RoverNation05 said:

Salamone beats Timar 7-1, best win of his career. Second win over a top 10 kid in the country this year for Salamone (John McGinty, who will be in the other semi).

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Salamone got smoked by U17 world champion Paul Kenny (Christian Brothers Academy, NJ) 20-3, but just went out and flipped his loss to Reef Dillard from a week ago with a 5-2 win on a last second takedown (I actually think it came too late, lots of arguing at the table).

Some really good finals -
107: Jojo Burke, SJR vs Justin Farnsworth, Malvern Prep: both top five in the country
114: Freddy Bachman, FCA vs Liam Davis, LHP: Bachmann #1 in America and a big favoritr
121: John McGinty, SJR vs Paul Kenny, CBA: probably NJ state final
127: Joey Bachmann, FCA vs Karson Brown, St. Ed’s: disappointed Keanu Dillard had to scratch, but a good PA vs OH state champ battle.
133: Kasen Roark, Father Ryan TN vs Tyler Conroy, Malvern Prep: Mutarelli scratched here, and Tyler DeKraker had to injury default out
139: Ryan Kennedy, Spire Academy vs Caden Baum, Biship McDevitt: Cayden Riccardi scratching and Kennedy with an upset over Jayce Paridon caused chaos here.
145: Eren Sement, CRN vs Charlie DeSenna, LHP: Sement has been on fire
152: Chase Van Hoven, Brooke Point VA vs Zeno Moore, LHP: Pair of top ten kids, neither local but a high level match up
160: Collin Gaj, Quakertown vs Ben Weader, Chantilly VA: Future college teammates at Virginia Texh
172: Ryan Burton, SJR vs Asher Cunningham, State College: Bith top 5 in America, Burton has won their earlier match up this year. Marquee bout of the tournament.
189: Adam Waters, FCA vs Vincenzo LaVelle, Hanover Park NJ: Waters is incredible. One of the best junior upper weights I’ve ever seen.
215: Lucas Lawler, Bishop McDevitt vs Jason Singer, FCA: Probable 2A state semifinal for the right to wrestle Austin Johnson (Muncy)
285: Mark Effendian, FCA vs Jacob Levy, LHP: top two seeds, have been in the finals of a bunch of big tournaments.

2020sports said:

another post references "450 bottom feeders" to make the point- only a small # of programs care about / work / strive to win championships. NH is one of the "bottom feeders." The leadership "stays with" Carey, the HC, b/c he is an alu, he has had a couple winning seasons, had gotten into the playoffs. The community just does not do all the things necessary to build a successful program- they are good w "status quo" and "mediocre" football. They just don't care- which is sadly common, and typical, for most HSs in PA in 2025

Click to expand...

Good post. For whatever reason football is simply not important to the people of North Hills. The AD can stand on the sidelines laughing and joking while the team is down 40 points in a key football game, means nothing to him. As long as they scrape into the playoffs he is happy. The school board would never dream of replacing the ultimate mediocrity of Carey. He's a NH guy so he has a lifetime job just like McCurry, even though unlike McCurry he has very few accomplishments with the team. Think about it, NH tried to fire McCurry, yet replacing Carey is not even a topic of conversation, despite the fact so many kids won't play for him. The passion in NH is 1000X greater for the marching band than the football team, that's what people care about (and the band is good, no surprise).

There is still a hardcore group keeping football alive, you don't win 8 games in 5A on just luck. The youth football program is good. Unlike some bad teams I could mention, kids come to varsity and know how to play. Zangaro is a young coordinator who has tremendously improved the defense since coming on. The district has grown over the last decade, they need to get participation back up. I swear the marching band kids are bigger than the football team...

RoverNation05 said:

Nick Salamone of Easton pins his way into quarters, where he’ll see UVA commit Ethan Timar from St. Edward’s in Cleveland, Ohio. Timar was the Ohio state champ as a freshman and runner-up as a sophomore. Salamone has three wins over state finalists already this year (Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey) and this is a huge match up for him.

Also a really fun historical match-up. Easton and St. Ed’s both attended the Top Hat tournament at Williamsport in the early 80s which kicked off a decades relationship where they would dual each other, with Ed’s coming out to make the trip to wrestle Easton, Nazareth, Northampton, and Blair throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 00s. I don’t think the two schools have met in a dual since 2002, where Easton knocked off #2 nationally ranked Eagles at 25th Street Gym. When I was working for FloWrestling, I spent a lot of time covering Ed’s - Greg Urbas was the ultimate gentleman and John Heffernan (now the head coach) is also a great guy, and they would give me endless crap for how terrible and homer they thought the officiating in that dual was. I don’t know if that makes up for 34-18, but we had a lot of laughs over it. Good guys, hope Salamone goes out and kicks Timar’s butt.

