Many Pennsylvania wrestlers competed in their first ever college tournament as several notable Open Tournament took place across the Nation. Wrestlers competing for NCAA Division I programs included some of Pennsylvania’s top new talent. The weekend saw majority of wrestlers consisting of freshmen and redshirt freshmen as they prepare for their grueling seasons ahead.

3x PIAA State Champion Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe/Ohio State) competed in the Eastern Michigan Open where he was the Champion at 133 lbs. winning an impressive bracket that featured #10 Stevan Micic (Michigan). At the Daktronics Open three Keystone State wrestlers earned top three finishes including two champions. At 125 lbs. 2x PIAA State Champion Ethan Lizak (Parkland/Minnesota) earned a hard fought (3-2) win over 3x NCAA Qualifier Tim Lambert (Nebraska). Lizak, who has made two trips to the NCAA Tournament, will miss the first semester of the season due to team violations.

A pair of Arizona State redshirt freshmen competed in the Daktronics Open with Franklin Regional teammates Josh Maruca and Josh Shields. Maruca won the 149 lbs. bracket over Sun Devil teammate Oliver Pierce winning in the finals (9-4). Josh Shields (Franklin Regional/Arizona State), a PIAA State Champion in 2015, had an impressive showing at 157 lbs. where he finished in third. Shields earned an impressive fall in the quarterfinals over Larry Early III (Minnesota) before falling to the #10 ranked wrestler in the Nation by Intermat in overtime (8-6 SV). Shields bounced back to place third in a loaded bracket.

Pennsylvania owned the Clarion Open with 46 top eight finishes including five Champions. At 133 lbs. 2016 PIAA State Runner-up Tyshawn White (Central Dauphin/ Lock Haven) defeated 3x PIAA State Champion Micky Phillippi (Derry Area/Virginia) in the semifinals (6-5 TB) before falling in the finals to finish in second. 2016 PIAA State Champion Tate Ortz (Brookville Area/Clarion) placed third with a strong performance that included a (6-5 TB) win over Phillippi in the consolation finals. At 141 lbs. Brock Zacherl (Brookville Area/Clarion) faced off with Lock Haven’s Ronnie Perry, both ranked in the top ten Nationally by Intermat, in the finals. Zacherl earned a (5-3) decision to claim the Championship. Former 2x PIAA State Champion Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area/Virginia) won the Championship title at 149 lbs. in a weight-class that all eight medalists were Keystone State natives.

Two additional Clarion Golden Eagles grabbed Championships in their home gym as PIAA State Champion Evan Delong (Kane Area/Clarion) won the 165 lbs. title and heavyweight Evan Daley (Fort LeBoeuf/Clarion) was the Champion defeating four opponents all from Pennsylvania. At 184 lbs. former PIAA State Runner-up and redshirt freshman Corey Hazel (Penns Valley/Lock Haven) grinded his way to Championship title.

At the East Stroudsburg Open Pennsylvania had multiple medalists and two Champions including Tyson Dippery (Central Dauphin/Rutgers) and Jordan Wood (Boyertown Area/Lehigh). At 133 lbs. Dippery faced his Rutgers teammate Scott DelVecchio picking up a (1-0) victory. In an interesting result former District 1 star Ryan Kemmerer, who graduated from Boyertown Area in 2009, competed at 149 lbs. and was the runner-up. The Temple student who competes for the Owl’s Wrestling club team had a very strong showing as he defeated the top seed Anthony Giraldo (Rutgers) in his first match (5-3 SV).

 

Eastern Michigan Open

 

133 lbs.

1st:  Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe/Ohio State)

 

 

Daktronics Open

 

125 lbs.

1st:  Ethan Lizak (Parkland/Minnesota)

 

149 lbs.

1st:  Joshua Maruca (Franklin Regional/Arizona State)

 

157 lbs.

3rd:  Joshua Shields (Franklin Regional/Arizona State)

 

 

Clarion Open

 

125 lbs.

2nd:  Jake Gromacki (Cathedral Prep/Clarion)

4th:  Brendan Howard (Jefferson Morgan/Clarion)

7th:  Derek Gulotta (Owen J. Roberts/Lock Haven)

 

133 lbs.

2nd:  Tyshawn White (Central Dauphin/Lock Haven)

3rd:  Taylor Ortz (Brookville Area/Clarion)

4th:  Micky Phillippi (Derry Area/Virginia)

5th:  Roshaun Cooley (Williamsport Area/Clarion)

6th:  Lewis Williams (Central Columbia/Lock Haven)

 

141 lbs.

1st:  Brock Zacherl (Brookville Area/Clarion)

2nd:  Ronnie Perry (Solanco/Lock Haven)

3rd:  Collin Glorioso (Huntingdon/Lock Haven)

5th:  Kevin Kinyua (Mercyhurst Unattached) M FOR

6th:  Ethan McCoy (Greater Latrobe/Kent State)

7th:  DJ Fehlman (Warren Area/Lock Haven)

8th:  Chris Eddins (Greensburg Salem/Pitt Johnstown)

 

149 lbs.

