Tyrone 275-pounder Terry Tate had very little trouble in repeating his Southwest Regional championship over the weekend. Tate pinned his way through the tournament to claim his second straight Regional title, pinning Kevin Hartung (36-4) of South Side Beaver on Friday evening, then adding Burrell’s Chris Taueetia (32-12) in 1:04 in the semifinals and District VII champ Elliott Bates (40-2) of Chartiers-Houston in 1:59 in the finals.
“Terry just took it to Bates in the finals,” said Tyrone wrestling coach Blair Packer. “He is right on track. Terry has a solid head on his shoulders. He knows what he is doing and where he is going, what he is working toward. He is focused on what is getting him he is at, and hopefully this will get him through states as well.”
Tate (43-0 with 34 pins) hit a double-leg takedown early in the first period of the finals, then muscled Bates to his back with a half-nelson and beat the buzzer at the end of the first period for the fall with one second left.
John Givler won the first Southwest championship for the Eagles in 1998 and Tate and Thadd Westley added titles in 2004.
Senior classmate Brice Mertiff will join Tate at Hershey for the PIAA State Tournament which begins Thursday, March 10. Mertiff.
Mertiff (35-7 with 29 falls) opened the Regional Tournament with a 14-9 triumph over Jeff Havelka (35-4) of Burgettstown, but was pinned in the semifinals by eventual 160-pound runnerup Todd Cessna (33-4) in 4:59. In the consolation semifinals, Chuck Boring (35-2) avenged a 6-2 defeat by Mertiff in the finals of the previous weekend’s District VI Tournament that broke a 31-match win streak, by downing Mertiff 9-2.
In the consolation final match for fifth place, Mertiff decisioned Freedom’s Robin McCabe (29-18) 9-4 to earn his way to Hershey. Only the top five placers qualify for states, so the fifth place consi-finals were the most important of the finals to be wrestled with the loser done for the year. Mertiff (97-45) will need three wins at Hershey to reach the coveted 100-win mark.
“Just to qualify for states is a huge thing for any high school wrestler,” explained Packer. “We believe that Brice has still got some good wrestling within himself that hasn’t come out yet. Hopefully this week will be when he opens up and gets a place at the state tournament.”
In his first match at Hershey, Mertiff will face Southeast Regional champ Mike Letts ((39-2), a junior from Octorara, with the winner meeting the winner of a match between Southwest Region runnerup Cessna and Northeast Region third place finisher senior Jason Crawford (37-7) of Wyalusing.
Tyrone senior David Miller (40-9) saw his high school career come to a close with three loses after wrestling into the semifinals. Miller opened the Regional Tournament with two straight wins on Friday winning by 17-2 tech fall over Nick Schepis (28-6) of Carlynton and 6-2 decision over Bryan Pleskovich (33-4) of Fort Cherry. In the semifinals however, Miller fell by 13-5 major decision to Brent Willison (30-7), eventual runner-up at 135, from Hyndman. Willison jumped out to a big first-period lead and never looked back. Thrown into the consolation semifinals, Miller fell behind Damian Majocha (30-8) of Burrell, then had a last second rally fall short in a 5-4 lose. Involved in yet another single-point decision in the fifth-place consolation final, Miller dropped a 7-6 match to North Star’s Chris Lascari (37-6) that ended his high school career with a 116-44 mark that is third on the all-time win list at Tyrone.
“I would have liked to see David qualify for states,” said Packer. “I think he could have run with the kids there. He is definitely one of the best in the state. I was hoping to see what he could do there.”
Tate will wrestle Susquenita junior Mike Daub (22-4), the Southeast Region fourth place winner in his opening match at Hershey. The winner will then battle the winner of the match between senior Sam Krum (32-7), the third place winner from the Northeast Region from Bloomsburg and Eastern York senior Ed Fooks (38-6), the second place finisher from the Southeast Region.
District Vii claimed the most qualifiers with eight champs and a total of 34 qualifiers. District VI had six champs and eight runners-up and will send 24 to Hershey. District V had no champions, three runners-up and 14 state qualifiers.
Regional Notes: In addition to Tate, other multiple champions were Adam Whetstone (37-1) of Claysburg-Kimmel, who won at 119, and A. J. Graves (37-0) of Jeannette, who won the 171-pound title, each winning their third title and Garrett Scott of Juniata Valley, and Shane Valko (43-1) of Forest Hills, the 125-pound champ, each won his second championship….Scott (34-0) breezed to his title at 140, but did give up a escape to Hyndman’s Brent Willison (30-7) in a 14-1 win in the finals. That is just the second point scored by an opponent off Scott all season. The only other point two-time defending stats champ has allowed was a penalty point to Tyrone junior Sam McCloskey in the Zeigler Blair/Huntingdon County Tournament on Jan 8….Everett 171-pounder Andrew Nave (32-3) pinned Robert Horner (31-7) of Conemaugh Township, in the fifth place finals for his 100th career win….Claysburg-Kimmel 130-pounder Ryan McIntyre (36-3) pinned Donny Clark of West Branch, in the finals to break the school pin record. McIntyre’s 73 pin broke the record formally held by Thad Benton.
Regional championship finals
103- Tom McVicker (36-7) (Forest Hills) pinned Doug Ritchey (19-5) (Central) 2:53
112- Troy Dolan (37-1) (Derry Area) dec. Justin Blumer (41-6) (West Greene) 4-1
119- Adam Whetstone (CK) dec. Shane Welsh (41-10) (Burrell) 7-0
125- Shane Valko (FH) dec. Josh Snyder (30-3) Hyndman) 5-2
130- Ryan McIntyre (CK) pinned Donny Clark (35-4) (WB) 4:38
135- Garrett Scott (JV) maj. dec. Brent Willison (Hynd) 14-1
140- Damian Rose (38-2) (Freedom) dec. Matt Moore (35-1) Blairsville 3-1
145- Donnie Ament (45-3) (Mount Pleasant) dec. David Sunderland (34-1) (Southern Huntingdon) 8-4
152- Jason Makara (36-8) (Burrell) won by default Art Moss (38-4) 4:07
160- Corey Checkan (39-3) South Side Beaver) dec. Todd Cessna (33-4) Elderton 5-2
171- A. J. Graves (J) dec. Simon Fowler (18-1) (Central Cambria) 5-2
189- Rich Froats (40-0) (Burgettstown) dec. Sean Kisel (41-3) (FH) 2-1
215- Nathan Tomporoski (36-2) (Highlands) pinned Andy Turner (28-8) 3:00
275- Terry Tate (43-0) (Tyrone) pinned Elliott Bates (Chartiers-Houston) 1:59.