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Salamone beats Timar 7-1, best win of his career. Second win over a top 10 kid in the country this year for Salamone (John McGinty, who will be in the other semi).

As an Easton side note - I don’t know if they’ve won a match all year at 114 pounds. Just a weird hole they have in the lineup. Their junior high team is at probably the best tournament in the state this weekend out at Bellefonte (Canon Mac, Connellsville, Reynolds, Central Dauphin, Easton, Nazareth, and a bunch of other great programs) and their 115 pound 8th grader tech’d/pinned his way through the field, with a 15-0 win in the finals over a PJW state medalist. Can we call him up for the stretch run here?

Nick Salamone of Easton pins his way into quarters, where he’ll see UVA commit Ethan Timar from St. Edward’s in Cleveland, Ohio. Timar was the Ohio state champ as a freshman and runner-up as a sophomore. Salamone has three wins over state finalists already this year (Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey) and this is a huge match up for him.

Also a really fun historical match-up. Easton and St. Ed’s both attended the Top Hat tournament at Williamsport in the early 80s which kicked off a decades relationship where they would dual each other, with Ed’s coming out to make the trip to wrestle Easton, Nazareth, Northampton, and Blair throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 00s. I don’t think the two schools have met in a dual since 2002, where Easton knocked off #2 nationally ranked Eagles at 25th Street Gym. When I was working for FloWrestling, I spent a lot of time covering Ed’s - Greg Urbas was the ultimate gentleman and John Heffernan (now the head coach) is also a great guy, and they would give me endless crap for how terrible and homer they thought the officiating in that dual was. I don’t know if that makes up for 34-18, but we had a lot of laughs over it. Good guys, hope Salamone goes out and kicks Timar’s butt.

Easton in sixth and two points ahead of Becahi and Connellsville after the first round, we can stop the count! Faith Christian a distant 10th

RoverNation05 said:

Monster Tournament this weekend.

Nationally Ranked Teams Attending
#1 Faith Christian Academy
#2 Lake highland Prep (FL)
#8 Malver Prep
#9 St. Joseph Regional (NJ)
#11 St. Edward (OH)
#24 Bethlehem Catholic
#28 St. Peter's Prep (NJ)
#32 Bishop McDevitt
#39 Ponganset (RI)
#40 Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)
#44 Staunton River (VA)
HM Southern Regional (NJ)
HM Notre Dame
HM Connellsville
HM Tampa Jesuit (FL)
HM Easton

State Ranked Teams Attending
3A: #1 Bethlehem Catholic; #2 Connellsville, #3 Notre Dame, #5 Easton, #11 Council Rock North; #13 Council Rock South: 2A: #1 Faith Christian Academy; #3 Bishop McDevitt

Some preliminary thoughts
106
Nationally ranked wrestlers: #13 (at 114)Killian Coluccio (Lacey Township; uncommitted), #3 Justin Farnsworth (Malvern Prep), #13 Nico Emili (Bethlehem Catholic), #8 Sean Kenney (CBA), #16 JoJo Burke (St. Joseph Regional).
#2 in the state Tommy Gretz (Connellsville) is the 12 seed in the tournament. Loaded weight class, it'll be interesting to see how Coluccio does down at 107 (109 with the allowance). Emili and Gretz are possible state finalists here in PA and this is their first direct head-to-head comparison.

114
Nationally ranked wrestlers: #1 Freddy Bachman (Faith Chrstian Academy; uncommitted)
Wide open after Bachman. Field also includes Kole Davidheiser (11 seed) who was a state medalist at Faith Christian who got recruited over and transferred to The Hill School. Max Tancini (Perk Valley) can make a statement, he's a possible PA finalist in 3A and the second seed here.

121
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #16 (at 127) Gauge Botero (Faith Christian Academy; Michigan), #7 Paul Kenney (CBA), #8 Ethan Timar (St. Edward; Virginia), #9 Luke Littleton (Malvern Prep; North Carolina), #17 John McGinty (St. Joseph Regiona; Oklahoma)
Monster weight class here. Very possible the OW comes out of this group. Behind Botero, Reef Dillard and Nick Salamone are the PA highlights, both are possible 3A finalists, and Salamone owns a win over McGinty at Beast of the East. Dillard throttled Salamone in their dual last week.