1st:  Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area/Virginia)

2nd:  Kyle Shoop (Boiling Springs/Lock Haven)

3rd:  Mike Bartolo (Reynolds/Clarion)

4th:  Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley/Lock Haven)

5th:  Chris Yankowich (Germantown Academy/Virginia)

6th:  Lucas Ortiz (Conestoga Valley/Lock Haven)

7th:  Curtis Decker (Penns Valley/Pittsburgh)

8th:  Corey Falleroni (Burrell/Pitt Johnstown)

 

157 lbs.

4th:  Nate Russell (Huntingdon Area/Pittsburgh), 13-6

6th:  Cody Law (Forest Hills/Pitt-Johnstown)

8th:  Zach Kelly (Kiski Prep/Bucknell)

 

165 lbs.

1st:  Evan Delong (Kane Area/Clarion)

4th:  Austin Bell (Belle Vernon Area/Pittsburgh)

5th:  Jared Walker (South Fayette/Kent State)

7th:  Jared Siegrist (Manheim Central/Lock Haven)

 

174 lbs.

4th:  Tyler Wood (West Chester Rustin/Lock Haven)

5th:  John Blankenship (United/Pitt-Johnstown)

 

184 lbs.

1st:  Corey Hazel (Penns Valley Area/Lock Haven)

3rd:  Adam Mackie (Brandywine Heights Area/Lock Haven)

8th:  Gregg Harvey (Boyertown Area/Pittsburgh)

 

197 lbs.

5th:  Drew Phipps (Norwin/Bucknell)

6th:  Tristan Sponseller (Bermudian Springs/Lock Haven)

7th:  Lucas Chestnut (Mechanicsburg Area/Pittsburgh)

8th:  Trey Hartsock (Mifflin County/Lock Haven)

 

285 lbs.

1st:  Evan Daley (Fort LeBoeuf/Clarion)

2nd:  Chuck Boddy (Germantown Academy/Virginia)

3rd:   Brad Emerick (Coughlin/Lock Haven)

5th:  Jake Robb (Armstrong/Mercyhurst)

6th:  D.J. Sims (Hopewell/Pitt-Johnstown)

7th:  Brylee Shumaker (Redbank Valley/Clarion)

8th:  Allan Beattie (Burrell/Pitt-Johnstown)

 

East Stroudsburg Open

 

125 lbs.

2nd:  Austin Petril (Upper Darby/Kutztown)

 

133 lbs.

1st:  Tyson Dippery (Central Dauphin/Rutgers)

 

141 lbs.

4th:  Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic/Lehigh)

 

149 lbs.

2nd:  Ryan Kemmerer (Boyertown Area/Temple)

 

157 lbs.

3rd:  Kent Lane (Southrn Columbia Area/Lehigh)

 

165 lbs.

2nd:  Chase Gallik (Lehigh University)

3rd:  Thedore King (Garden Spot/Franklin and Marshall)

 

184 lbs.

2nd:  Chris Weiler (Wyoming Seminary/Lehigh)

 

285 lbs.

1st:  Jordan Wood (Boyertown Area/Lehigh)

3rd:  Antonio Pelusi (LaSalle College/Franklin and Marshall)

 

Southeast Open

 

Freshmen/Sophomore

 

125 lbs.

1st:  Wade Cummings (Downingtown East/NC State)

5th:  Gage Curry (North Hills/American)

 

133 lbs.

 

5th Korbin Myers (Boiling Springs/Edinboro)

 

141 lbs.

6th:  Doug Gudenburr (The Citadel)

 

157 lbs.

1st:  Hayden Hidlay (Mifflin County/NC State)

 

174 lbs.

5th:  Brooks Wilding (Virginia Tech)

 

184 lbs.

1st:  Dakota Geer (Frankin/Edinboro)

 

197 lbs.

5th:  Dylan Reynolds (Sagertown/Edinboro)

6th:  Gavin Berkley (Meyersdale Area/Army West Point)

 

285 lbs.

1st:  Andrew Gunning (Liberty/North Carolina)

5th:  Michael Mcaleavey (Peters Township/The Citadel)

6th:  Michael Rogers (Wyoming Seminary/NC State)

 

Open

 

125 lbs.

3rd:  Vito Pasone (E.L. Meyers/Appalachian State)

 

133 lbs.

4th:  Austin Harry (Lake Lehman/Army West Point)

6th:  Tyler Walker (North Hills/Notre Dame College)

 

141 lbs.

2nd:  Logan Everett (Williamson/Army West Point)

5th:  AC Headlee (Waynesburg Central/North Carolina)

 

149 lbs.

6th:  Ty Buckiso (Peters Township/The Citadel)

 

165 lbs.

3rd:  Austin Matthews (Reynolds/Edinboro)

 

285 lbs.

4th:  Ray O’Donnell (Saucon Valley/Princeton)

 

Grand View Open

 

Freshmen

 

165 lbs.

1st:  Kaleb Young (Punxsutawney Area/Iowa)