman beat Nazareth’s Mike Greck 7-2 in a key head-to-head final at 135 – his school’s first state title since 1979 – and Central Dauphin went on to outscore Nazareth 87.5-82 for the title. Easton High (71 points) finished third.
The Outstanding Wrestler award, not surprisingly, went to Middletown High senior Tyler Nauman, who prevailed in a loaded 130-pound weight class. Nauman broke open a 1-0 match after two periods and pinned Central Dauphin freshman Marshall Peppelman, Walt’s brother, midway through the third period. Nauman previously had recorded victories over Pennsburg Upper Perkiomen High’s Shane Smith, 8-1 in the quarterfinals and Washington Trinity High’s Grant Lowther, 9-2 in the semifinals.
Marshall Peppelman had gotten to the finals with victories over three state placewinners – 9-1 over Greensburg Hempfield High’s Rudy Chelednik and 3-1 over Langhorne Neshaminy High’s Dex Lederer and Dillsburg Northern High’s Brandon Bucher.
Among those who didn’t place at 130: Lewistown High’s Mike Robinson, Easton High’s uju Drummond and Nazareth’s Bobby Ward, who was eliminated by back-to-back losses in the ultimate tiebreaker.
Ward wasn’t the only wrestler to leave potential title-winning points on the mat for the Blue Eagles. At 160, Thad Frick was upset 9-6 in the quarterfinals by another Harrisburg wrestler, Susquehanna Township High’s Edward Ruth, and went on to finish seventh.
Easton had back-to-back champions in its vaunted lower weights. Jordan Oliver picked up his second state crown with two tough victories – 5-3 over fellow state champion Chris Sheetz of Upper Perkiomen in the semifinals and 4-1 over Lewistown Indian Valley High’s Nic Bedelyon. Fellow junior Kegan Handlovic also won at 112 and senior Desmond Moore was third at 103. The two crowns gave Easton 32 state titles, second only to Clearfield High’s 39. The Red Rovers’ 25 Class AAA crowns are the most in that classification.
Another big winner in the Harrisburg area’s best state tournament ever was Slatington Governor Mifflin High senior Corey Houser, who built a 12-3 lead and withstood a pair of late takedowns to beat defending champion Colin Johnston of Canonsburg Canon-McMIllan High 13-8 at 125.
The expected battle of unbeatens at 103 went to Harrison City Penn-Trafford High’s first state champion, sophomore Shane Young, who beat Holland Council Rock South High’s Mark Rappo 5-2. Young’s teammate, A.J. Brentzel (171), fell 6-3 to Wexford North Allegheny High’s Rob Waltko, who avenged a Brentzel pin in last week’s region meet.
Winning as expected were Glenshaw Shaler High’s Nick Nelson (145) and Nazareth’s Tim Darling (152), who edged fellow defending champion Ryan Goodman of Greater Latrobe High 2-1 in overtime to become the state’s 31st three-time state champion.
Class AA: Dual state champion Greenville H.A. Reynolds High made it a double, but had to sweat out a three-point win over Herndon Line Mountain High and Pittsburgh Shady Side Academy. Reynolds, which placed four but didn’t have a finalist, scored 61 points to 58 for its other two rivals.
Shady Side Academy made its run early as freshman Frank Martelotti (103) and sophomore Dane Johnson (112) took the first two titles. Line Mountain could have taken the title with one victory from either of its finalists, brothers Jon and Shawn Fausey at 160 and 171, respectively. But Jon Fausey lost 3-0 to Blairsville High’s Matt Moore and Shawn Fausey was upset 6-5 by Littlestown High junior Cory Beaver, who scored all his points in the final minute, including the winning takedown in the final seconds, to snare his school’s first state title.
The tournament was rocked before it even started by the absence of favored 130-pounder Brock Parker of Canton High, who missed the meet due to illness. Defending champions Scott Clymer (135) of New Tripoli Northwestern Lehigh High and Nikko Leitzel (140) of Ridgway High were the victims of semifinal upsets, Clymer falling 5-3 to Ridgway’s Colby Pisani in the semifinals and Leitzel dropping a 7-6 decision to Bloomsburg High’s Joey Anceravage. Both finished third.
Derry High’s Troy Dolan (119) won his third state title. Even more impressive was Sharon High’s Kellen Harris (215), who bid farewell to his wrestling career with a technical fall and three pins, including a 28-second fall in the finals. Harris is headed to Marshall University on a football scholarship.
Despite missing most of the season, Pen Argyl High’s Richie Smith came out on top in the tournament’s toughest weight class. Smith (16-0), a University of Buffalo football recruit, recorded consecutive victories of 6-5 over Mount Pleasant High’s Paul Snyder in the quarterfinals, 2-1 over previously-unbeaten Eli Moores of Brookville High in the semifinals and 3-1 over University of Pittsburgh recruit Myles Caragein of Pittsburgh Keystone Oak High for the title.
Harrisburg Central Dauphin High spoiled Nazareth High’s bid to sweep the Class AAA state titles, becoming the first Section 3 school to claim a state title in that classification this weekend.