127
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #6 Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic; Lehigh), #2 (at 121) Joey Bachmann (Faith Cristian Academy), #13 Karson Brown (St. Edward; Pittsburgh), #14 Matty O'Neill (Malvern Prep; uncommitted)
Bachmann going up to challenge Dillard (who has an OT win over Botero at Ironman) is one of the highlights of the tournament. Both are Cadet World medalists this past summer, with Bachmann taking gold and Dillard taking bronze.

133
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #9 Tyler DeKraker (Chantilly VA; Ohio State), #17 Anthony Mutarelli (Council Rock South; Oregon State), #24 Bobby Duffy (CBA; uncommitted)
Mutarelli's first competition down at 133 this year and he looks like he's on a collison course with Ohio State commit Tyler DeKraker (formerly of Blair, formerly of Faith Christian, now back at his hometown school in Virginia).

139
#4 Caeden Ricciardi (St. Peters Prep; Navy), #5 Jayce Paridon (Lake Highland Prep; Virginia)
Huge national match as the probable final with your top two seeds. A chance for Caden Baum and Kai Vielma, two very good PA kids, to make a statement against some national kids. Chris Kelly from my alma mater a fun 10 seed.

145
#7 Eren Sement (Council Rock North; Michigan), #15 Joey Joyce (Pongansett; Brown), #19 Tyler Traves (Mountain View VA; Cornell), #24 Charlie DeSenna (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted)
Sement is the top seed and can put together some nice national wins in his run, with Joyce as teh 5 seed and a semifinal opponent and DeSena or Traves in the finals. Mason Wagner (CBA) and Pat Kelly (CB West) are solid PA kids who will be tough outs.

152
#6 (at 157) Chase Van Hoven (Brooke Pointe VA; Lehigh) #7 Zeno Moore (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted), #14 Max Stein (Faith Christian; Penn), #15 Evan Petrovich (Connellsville; Pittsburgh), #21 Ryan Lawler (Bishop McDevitt; Bucknell)
Another loaded weight, PEtrovich is a kid I've always liked who has a chance to climb, though Van Hoven and Moore is a heavily favored final.

160
#3 Collin Gaj (Quakertown; Virginia Tech), #10 Lucas Boe (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted), #9 Ben Weader (Chantilly VA; Virginia Tech), #16 Chase Hontz (Faith Christian; Hofstra), #17 Charlie Scanlan (Bethlehem Catholic; Columbia)
Just rolling off deep weight classes. Gaj is going to win, because he's a mosnter, but he'll bolster his resume doing so. Gaj and Scanlan could be a state final. Chris Dennis (CB West) and Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville) are also really solid PA kids who can raise their stock.

172
#3 Ryan Burton (St. Joseph Regional; Virginia Tech), #5 Asher Cunningham (State College; Penn State), #20 Nick Singer (Faith Christian; uncommitted)
Burton and Cunningham is as high level a match up as you get. Virginia Tech vs. Penn State, NJ state champ vs. PA State champ, both really athletic, fun wrestlers. Singer and Ohio state champ Ty Miller (St. Edward) is the next tier who would be finalist in pretty much every other tourney in the country. Dom Sumpolec (Notre Dame), Shane McFillin (Bethlehem Catholic), and Gavin Cole (Council Rock South) is a nice preview of who could be opposite Cunningham in the 3A state finals.

189
#2 Adam Waters (Faith Christian; uncommitted), #6 JR Miller (St. Edward; Iowa), #7 Robet Kucharczk (Lake Highland Prep; Haravrd), #8 Vincenzo Lavelle (Hanover Park; Princeton), #21 Alex Reyes (Holmdel; uncommitted), #25 Kaleb Jackson (St. Joseph Regional; uncommitted)
Incredible weight class. Waters is a clear favorite, but could be any number of kids he's meeting in finals, though Miller is probably the most talented kid. There will be huge names who may not end up on the medal stand.

215
#19 Lucas Lawlar (Bishop McDevitt; Bucknell), #20 Landon Jobber-Spence (Staunton River; Arkansas-Little Rock), #21 Dylan Greenstein (Northfield Mount Hermon MA; Harvard), #25 Jason Singer (Faith Christian; Lehigh)
Guys are "only" ranked in the 20s here, so a relative breather. But a good test for Singer and Stosh Zalota (Malvern Prep) who are two breakout upper weights on their national schedules.

