For many first-year varsity wrestlers, there is a huge learning curve. Few rise above something around a .500 mark in their first try in the varsity spotlight. Despite being a first year starter and wrestling at the junior high level last year, Tyrone freshman A. J. Schopp has jumped right in for the Golden Eagles this year at 103. Schopp improved his record to 12-1 by breezing through his weight class to become Tyrone’s only champion at the Fourth Annual Zeigler Blair/Huntingdon Counties Tournament at the Altoona Fieldhouse on Saturday. In winning the 103-pound class, Schopp pinned four of five opponents and won his other bout by a 15-0 technical fall.
T. J. Albright (125) and Jacob Smerekar (152) also wrestled into the finals for the Golden Eagles, but both came up against Southern Huntingdon state qualifiers who handed them defeats.
At 103, A. J. Schopp pinned Steve Stiffler of Hollidaysburg, in 3:09 to start the tournament, then decked Clay Patterson of Southern Huntingdon, in 1:53, won by tech fall over Mount Union’s Michael Younce in 4:08, and pinned Troy Weyant of Bellwood-Antis, in 1:48 and Huntingdon’s Jesse Runk in 5:43 to claim the title.
Albright (7-5) pinned Mitch Colombo of Altoona, in 0:50 and Shane Noye of Bellwood-Antis, in 3:50, and shut out Devon Smith of Mount Union, 11-0 to reach the finals. There, Albright ran into defending PIAA second place finisher Cody Myers of Southern Huntingdon. After wrestling through the first two periods scoreless, Myers scored a reversal and Albright countered with an escape to set the final score at 2-1 Myers.
Jacob Smerekar (7-3) edged Ryan Colmer of Hollidaysburg, 10-8, and pinned Brett Walter of Altoona, in 5:36, and Kyle Shawley of Bellwood-Antis, in 3:34 to reach the finals. In the finals at 152, Jason Foor ((14-0 currently, 97-29 overall) of Southern Huntingdon, opened up a 3-0 advantage with a first-period takedown and second-period escape. Smerekar escaped to begin the final period, but Foor countered with a takedown and penalty point, while Smerekar was limited to a reversal and a 6-3 win for Foor.
Bellwood-Antis senior 145-pounder Rick Shawley also wrestled into the finals, but suffered a loss by pin to Huntingdon’s Eli Norvell. Shawley (13-1) pinned Nick Hamming of Central, in 1:07, Jeremy Barlett of Tyrone, in 5:21, and Nik Zimmerman of Altoona, in 0:27, and won by a 21-10 major decision over Mount Union’s Phil Watson. In the finals against Norvell, a 2006 Virginia state champ, who has transferred to Huntingdon, Shawley was unable to break through, while Norvell (10-0) recorded a takedown and nearfall in the opening period to take a 5-0 lead, then reversed Shawley to his back for the fall in 2:49 of the second stanza.
Troy Weyant (103) of Bellwood-Antis, and Donnie Conrad (189) of Tyrone each finished third at their respective weight classes, and Tyrone’s Justin Schopp (171) was fourth.
Weyant (10-4) pinned Mike McCready of Claysburg-Kimmel, in 0:27, decisioned Central’s Lynn Lewis 8-2 and decisioned Younce of Mount Union, 6-2, while getting pinned by Huntingdon’s Runk in 1:52, and pinned by Schopp. Conrad (6-4) pinned Altoona’s Brian Frazier in 1:14, won by 11-2 major decision over Jacob Walls of Hollidaysburg, and pinned Craig Limbert of Central, in 0:43. Conrad dropped a 7-0 match to eventual 189 champ Jason Kylor of Huntingdon. In the third-place finals, Donnie used a trio of takedowns and two escapes to defeat Claysburg-Kimmel’s Ben Parry 8-4. Justin Schopp (8-4) pinned Shawn Flaugh of Hollidaysburg, in 2:20, and Troy Byers of Bellwood-Antis, in 3:40, before falling to Keith Walters of Altoona 4-0. Schopp then decisioned Mike Snyder of Claysburg-Kimmel 7-4, to get into the third place consolation final. Southern Huntingdon’s Tyler Mansberger turned a first-period takedown and a lot of defense into a 2-0 win.
Tyrone’s Josh Miller (135), Jon VanAllman (140), Shayne Tate (160) and Brady Williams (215) all finished in fifth place.
Miller (4-5) won three of five matches including a 2-0 win over Adam Fye of Huntingdon, in the fifth-place final. VanAllman (3-6) won his first three matches of the year, including a 3:23 fall over Jerod Stiffler of Central, in the fifth-place final. Tate (7-5) also won three of five matches at the Zeigler Tournament, besting Zac Bender of Altoona, 6-4 in the fifth-place finals, scoring a reversal with 0:30 to wrestle in the third period. Williams (3-3) pinned Tyler Frederick of Altoona, in 0:45 in the fifth-place finals.
Tyrone’s Donnie Hunter (112), Tyler Poorman (119) and Bellwood-Antis’ Shane Noye (125), Tim Collier (130) and Kris Morder (285 all finished sixth.
Among milestones to be remembered, Donnie Hunter (112), Jeremy Barlett (145), Brady Williams (215) and Dustin Weaver (285) for Tyrone, and Bellwood-Antis wrestlers Cody Fink (135) and Dustin Pruznak (140) all recorded their first varsity wins on Saturday.
Huntingdon bypassed fellow Huntingdon County school Mount Union in the finals to claim their first Zeigler Tournament championship, dethroning two-time defending champion Tyrone, which had won the last two Zeiglers. Mount Union had the lead through most of the day, before Huntingdon completed a run with five wins in the finals out of seven finalists and 300 points. Mount Union went only 1-for-6 in the finals to finish second with 275 points. Tyrone finished fourth in the team standings with 212 points, behind Huntingdon, Mount Union and Hollidaysburg (218). Bellwood-Antis was ninth out of 10 schools in the tournament with 99 points.
