The first day official practices can begin in wrestling rooms across Pennsylvania is Friday November 16th, 2012. Despite that date being over two months away, the biggest pre-season Tournament in the Nation is only more than a month away. That tournament is the Super 32 Challenge in Greensboro, North Carolina held on Saturday October 20, 2012 and ending on Sunday the 21st.
To put it into perspective, 27 Pennsylvania wrestlers placed in last seasons Super 32 Challenge. Of those 27 PA wrestlers one was an eighth grader (Luke Pletcher), one was ruled ineligible to compete in the 2011-2012 season by the PIAA (Zain Retherford), and one did not compete in 2012 due to injury (Jason Luster). So let’s take a look at the other 24 Pennsylvania wrestlers and how they performed in 2012…
Of the 24 Super 32 place winners who competed in the PIAA last season:
- An astonishing 10 were PIAA State Champions
- Another 3 were PIAA State Runner-ups
- 4 were PIAA State Third Place Finishers
- 3 were PIAA Medal Winners (Fourth through Eighth Place)
- 3 were PIAA State Qualifiers
Therefore, of the 24 wrestlers who placed in the 2011 Super 32 and competed in the PIAA last season, 20, or 83% of wrestlers, earned some form of PIAA Medal in 2012. An impressive 10, or 42%, of Super 32 place winners ended up claiming a PIAA State title in 2012. In addition, 23, or 96% of wrestlers earned at least a trip to the GIANT Center for the PIAA State Tournament.
The bottom line is simple; success at the Super 32 Challenge is a reliable indicator as to how a wrestler will do in the PIAA post-season. You place at the Super 32 Challenge, you have a roughly 80% chance to place in the PIAA State Tournament.
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Freshman Gage Curry (North Hills) Pins His Opponent
This past weekend the Super 32 held it’s third annual qualifying tournament at Shippensburg University. There are a total of 7 qualifying tournaments across the Nation for the Super 32 Challenge that run until September 15. The top four place winners at each weight in the High School Division automatically qualify for “Early Registration” for the Super 32 Challenge. Due to the high volume of applicants into the tournament, those who are able to register early are more likely to gain entry into the tournament. Others who are granted early registration in addition to the top 4 finishers of each of the 7 qualifying tournaments are…
- Previous Super 32 placers (any year, High School Division only)
- Top 3 placers from all Varsity High School Individual State Championships, 2011-12 season
- Top 6 placers from Varsity High School Individual State Championships, 2011-12 season, in the following states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, Indiana
- Previous Super 32 Middle School Top 3 placers (any year)
- 2012 USAW Cadet & Junior All-Americans (Top 8 placers from Fargo)
At the 2012 Super 32 Qualifying Tournament in Shippensburg, some of PA’s top wrestlers competed, many who already earned early registration based on the criteria listed above, in addition to wrestlers from surrounding States such as New Jersey, New York, West Virginia and Maryland. Pennsylvania wrestling fans got their first looks at some of this season’s Top Incoming Freshmen such as North Hills’ Gage Curry. The freshman was impressive en route to winning the 106 lbs. bracket defeating some notable names along the way. Curry downed last season’s 106 lbs. AA SW Regional Sixth Place finisher Brendan Howard of Jefferson-Morgan (6-2). Next Gage Curry took out Solanco’s Connor Sheehan, a 2012 30+ match winner and SC Regional Qualifier, by a score of (5-0). In the finals Curry outlasted New Jersey’s Denzel Tovar of Wall High School (5-0).
In addition to Curry, 7 other Pennsylvania wrestlers claimed championships, including Central Dauphin State Champion Garrett Peppelman and 2012 PIAA State medal winners Brock Zacherl (Brookville), Ryan Todora (Bethlehem Catholic), Raymond Nicosia (Pocono Mountain East) and Jacob Taylor (Bald Eagle Area).
2012 Super 32 Shippensburg, PA Qualifier: Pennsylvania Place Winners
106 lbs.: Gage Curry-North Hills (Champion)
113 lbs.: Tanner Shoap-Chambersburg (Runner-Up)
120 lbs.: Zach Valley-Northampton (Third Place)
126 lbs.: Kyle Krasavage-Wyoming Valley West (Champion)
126 lbs.: Zach Ulerick-Middletown Area (Runner-Up)
132 lbs.: Dison Myers-Southern Huntingdon County (Runner-Up)
132 lbs.: Ian Brown-Hanover (Third Place)
138 lbs.: Brock Zacherl-Brookville (Champion)
138 lbs.: Francesco Fabozzi-Central Bucks East (Third Place)
145 lbs.: Ryan Todora-Bethlehem Catholic (Champion)
145 lbs.: Mason Bentzel-Spring Grove Area (Runner-Up)
145 lbs.: Zach Heeter-Midd-West (Third Place)
152 lbs.: Raymond Nicosia-Pocono Mountain East (Champion)
152 lbs.: Clay Kocsis-Fairfield Area (Third Place)
152 lbs.: Bobby Fehr-Northampton (Fourth Place)
160 lbs.: Evan Disoria-Easton Area (Runner-Up)
160 lbs.: Austin Rose-Central Dauphin (Third Place)
160 lbs.: Connor Hedash-Bethlehem Catholic (Fourth Place)
170 lbs.: Garrett Peppelman-Central Dauphin (Champion)
170 lbs.: Cooper Deller-Dallastown Area (Third Place)
170 lbs.: Tom Sleigh-DuBois Area (Fourth Place)
182 lbs.: Jacob Taylor-Bald Eagle Area (Champion)
182 lbs.: Jared Beckwith-Tyrone (Fourth Place)
195 lbs.: Noah Santiago-Coatesville (Champion)
195 lbs.: Tommy Bennett-Hempfield (Runner-Up)
195 lbs.: Camden Stoops-Eastern York (Third Place)
195 lbs.: Troy Uhrin-Valley View (Fourth Place)
220 lbs.: Nick Cassalia-Central Bucks South (Third Place)
220 lbs.: Collin Hansley-Chambersburg Area (Fourth Place)
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