285
#7 Jacob Levy (Lake Highland Prep; North Carolina), #8 Mark Effendian (Faith Christian; Princeton), #14 Christian Alvarez (St. Joseph Regional; uncommitted), #15 James Bechter (Northfield Mount Herman; Stanford), #19 Luke Zalota (Malvern Prep; uncommitted)
Levy and Effendian is the expected feature bout, but again, a good set of big guys to close the tournament.

Click to expand...

Why getting seeded here is importent - tough draws for the Rovers.

Noah Fenner wins his first round, has Joey Bachmann in round two. Evan Carss wins his first round, has Chase Van Hoven round two. Justin Cosover will have Asher Cunningham round two. Three blind draws into top 5 kids in the country, oof.

HSFB99 said:

Bucks, that doesn’t surprise me. What a shame. I hope most kids stay at their current schools.

Has he had any success with any “big names” yet? His staff has plenty of “recruiters.”

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Zykee Scott’s recruiting profile is already changed to show he’s at LaSalle. Started at Imhotep as a freshman and sophomore, Penn State offered him as an 8th grader. I think Rutgers has also offered, I know Michigan has been active in recruiting him too.

HSFB99 said:

Bucks, that doesn’t surprise me. What a shame. I hope most kids stay at their current schools.

Has he had any success with any “big names” yet? His staff has plenty of “recruiters.”

Click to expand...

Nothing yet that I’ve heard, although it’s hard to transfer HS mid-year, so I don’t think we’ll hear much until June.

Bucks, that doesn’t surprise me. What a shame. I hope most kids stay at their current schools.

Has he had any success with any “big names” yet? His staff has plenty of “recruiters.”

bucksftball said:

Just an update… Gordon is going scorched earth in District 1 this off-season. He’s not just recruiting in the 8th graders, he’s actively going after kids already on public school rosters. Now we see if the D1 committee is as toothless as they’ve seemed over the years…

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We have a family friend who is a teacher there and has been for decades, who told me this week that he has never seen so many kids already in high school making shadow day visits.

I also think Zykee Scott to LaSalle is a done deal. Add one of the better rising juniors in the state.

This kind of reminds me of when Rich Fatzinger left Parkland to coach at Allentown Central Catholic. Easton was good at the time, and coached by Jim Hutnik, who was also very successful at Becahi. Hut was so offended by Fatzinger reaching out to Zack Hankerson (Easton’s 1,000 point scorer) about transferring, not because he did it, but because he was so sloppy and obvious about it rather than work back channels like Hut did when he was at Becahi. Easton wrestling coach Steve Powell hanging all of the letters his junior high kids would bring in for him that they got from Becahi when that program was cranking up is another classic of the genre.

RoverNation05 said:

So you’re saying the 8th grader I work with who got sideline passes for LaSalle-SJP (regular season) as a guest of the coaching staff, had his school shadow visit day arranged by the head coach with full meetings with the head coach and his future position coach about their plan for him and how he fits into their defense and “how he goes D1” wouldn’t happen at PCC?

Because that’s how Brett Gordon is rolling now.

Click to expand...

Just an update… Gordon is going scorched earth in District 1 this off-season. He’s not just recruiting in the 8th graders, he’s actively going after kids already on public school rosters. Now we see if the D1 committee is as toothless as they’ve seemed over the years…

Relayer said:

Thanks Rover, great insight. I did see they are moving the times up on Sunday with the anticipated storm.

I read this on the D1 wrestling forum:

"An interesting registered wrestler at this year's tournament is Tania Fernandez of Archbishop Spalding at 133. She's a U17 World Champ that owns a folkstyle win over our 12 seed, Drew Roggie, at that weight (in 2023), although she is unseeded as she has a limited track record against the boys. Roggie is a 2x National Prep medalist and a Beast/ETR blood round guy, so she is legit. She is the best HS girl in the country."

Click to expand...

I think she beat Easton’s Aubre Krazer earlier in the year, why is a multi time Fargo champ, Pan Am champ, and was undefeated in high school.

Former Easton wrestler Alex Krom, who was an All American at Maryland, has been an assistant at Spalding, so I’ve heard about this girl for years. Didn’t realize she was in the tourney. Roggie is a very legit win.

RoverNation05 said:

Monster Tournament this weekend.