And that was just the start of it.
Central Dauphin junior Walt Peppelman beat Nazareth’s Mike Greck 7-2 in a key head-to-head final at 135 – his school’s first state title since 1979 – and Central Dauphin went on to outscore Nazareth 87.5-82 for the title. Easton High (71 points) finished third.
The Outstanding Wrestler award, not surprisingly, went to Middletown High senior Tyler Nauman, who prevailed in a loaded 130-pound weight class. Nauman broke open a 1-0 match after two periods and pinned Central Dauphin freshman Marshall Peppelman, Walt’s brother, midway through the third period. Nauman previously had recorded victories over Pennsburg Upper Perkiomen High’s Shane Smith, 8-1 in the quarterfinals and Washington Trinity High’s Grant Lowther, 9-2 in the semifinals.
Marshall Peppelman had gotten to the finals with victories over three state placewinners – 9-1 over Greensburg Hempfield High’s Rudy Chelednik and 3-1 over Langhorne Neshaminy High’s Dex Lederer and Dillsburg Northern High’s Brandon Bucher.
Among those who didn’t place at 130: Lewistown High’s Mike Robinson, Easton High’s uju Drummond and Nazareth’s Bobby Ward, who was eliminated by back-to-back losses in the ultimate tiebreaker.
Ward wasn’t the only wrestler to leave potential title-winning points on the mat for the Blue Eagles. At 160, Thad Frick was upset 9-6 in the quarterfinals by another Harrisburg wrestler, Susquehanna Township High’s Edward Ruth, and went on to finish seventh.
Easton had back-to-back champions in its vaunted lower weights. Jordan Oliver picked up his second state crown with two tough victories – 5-3 over fellow state champion Chris Sheetz of Upper Perkiomen in the semifinals and 4-1 over Lewistown Indian Valley High’s Nic Bedelyon. Fellow junior Kegan Handlovic also won at 112 and senior Desmond Moore was third at 103. The two crowns gave Easton 32 state titles, second only to Clearfield High’s 39. The Red Rovers’ 25 Class AAA crowns are the most in that classification.
Another big winner in the Harrisburg area’s best state tournament ever was Slatington Governor Mifflin High senior Corey Houser, who built a 12-3 lead and withstood a pair of late takedowns to beat defending champion Colin Johnston of Canonsburg Canon-McMIllan High 13-8 at 125.
The expected battle of unbeatens at 103 went to Harrison City Penn-Trafford High’s first state champion, sophomore Shane Young, who beat Holland Council Rock South High’s Mark Rappo 5-2. Young’s teammate, A.J. Brentzel (171), fell 6-3 to Wexford North Allegheny High’s Rob Waltko, who avenged a Brentzel pin in last week’s region meet.
Winning as expected were Glenshaw Shaler High’s Nick Nelson (145) and Nazareth’s Tim Darling (152), who edged fellow defending champion Ryan Goodman of Greater Latrobe High 2-1 in overtime to become the state’s 31st three-time state champion.
Class AA: Dual state champion Greenville H.A. Reynolds High made it a double, but had to sweat out a three-point win over Herndon Line Mountain High and Pittsburgh Shady Side Academy. Reynolds, which placed four but didn’t have a finalist, scored 61 points to 58 for its other two rivals.
Shady Side Academy made its run early as freshman Frank Martelotti (103) and sophomore Dane Johnson (112) took the first two titles. Line Mountain could have taken the title with one victory from either of its finalists, brothers Jon and Shawn Fausey at 160 and 171, respectively. But Jon Fausey lost 3-0 to Blairsville High’s Matt Moore and Shawn Fausey was upset 6-5 by Littlestown High junior Cory Beaver, who scored all his points in the final minute, including the winning takedown in the final seconds, to snare his school’s first state title.
The tournament was rocked before it even started by the absence of favored 130-pounder Brock Parker of Canton High, who missed the meet due to illness. Defending champions Scott Clymer (135) of New Tripoli Northwestern Lehigh High and Nikko Leitzel (140) of Ridgway High were the victims of semifinal upsets, Clymer falling 5-3 to Ridgway’s Colby Pisani in the semifinals and Leitzel dropping a 7-6 decision to Bloomsburg High’s Joey Anceravage. Both finished third.
Derry High’s Troy Dolan (119) won his third state title. Even more impressive was Sharon High’s Kellen Harris (215), who bid farewell to his wrestling career with a technical fall and three pins, including a 28-second fall in the finals. Harris is headed to Marshall University on a football scholarship.
Despite missing most of the season, Pen Argyl High’s Richie Smith came out on top in the tournament’s toughest weight class. Smith (16-0), a University of Buffalo football recruit, recorded consecutive victories of 6-5 over Mount Pleasant High’s Paul Snyder in the quarterfinals, 2-1 over previously-unbeaten Eli Moores of Brookville High in the semifinals and 3-1 over University of Pittsburgh recruit Myles Caragein of Pittsburgh Keystone Oak High for the title.