State 3A Wrestling Tournament
- Thread starter RoverNation05
- Start date
Really good tournament for PA - obviously a lot of the big stars and multi-time state champs have performed - Lee, Starocci, Sasso, Kemmerer, Wentzel, Jake Woodley (though his run to semis was surprising, he was a 2x state champ and multi time Fargo AA that just hadn’t put it together in college get) - but there have been great runs by guys who never won a state title in their careers - Nino Bonnacorsi, Ethan Smith (who never made finals). Was disappointed Mike Labriola got upset in quarters yesterday, I think he’s right there with Kemmerer and Starocci, but putting together 6 straight wins in that tournament is really, really, really hard. Snyder will have him ready to take 3rd.
What sets PA apart is how much of the state is good. Ohio, for instance, always gets a bunch of qualifiers, but it’s basically greater Cleveland is awesome, a couple schools in the northwest, and St Paris Graham. I’d say most of the districts in PA put out elite college guys pretty much every year. It’s just a much larger state infrastructure of development. The WPIAL and Lehigh Valley tend to get all of the love, but District 4 in 2A puts out hammers, District 6 has had good high level kids forever and now seems to be really gaining depth with a lot of the training situations around Penn State, District 9 and 10 are real players in the state. D3 has been really good It’s all hands on deck.
There also is a stylistic difference. The mat wrestling in PA is great and you see that play out in college. Spencer Lee is obviously an alien, but Wentzel has essentially leg rode his way to the final, the Myers-RBY semi was so close because RBY didn’t want to go under him, Sasso’s cradle is one of the best weapons in college, Hidlay rode his way to a final in OT, etc, etc.College coaches always say that’s what separates our state, and you saw it on display last night.
What sets PA apart is how much of the state is good. Ohio, for instance, always gets a bunch of qualifiers, but it’s basically greater Cleveland is awesome, a couple schools in the northwest, and St Paris Graham. I’d say most of the districts in PA put out elite college guys pretty much every year. It’s just a much larger state infrastructure of development. The WPIAL and Lehigh Valley tend to get all of the love, but District 4 in 2A puts out hammers, District 6 has had good high level kids forever and now seems to be really gaining depth with a lot of the training situations around Penn State, District 9 and 10 are real players in the state. D3 has been really good It’s all hands on deck.
There also is a stylistic difference. The mat wrestling in PA is great and you see that play out in college. Spencer Lee is obviously an alien, but Wentzel has essentially leg rode his way to the final, the Myers-RBY semi was so close because RBY didn’t want to go under him, Sasso’s cradle is one of the best weapons in college, Hidlay rode his way to a final in OT, etc, etc.College coaches always say that’s what separates our state, and you saw it on display last night.
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