By ALLEN SEYBERT
UNION CITY - As far as District 10 Class AA wrestling goes, they are the Elite Eight.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Championship effort
Eisenhower’s Jeb Fedorchuk, right, wrestles Fort LeBoeuf’s Adam Borgia in the 120-pound finals of the District 10 Class AA Section 1 Wrestling Championships Saturday at Union City Area High School. Borgia was a 3-2 winner, but Fedorchuk advanced to districts with a second-place finish.
An even split of four Eisenhower Knights and four Youngsville Eagles advanced to next weekend's District 10 Class AA Wrestling Championships in Sharon with their performances Saturday at the District 10 Class AA Section 1 Championships at Union City Area High School.
Leading the way for the county was Eisenhower junior 120-pounder Jeb Fedorchuk who was the lone county grappler to advance to the championship finals where he settled for a second-place finish.
Ike teammates Jake Johnson (195 pounds) and Dylan Baker (126) were third and Trevor Spicer (182) was fourth. Youngsville got third-place finishes from Aaron Hoover (113) and Jaykup Durlin (220) as well as fourth-place showings from Jeremy Lyon (170) and Hunter Proctor (132).
The top four finishers in each weight class advanced to next week's meet in Sharon where a top-six finish and a trip to the PIAA Class AA Northwest Regional on March 2-3 is the ultimate goal.
While both the Knights and Eagles would've like to have advanced more wrestlers to districts, both coaches were fairly pleased with the results of the weekend.
"We had a number in mind as far as how many we would've liked to have seen move on and we were pretty close," said Eisenhower coach Kris Black. "It worked out well because each guy has a practice partner right around his own weight for this week and everything starts over next week. All records are back to 0-0 and survival is again the key."
Youngsville coach Scott Ishman said more of the same.
"The goal was six, but we are happy with the four that we were able to push through," said Ishman. "All the kids wrestled extremely well this weekend. Even the ones that aren't moving on got some great experience. We are a very young team and this tournament showed what we can do and what we can work on to improve."
Saturday morning started with four Knights and four Eagles in championship semifinal bouts. The county wrestlers struggled in those matches, finishing 1-7 with only Fedorchuk advancing to the championship finals.
In the 120-pound final, Fedorchuk squared off with Fort LeBoeuf's Adam Borgia. Borgia had defeated Fedorchuk, 3-0, in a team dual between the schools earlier this season. Again, Borgia opened a 3-0 lead with a second period escape and takedown. Fedorchuk responded with an escape late in the second period and another in the third, but the elusive tying point never came and Borgia was a 3-2 winner.
"Jeb had just a great tournament," said Black. "I know he would've liked to have come away with the title, but he put himself in great position for the district meet next weekend."
Outside of Fedorchuk, another seven county wrestlers guaranteed themselves of a trip to districts by advancing to the consolation finals.
At 113 pounds, Aaron Hoover started the day with a pin of Cambridge Springs' Archie Loop before locking up a districts berth with a tight 7-6 victory over Saegertown's Bingbong Elizon. In the consolation finals, Hoover claimed third with a come-from-behind 6-4 decision over North East's Jacob Miller.
Eisenhower's Baker, a section champ at 119 pounds last season, had to settle for third this time around at 126 pounds. Despite a 7-2 loss to Harbor Creek's Adam Sallot in the semifinals, Baker finished the day with two straight wins.
First, Baker majored Union City's Kevin Lindsley in the consolation semis before edging out Saegertown's Justin Mitchell, 2-1, in the 126-pound consolation finals.
At 195 pounds, Johnson was pinned by North East's Alex Svetz in the semis, but rebounded with a 4-3 decision of Harbor Creek's Preston Meade to lock up the trip to Sharon. In the third-place bout, Johnson jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Cambridge Springs' Shawn Reynolds before an injury forced Reynolds to retire.
Youngsville's Durlin ended his tournament with a bang. After falling to the consolation bracket on Saturday morning, Durlin finished the day with back-to-back pins of Cambridge Springs' Matt Lydic and Harbor Creek rival Parris Warner.
Spicer, Lyon and Proctor were all 1-2 on Saturday. All three opened with losses in the championship semifinals, rebounded with wins in the consolation semifinals and finished with losses in the consolation finals.
Spicer locked up his trip to districts with a pin over Youngsville rival Sage Sivak. Spicer nearly made it a third-place finish during a 4-3 4-OT loss to Saegertown's Jerod Young in the third-place match.
In the consolation finals, Lyon was pinned in 40 seconds by Cambridge's Weston Stafford and Proctor suffered a 12-2 major decision loss to Union City's Kevin Lindsley.
Several county wrestlers were just one victory short of advancing to the district meet. Those grapplers included Eisenhower's Steven Haner (106), Levi Stanko (132), Richard Knisley (145), Jordan Hefferman (220) and Kenny Peters (285) and Youngsville's Chester Ciukaj (120), Zach Ishman (152), Josh Lewis (160), Sivak (182) and Stephen Beattie (285).
Lewis' early exit was surprising after the 160-pound Eagle senior advanced to the PIAA Class AA Northwest Regional a year ago as a junior.