Nationally Ranked Teams Attending
#1 Faith Christian Academy
#2 Lake highland Prep (FL)
#8 Malver Prep
#9 St. Joseph Regional (NJ)
#11 St. Edward (OH)
#24 Bethlehem Catholic
#28 St. Peter's Prep (NJ)
#32 Bishop McDevitt
#39 Ponganset (RI)
#40 Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)
#44 Staunton River (VA)
HM Southern Regional (NJ)
HM Notre Dame
HM Connellsville
HM Tampa Jesuit (FL)
HM Easton

State Ranked Teams Attending
3A: #1 Bethlehem Catholic; #2 Connellsville, #3 Notre Dame, #5 Easton, #11 Council Rock North; #13 Council Rock South: 2A: #1 Faith Christian Academy; #3 Bishop McDevitt

Some preliminary thoughts
106
Nationally ranked wrestlers: #13 (at 114)Killian Coluccio (Lacey Township; uncommitted), #3 Justin Farnsworth (Malvern Prep), #13 Nico Emili (Bethlehem Catholic), #8 Sean Kenney (CBA), #16 JoJo Burke (St. Joseph Regional).
#2 in the state Tommy Gretz (Connellsville) is the 12 seed in the tournament. Loaded weight class, it'll be interesting to see how Coluccio does down at 107 (109 with the allowance). Emili and Gretz are possible state finalists here in PA and this is their first direct head-to-head comparison.

114
Nationally ranked wrestlers: #1 Freddy Bachman (Faith Chrstian Academy; uncommitted)
Wide open after Bachman. Field also includes Kole Davidheiser (11 seed) who was a state medalist at Faith Christian who got recruited over and transferred to The Hill School. Max Tancini (Perk Valley) can make a statement, he's a possible PA finalist in 3A and the second seed here.

121
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #16 (at 127) Gauge Botero (Faith Christian Academy; Michigan), #7 Paul Kenney (CBA), #8 Ethan Timar (St. Edward; Virginia), #9 Luke Littleton (Malvern Prep; North Carolina), #17 John McGinty (St. Joseph Regiona; Oklahoma)
Monster weight class here. Very possible the OW comes out of this group. Behind Botero, Reef Dillard and Nick Salamone are the PA highlights, both are possible 3A finalists, and Salamone owns a win over McGinty at Beast of the East. Dillard throttled Salamone in their dual last week.

127
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #6 Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic; Lehigh), #2 (at 121) Joey Bachmann (Faith Cristian Academy), #13 Karson Brown (St. Edward; Pittsburgh), #14 Matty O'Neill (Malvern Prep; uncommitted)
Bachmann going up to challenge Dillard (who has an OT win over Botero at Ironman) is one of the highlights of the tournament. Both are Cadet World medalists this past summer, with Bachmann taking gold and Dillard taking bronze.

133
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #9 Tyler DeKraker (Chantilly VA; Ohio State), #17 Anthony Mutarelli (Council Rock South; Oregon State), #24 Bobby Duffy (CBA; uncommitted)
Mutarelli's first competition down at 133 this year and he looks like he's on a collison course with Ohio State commit Tyler DeKraker (formerly of Blair, formerly of Faith Christian, now back at his hometown school in Virginia).

139
#4 Caeden Ricciardi (St. Peters Prep; Navy), #5 Jayce Paridon (Lake Highland Prep; Virginia)
Huge national match as the probable final with your top two seeds. A chance for Caden Baum and Kai Vielma, two very good PA kids, to make a statement against some national kids. Chris Kelly from my alma mater a fun 10 seed.

145
#7 Eren Sement (Council Rock North; Michigan), #15 Joey Joyce (Pongansett; Brown), #19 Tyler Traves (Mountain View VA; Cornell), #24 Charlie DeSenna (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted)
Sement is the top seed and can put together some nice national wins in his run, with Joyce as teh 5 seed and a semifinal opponent and DeSena or Traves in the finals. Mason Wagner (CBA) and Pat Kelly (CB West) are solid PA kids who will be tough outs.

152
#6 (at 157) Chase Van Hoven (Brooke Pointe VA; Lehigh) #7 Zeno Moore (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted), #14 Max Stein (Faith Christian; Penn), #15 Evan Petrovich (Connellsville; Pittsburgh), #21 Ryan Lawler (Bishop McDevitt; Bucknell)
Another loaded weight, PEtrovich is a kid I've always liked who has a chance to climb, though Van Hoven and Moore is a heavily favored final.

