3 Indians, 2 Eagles capture openers

HERSHEY - It was pretty much a perfect morning for area wrestlers Thursday at the PIAA Class AA state wrestling championships.

Then came High Noon.

Shamokin's Brandon Pesarchick, Josh Lahr and Derek Shingara, and Line Mountain's Zain Retherford and Adam Kritzer all won their first-round bouts, but Shamokin 285-pounder Wes Tillett, one of the favorites in that class, was unexpectedly pinned at about the time the clock moved to noon.

Tillett seemed to be in command against Cris Ramirez (25-8), of Milton Hershey, only the fifth-place finisher in the Southeast Region, with a 3-1 lead in the second period, but he walked into two takedown throws by Ramirez off double leg shots.

He escaped after the first one, but Ramirez's upper body strength was too much the second time, and Tillett was pinned in 3:27.

Tillett (35-5) came back for a 6-4 consolation win over Greenville's Dillon Sarcinella and will wrestle in second-round consolations today.

"I think I wrestled the way I wanted to this morning but every time I went in for that double leg, he kept throwing me," Tillett said. "It took me a little while (to recover)."

"He came back well," said Shamokin coach Todd Hockenbroch after Tillett's consolation bout. "He needed some time for himself after this morning. These are veteran guys."

Solid day overall

Tillett's loss was the only down moment in what was almost a perfect first day for area wrestlers.

Retherford (37-1) got it started with a methodical 10-0 win over Mount Union's Ryan Wilson at 103. Retherford started kind of slowly with a 2-0 first period, but then scored six points with an escape, takedown and three back points in the second.

"I've practiced with him a couple of times," Retherford said. "I was kind of surprised. He just kind of laid there. I worked all my moves. I feel like I could ride him on top as much as I wanted."

Retherford will wrestle another freshman, Oley Valley's Robert Pritchard (37-6) in today's quarterfinals. Ritschard pinned Harbor Creek's Tyler Pier in 4:16.

Kritzer followed his teammate with a solid 10-5 win at 130 over North East's Levi Morton. Kritzer (32-13) had a takedown and two back points in the first period. Morton cut the lead to 6-5 with a reversal and two back points in the second period but Kritzer never flinched, coming back with a reversal and two back points of his own.

"I tried to keep under control," said the sophomore. "The biggest thing is that people come down here and crunch up, they get so tight. I just let it fly."

"We talked about coming down here and having fun," said Line Mountain coach Mike Martz. "Everybody wants to come here and win, but I think it's important to have fun, too."

Kritzer will have to work hard to have fun today, going against Boiling Springs' Joe Spisak (44-1), who had a 43-second pin in his first round bout. Spisak was seventh at 119 last year.

Also at 130, Pesarchick had a lot of fun, pinning Schuylkill Valley's Dakota Davis in 31 seconds. Pesarchick (36-5) dumped Davis at the start and quickly finished the pin. He'll face Pen Argyl freshman Mikey Racciato (42-4) in the quarterfinals.

Lahr had to work a lot harder at 135. He didn't get calls on apparent takedowns in regulation and had to score a reversal in overtime for a 3-1 win over Saegertown's Tim Clark.

Lahr seemed to have a takedown at the end of the second period but time ran out, and then had a takedown in the third period which was called out of bounds even though Clark barely had one foot on the line.

"I thought they both were takedowns, and I looked up at Hock (Hockenbroch) and kind of said, 'What's up?'"', said Lahr. "But you just have to get over that stuff down here.

"I figured he (Clark) wasn't going to take a shot, and I was looking for some stalling calls, but I didn't get them. Then when he went on top in the overtime, I figured he's probably not as good as (Montoursville's Luke) Frey, so I said 'Okay, let him do it.'"

Lahr (18-7) has a very tough quarterfinal against defending state champion Nick Hodgkins of Wyomissing. Hodgkins (34-1) was a 12-1 winner over Bedford's Trey Easter.

"I got a tough draw but I just have to go out and wrestle him," said Lahr. "It helps to get the first match out of the way. Once you do that, all the nerves go away."

Shingara (32-7) was a 4-2 winner at 140 over Bermudian Spring's Dalton Anthony, another wrestler who was content to wrestle defensively and keep things close.

"I just kept in the center of the mat and stayed there the whole match," said Shingara, who had a takedown in each of the first two periods.

Shingara also got a break on another mat, when Northwest Region champ Cody Copeland of Greenville was upset 4-3 by North Star's Richard Baker, the Southwest Region's fifth-place finisher. Shingara will wrestle Baker (34-7) in the quarterfinals. Also losing on that side of the bracket was Southwest Regional champ Phillip Steinberg of Central Cambria, a state runnerup last year, who lost to Juniata's Seth Beitz 6-3.

NOTES: District 4 wrestlers went 28-11 in the first round, and 8-3 in the consolation round. … District 2 went 3-0 in the first round, with wins from Blue Ridge's Alex Stanton (140), Lake-Lehman's Shane Stark (171) and Lackawana Trail's Eric Laytos (215). … Other than the Shamokin wrestlers, Schuylkill League wrestlers had a tough first round, going 1-7, with only Tamaqua's Garth Lakitsky (189) advancing.

The Schuylkill Leaguers went 4-3 in the consolation round.