"We're happy with who we got through, but it's hard to see some of those guys go," said Black. "Next week's a new week and we've got some work to do."
"We're a good young team and we had some ups and downs this weekend," added Ishman. "I think all of our guys won at least one match at sections. That says a lot about the guys and talent we have on this team."
District 10 Class AA Section 1 Wrestling Championships
at Union City Area High School
Team key: Saegertown (Sae), Seneca (Sen), Union City (UC), Fort LeBoeuf (FL), Eisenhower (E), Iroquois (I), Harbor Creek (HC), Youngsville (Y), Cambridge Springs (CS), North East (NE),
Saturday's results
Championship Finals
106: Tyler Vath (Sae) d. Tyler Kuzma (FL), 4-0
113: George McGuire (FL) p. Cyle Yaple (Sen), 3:33
120: Adam Borgia (FL) d. Jeb Fedorchuk (E), 3-2
126: Brandon Puckly (FL) d. Adam Sallot (HC), 6-2
132: Brad Malinowski (FL) md. Brendan Byham (Sae), 11-0
138: Matt Humes (Sae) d. Riley Smith (FL), 7-6
145: Kody Pace (FL) d. Joe Hibbler (Sen), 9-5
152: Kevin Nowakowski (HC) d. Corey Voorhis (NE), 3-1, OT
160: Taylor Fox (FL) d. Jordan Bryan (NE), 3-1
170: Craig Cihon (FL) d. Tim Vargo (UC), 5-3
182: Trevor Beiter (Sen) d. Quentin Stafford (CS), 15-13, OT
195: Alex Svetz (NE) d. Josh Tomiczek (Sae), 9-4
220: Evan Daley (FL) d. Matt Mongera (Sen), 3-1, OT
285: Branden Stafford (Sae) d. Justin East (CS), 2-0
Consolation Finals
106: Cody Bratt (HC) md. Patrick Burns (UC), 11-0
113: Aaron Hoover (Y) d. Jacob Miller (NE), 6-4
120: Garrett Zuver (Sae) d. Devin Mitchell (CS), 3-1
126: Dylan Baker (E) d. Justin Mitchell (Sae), 2-1
132: Tyler Lindsley (UC) md. Hunter Proctor (Y), 12-2
138: Dave Ferrell (Sen) wbf.
145: Jake Newara (HC) d. Lance Neushler (Sae), 4-1
152: Taylor Harrington (FL) d. Jared Brooks (UC), 5-1
160: Dylan Reynolds (CS) d. Josh Reinke (UC), 2-1
170: Weston Stafford (CS) p. Jeremy Lyon (Y), 0:40
182: Jerod Young (Sae) d. Trevor Spicer (E), 4-3, 4OT
195: Jake Johnson (E) inj. def. Shawn Reynolds (CS)
220: Jaykup Durlin (Y) p. Parris Warner (HC), 1:29
285: Nate Conti (FL) d. Jeff Burger (UC), 6-3
Other county results
106: Steven Haner (E) inj. def. Andrew Fachetti (I); Patrick Burns (UC) d. Haner (E), 6-0
113: Hoover (Y) p. Archie Loop (CS), 3:21; Hoover (Y) d. Bingbong Elizon (Sae), 7-6
120: Fedorchuk (E) d. Mitchell (CS), 12-6; Chester Ciukaj (Y) p. Kyle Laniewicz (I), 3:39; Mitchell (CS) md. Ciukaj (Y), 12-3
126: Sallot (HC) d. Baker (E), 7-2; Baker (E) md. Kevin Lindsley (UC), 13-4; Lindsley (UC) p. Chandler Flinn (Y), 1:28
132: Malinowski (FL) md. Proctor (Y), 16-2; Proctor md. Zack Krien (CS), 15-6; Lindsley (UC) p. Levi Stanko (E), 2:18
138: Kodi Skarzenski (NE) d. Robbie Wilston (E), 11-10
145: Neushler (Sae) d. Richard Knisley (E), 7-3
152: Zack Ishman (Y) p. Tim Lange (E), 0:57; Brooks (UC) p. Ishman (Y), 3:15
160: Josh Lewis (Y) p. Jeremy Mitchell (Sae), 2:59; Reynolds (CS) d. Lewis (Y), 3-0
170: Vargo (UC) md. Lyon (Y), 12-3; Lyon (Y) d. Andrew Phelps (NE), 13-7
182: Stafford (CS) p. Spicer (E), 2:53; Sage Sivak (Y) md. Gage Salusky (FL), 8-0; Spicer (E) p. Sivak (Y), 3:42
195: Svetz (NE) p. Johnson (E), 1:54; Johnson (E) d. Preston Meade (HC), 4-3
220: Mongera (Sen) p. Durlin (Y), 1:24; Jordan Hefferman (E) p. Tyler Stapp (NE), 3:22; Hefferman (E) d. Storm McDonald (UC), 3-1; Warner (HC) d. Hefferman (E), 3-2, 5 OT; Durlin (Y) p. Matt Lydic (CS), 2:36
285: Stafford (Sae) p. Stephen Beattie (Y), 3:02; Conti (FL) p. Beattie (Y), 2:37