160
#3 Collin Gaj (Quakertown; Virginia Tech), #10 Lucas Boe (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted), #9 Ben Weader (Chantilly VA; Virginia Tech), #16 Chase Hontz (Faith Christian; Hofstra), #17 Charlie Scanlan (Bethlehem Catholic; Columbia)
Just rolling off deep weight classes. Gaj is going to win, because he's a mosnter, but he'll bolster his resume doing so. Gaj and Scanlan could be a state final. Chris Dennis (CB West) and Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville) are also really solid PA kids who can raise their stock.

172
#3 Ryan Burton (St. Joseph Regional; Virginia Tech), #5 Asher Cunningham (State College; Penn State), #20 Nick Singer (Faith Christian; uncommitted)
Burton and Cunningham is as high level a match up as you get. Virginia Tech vs. Penn State, NJ state champ vs. PA State champ, both really athletic, fun wrestlers. Singer and Ohio state champ Ty Miller (St. Edward) is the next tier who would be finalist in pretty much every other tourney in the country. Dom Sumpolec (Notre Dame), Shane McFillin (Bethlehem Catholic), and Gavin Cole (Council Rock South) is a nice preview of who could be opposite Cunningham in the 3A state finals.

189
#2 Adam Waters (Faith Christian; uncommitted), #6 JR Miller (St. Edward; Iowa), #7 Robet Kucharczk (Lake Highland Prep; Haravrd), #8 Vincenzo Lavelle (Hanover Park; Princeton), #21 Alex Reyes (Holmdel; uncommitted), #25 Kaleb Jackson (St. Joseph Regional; uncommitted)
Incredible weight class. Waters is a clear favorite, but could be any number of kids he's meeting in finals, though Miller is probably the most talented kid. There will be huge names who may not end up on the medal stand.

215
#19 Lucas Lawlar (Bishop McDevitt; Bucknell), #20 Landon Jobber-Spence (Staunton River; Arkansas-Little Rock), #21 Dylan Greenstein (Northfield Mount Hermon MA; Harvard), #25 Jason Singer (Faith Christian; Lehigh)
Guys are "only" ranked in the 20s here, so a relative breather. But a good test for Singer and Stosh Zalota (Malvern Prep) who are two breakout upper weights on their national schedules.

285
#7 Jacob Levy (Lake Highland Prep; North Carolina), #8 Mark Effendian (Faith Christian; Princeton), #14 Christian Alvarez (St. Joseph Regional; uncommitted), #15 James Bechter (Northfield Mount Herman; Stanford), #19 Luke Zalota (Malvern Prep; uncommitted)
Levy and Effendian is the expected feature bout, but again, a good set of big guys to close the tournament.

Click to expand...

Thanks Rover, great insight. I did see they are moving the times up on Sunday with the anticipated storm.

I read this on the D1 wrestling forum:

"An interesting registered wrestler at this year's tournament is Tania Fernandez of Archbishop Spalding at 133. She's a U17 World Champ that owns a folkstyle win over our 12 seed, Drew Roggie, at that weight (in 2023), although she is unseeded as she has a limited track record against the boys. Roggie is a 2x National Prep medalist and a Beast/ETR blood round guy, so she is legit. She is the best HS girl in the country."

Relayer said:

Here are the seeds for Escape The Rock this weekend.

Contact

www.escapetherock.org

Click to expand...

Monster Tournament this weekend.

Nationally Ranked Teams Attending
#1 Faith Christian Academy
#2 Lake highland Prep (FL)
#8 Malver Prep
#9 St. Joseph Regional (NJ)
#11 St. Edward (OH)
#24 Bethlehem Catholic
#28 St. Peter's Prep (NJ)
#32 Bishop McDevitt
#39 Ponganset (RI)
#40 Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)
#44 Staunton River (VA)
HM Southern Regional (NJ)
HM Notre Dame
HM Connellsville
HM Tampa Jesuit (FL)
HM Easton

State Ranked Teams Attending
3A: #1 Bethlehem Catholic; #2 Connellsville, #3 Notre Dame, #5 Easton, #11 Council Rock North; #13 Council Rock South: 2A: #1 Faith Christian Academy; #3 Bishop McDevitt

Some preliminary thoughts
106
Nationally ranked wrestlers: #13 (at 114)Killian Coluccio (Lacey Township; uncommitted), #3 Justin Farnsworth (Malvern Prep), #13 Nico Emili (Bethlehem Catholic), #8 Sean Kenney (CBA), #16 JoJo Burke (St. Joseph Regional).
#2 in the state Tommy Gretz (Connellsville) is the 12 seed in the tournament. Loaded weight class, it'll be interesting to see how Coluccio does down at 107 (109 with the allowance). Emili and Gretz are possible state finalists here in PA and this is their first direct head-to-head comparison.

114
Nationally ranked wrestlers: #1 Freddy Bachman (Faith Chrstian Academy; uncommitted)
Wide open after Bachman. Field also includes Kole Davidheiser (11 seed) who was a state medalist at Faith Christian who got recruited over and transferred to The Hill School. Max Tancini (Perk Valley) can make a statement, he's a possible PA finalist in 3A and the second seed here.

121
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #16 (at 127) Gauge Botero (Faith Christian Academy; Michigan), #7 Paul Kenney (CBA), #8 Ethan Timar (St. Edward; Virginia), #9 Luke Littleton (Malvern Prep; North Carolina), #17 John McGinty (St. Joseph Regiona; Oklahoma)
Monster weight class here. Very possible the OW comes out of this group. Behind Botero, Reef Dillard and Nick Salamone are the PA highlights, both are possible 3A finalists, and Salamone owns a win over McGinty at Beast of the East. Dillard throttled Salamone in their dual last week.

127
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #6 Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic; Lehigh), #2 (at 121) Joey Bachmann (Faith Cristian Academy), #13 Karson Brown (St. Edward; Pittsburgh), #14 Matty O'Neill (Malvern Prep; uncommitted)
Bachmann going up to challenge Dillard (who has an OT win over Botero at Ironman) is one of the highlights of the tournament. Both are Cadet World medalists this past summer, with Bachmann taking gold and Dillard taking bronze.

133
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers: #9 Tyler DeKraker (Chantilly VA; Ohio State), #17 Anthony Mutarelli (Council Rock South; Oregon State), #24 Bobby Duffy (CBA; uncommitted)
Mutarelli's first competition down at 133 this year and he looks like he's on a collison course with Ohio State commit Tyler DeKraker (formerly of Blair, formerly of Faith Christian, now back at his hometown school in Virginia).

139
#4 Caeden Ricciardi (St. Peters Prep; Navy), #5 Jayce Paridon (Lake Highland Prep; Virginia)
Huge national match as the probable final with your top two seeds. A chance for Caden Baum and Kai Vielma, two very good PA kids, to make a statement against some national kids. Chris Kelly from my alma mater a fun 10 seed.

145
#7 Eren Sement (Council Rock North; Michigan), #15 Joey Joyce (Pongansett; Brown), #19 Tyler Traves (Mountain View VA; Cornell), #24 Charlie DeSenna (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted)
Sement is the top seed and can put together some nice national wins in his run, with Joyce as teh 5 seed and a semifinal opponent and DeSena or Traves in the finals. Mason Wagner (CBA) and Pat Kelly (CB West) are solid PA kids who will be tough outs.

152
#6 (at 157) Chase Van Hoven (Brooke Pointe VA; Lehigh) #7 Zeno Moore (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted), #14 Max Stein (Faith Christian; Penn), #15 Evan Petrovich (Connellsville; Pittsburgh), #21 Ryan Lawler (Bishop McDevitt; Bucknell)
Another loaded weight, PEtrovich is a kid I've always liked who has a chance to climb, though Van Hoven and Moore is a heavily favored final.

160
#3 Collin Gaj (Quakertown; Virginia Tech), #10 Lucas Boe (Lake Highland Prep; uncommitted), #9 Ben Weader (Chantilly VA; Virginia Tech), #16 Chase Hontz (Faith Christian; Hofstra), #17 Charlie Scanlan (Bethlehem Catholic; Columbia)
Just rolling off deep weight classes. Gaj is going to win, because he's a mosnter, but he'll bolster his resume doing so. Gaj and Scanlan could be a state final. Chris Dennis (CB West) and Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville) are also really solid PA kids who can raise their stock.

172
#3 Ryan Burton (St. Joseph Regional; Virginia Tech), #5 Asher Cunningham (State College; Penn State), #20 Nick Singer (Faith Christian; uncommitted)
Burton and Cunningham is as high level a match up as you get. Virginia Tech vs. Penn State, NJ state champ vs. PA State champ, both really athletic, fun wrestlers. Singer and Ohio state champ Ty Miller (St. Edward) is the next tier who would be finalist in pretty much every other tourney in the country. Dom Sumpolec (Notre Dame), Shane McFillin (Bethlehem Catholic), and Gavin Cole (Council Rock South) is a nice preview of who could be opposite Cunningham in the 3A state finals.

189
#2 Adam Waters (Faith Christian; uncommitted), #6 JR Miller (St. Edward; Iowa), #7 Robet Kucharczk (Lake Highland Prep; Haravrd), #8 Vincenzo Lavelle (Hanover Park; Princeton), #21 Alex Reyes (Holmdel; uncommitted), #25 Kaleb Jackson (St. Joseph Regional; uncommitted)
Incredible weight class. Waters is a clear favorite, but could be any number of kids he's meeting in finals, though Miller is probably the most talented kid. There will be huge names who may not end up on the medal stand.

215
#19 Lucas Lawlar (Bishop McDevitt; Bucknell), #20 Landon Jobber-Spence (Staunton River; Arkansas-Little Rock), #21 Dylan Greenstein (Northfield Mount Hermon MA; Harvard), #25 Jason Singer (Faith Christian; Lehigh)
Guys are "only" ranked in the 20s here, so a relative breather. But a good test for Singer and Stosh Zalota (Malvern Prep) who are two breakout upper weights on their national schedules.

285
#7 Jacob Levy (Lake Highland Prep; North Carolina), #8 Mark Effendian (Faith Christian; Princeton), #14 Christian Alvarez (St. Joseph Regional; uncommitted), #15 James Bechter (Northfield Mount Herman; Stanford), #19 Luke Zalota (Malvern Prep; uncommitted)
Levy and Effendian is the expected feature bout, but again, a good set of big guys to close the tournament.

The Archbishop Carroll football team has
found its man.

Carroll hired Stephen Honick ‘17 as the ninth head coach in school history and fourth since the firing of legendary head man Dan Bielli back in 2010.

Honick, statistically one of the best quarterbacks in Carroll history, played for the Patriots from 2013 to 2016. In that time, under coaches Joe Powel and Dan Connor, the team went an underwhelming 9-32 while Honick established himself as one of the best quarterbacks around by his senior season.

Honick, now four years removed from his time at West Chester University, where he served as a student assistant, will be one of the youngest head coaches in the area. The former Golden Ram also spent his first two years of college at Ursinus, where he played quarterback for the Bears.

Honick was eventually promoted to quarterbacks coach at West Chester while also spending time with Next Level Greats 7v7 as head coach and offensive coordinator for their 13u team. Honick’s last stop was as a graduate assistant at Division I Temple University, a position he assumed back in 2022.

He will now be tasked with turning around a Carroll program that hasn’t seen sustained success since the early 2000s under Bielli, who won three consecutive Philadelphia Catholic League titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The team is coming off of five consecutive losing seasons.

Honick inherits a team plagued by inconsistencies, on-field struggles, and mounting rumors of transfers. Some have already taken place. Star wideout Ty Ty Mattison, a sophomore, announced he’d be transferring to Northeast high school for the 2025 season.

With the news of Honick’s hiring now official, offseason workouts, which have trudged on in the absence of a head man, should resume as planned for the winter while Honick prepares his team for the 2025 campaign, which kicks off Aug. 22 at William Tennent High School in Warminster, Bucks County.

northalleghenytiger said:

He’s corrupting the North Allegheny name

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you still have the former Pitt Oline coach's son Mack Leftiwch, he's a hot coaching commodity in college football

northalleghenytiger said:

It’s about time the best wpial team of all time gets it’s recognition. It’s too bad the best linemen on that team was charged with trafficking people in august

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woah what????

at least Kugler wasn't a real NA kid, he transferred in because his dad was the Steelers line coach

northalleghenytiger said:

Austin Peay assistant coach Patrick Kugler resigns after arrest in human trafficking investigation

Former assistant coach Patrick Kugler was charged with one count of trafficking for sexual servitude.

www.nytimes.com

How does this happen?

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wow thats crazy- so kid was like 28, making 6 figure salary- and kinda eff-d up his life.

basically making decision w his groin not his brain!! Probably too busy to meet girls normally, wanted to quickly find-em online- leading to an "under-age date" wow

new2pa said:

I guess my comment stemmed from watching kids like Hampson, Willard, Good, Kohley, Kristofic, Katic, Dorundo, Jackson, Hayes, etc play.

Even second tier kids like Pickles, Weideman, Lemirande, Boyd, Kerns, Swisher, etc weren’t dumpy.

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lol yea those kids were mostly all studs- there have beenkids starting the last 3 years that might not have been 2nd string 5 years ago. The PR program is good not great now- and the development of kids is one of the drop-offs- the old staff was awesome w that. But i gotta say- the line this year was stronger than last year. Even against McDevit- we might have an edge on line- but we got "outskilled"