Chris Vassar of Cedar Cliff escapes the hold of Christian Stone of Clearfield during their PIAA AAA 103 pound preliminary match at the Giant Center.

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(JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News)

Most freshman would wilt on the pressure of being on the Giant Center floor in front of a raucous Class AAA crowd at the PIAA Wrestling Championships.
   
Not Christopher Vassar.
   
The Cedar Cliff newbie is used to being in tight matches. It seems to be a constant for Vassar, who has 11 matches this season where the margin of victory has been two points or less.
   
So when he finished in a scoreless tie with Clearfield’s Christian Stone at the end of regulation, Vassar didn’t panic. It was simply status quo.
   
Vassar showed the prowess of a polished veteran, when he escaped in the second overtime period and rode Stone out in the third to take a 1-0 decision and earn a spot in today’s quarterfinal round, which is scheduled for 1 p.m.
   
“Some people get to that third period in a tight match and think that they are going to lose,” Vassar said. “All those close matches have helped me mentally. I seem to pick it up more.
   
“I trusted in all the work outs I do riding people out in the room. I knew eventually I would get out, and I was able to post his hand and swivel my hips up and out.”
   
It’s all mental.
   
Vassar (38-9) may be small, but he has the confidence of a 285-pound heavyweight. He believes in his ability and his work ethic. And never was that more evident than when he wiggled away from Stone with five seconds left in the second overtime period.

From there, it was brute strength and riding ability. Stone almost got away, but Vassar climbed up his legs and dropped the Clearfield freshman to his knees and hung on for the victory.
   
“I’m not surprised with how well I’m doing,” said Vassar, who will face Liberty junior Anthony Cabrera in the quarterfinals. “I work hard training, keep my grades up and trust my coaches.
   
“I’m just going to keep working hard and come back tomorrow and try win.”
   
Vassar wasn’t the only local newcomer to the state tournament to have a good showing.
   
East Pennsboro’s Zachary Nye was nervous early but surged late to pin Blue Mountain’s Brook Gosch in 5:43.
   
Nye was only up 1-0 when Gosch chose down to start the third period. Big mistake, as the Panthers junior rolled the Eagles standout and racked up the fall.
   
“I was driving in here and saw the Giant Center, and was like ‘Oh, my God’,” Nye said. “It was my first match at states and I didn’t want to do anything stupid, so I really didn’t do anything.
   
“I usually feel pretty comfortable on top and once I got on top in the third, I started to get comfortable and the nerves started to go away.”
   
Nye (37-0) will face Methacton’s Brandan Clark (35-5), who upset defending state champion Nate Gaffney, of Connellsville, in the quarterfinals.
   
“I’m much more relaxed now that Gaffney lost,” Nye said. “But the guy I’m facing beat the defending state champion, so he is a good wrestler and I can’t overlook him.”
   
Susquehanna Twp. Sophomore Averee Robinson made a splash in his first state appearance, downing Penn Trafford’s Zach Baker 11-4.
   
Despite being sluggish, Robinson dominated this tilt, scoring six takedowns over three periods to take the victory.
   
“I knew I would be nervous, but I didn’t think I would be this sluggish,” Robinson said. “I thought I was going to be ready, but it was one of my worst matches of the year.
   
“I saw some classmates in the stands, and it made me so proud to represent my school and help put Susquehanna Twp. on the map. I was just hoping to get out with a win.”
   
Robinson (35-2) will take on Clearfield’s Andre Buck (28-8) in the quarterfinals.

Bo Candelaria of Middletown controls Tim Riley of Council Rock South on the way to a technical fall.

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(JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News)

CLASS AAA
145 POUNDS: Ryan Krecker (33-4), Nazareth vs. Bo Candelaria (30-3), Middletown: Candelaria looks unbeatable after scoring tech falls in the finals of districts and in Thursday’s first round of states. But don’t discount Krecker, who defeated Candelaria at Beast of the East in mid-December 7-2 and will be a tough out for the Blue Raiders star.

285 POUNDS: Evan Craig (47-0), Abington Heights vs. Adam Lazenga (41-1), Bethel Park: Craig was the runner-up at 285 as a sophomore and moved to the top of the podium a year ago. He will face his first test of the tournament in Lazenga, who is a pinning machine and put up plenty of resistance to the mighty Craig.

CLASS AA
112 POUNDS: David White (42-3), Athens vs. Evan Link (34-4), Penn Cambria: Link is on the rebound from a surprising third-place finish in the Southwest Region last week in Johnstown. He will look to get back on track against White, a two-time state medalist and Northeast Region champion.

152 POUNDS: Tyler Hain (34-4), Warrior Run vs. Cody Wiercioch (35-1), Charleroi: Hain is a two-time PIAA runner-up and squares off against arguably the best freshman in Class AA. It’s senior against the youngster to see who will be the favorite to stand at the top of the podium on Saturday.

The PIAA AAA preliminary round takes place at the Giant Center.

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(JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News)

There is little doubt after the preliminary round which Class AA district is tops in the state.
       
It’s District 4 in a landslide.
      
The Sunbury-Williamsport area is home to 25 percent of the field left in the championship bracket, owning 28 of the 112 quarterfinal spots. The quarterfinals are slated to go off at 8 a.m. this morning.
       
Benton seems to be the strongest team in the District 4 field with six wrestlers in the quarterfinals, which is also good enough to take the team championship lead with 20 points. Burrell is second with 16 points.
       
Fellow District 4 running mate Athens put three wrestlers in the finals and is fifth in the team chase with 10 points. Shamokin is tied for sixth with three wrestlers in the quarterfinals and nine points.
       
Where does District 3 rank compared to the rest of the state in Class AA: try second with 18. Schuylkill Valley helped the cause with four in contention for a state title. Juniata is second with three, followed by Boiling Springs with two.

BOO BIRDS
The first boos from the stands ripped through the Giant Center air during a 135-pound tilt between Central Mountain’s Jordan Rich and La Salle’s Joey Mazzi.
       
Mazzi trailed 5-1 in the match before locking in a headlock and taking Rich, a fourth-place finisher a year ago at 125, for an additional three near fall points to grab a 6-5 lead.
       
But before Mazzi could pin Rich, he lost Rich’s arm and the headlock turned illegal, costing Mazzi a point and tying the match at 6-6. Rich (35-2) was then awarded a caution point, first noticed by the assistant, and not the match, referee to make it 7-6. Annoyed, Mazzi decided to let up Rich and go for the takedown in the final 14 seconds.
       
Mazzi failed to get the takedown and stormed off the mat none too happy with the referee.

STATE CHAMP FALLS
Connellsville’s Nate Gaffney, the defending champion at 215, dropped a 6-2 decision to Methacton’s Brandan Clark (35-5) in the first round at the same weight.
       
Gaffney tore a ligament in his right knee earlier, but still managed to finish, much like Selinsgrove’s Spencer Myers did against Gaffney in the finals a year ago.
       
Unfortunately for the Connellsville standout, the injury was so severe that he did not return to tournament action.

MORE TOP WRESTLERS FALL
It wasn’t a good day to be a returning runner-up in Class AAA.
       
Blue Mountain’s Tyler Rauenzahn, Bradford’s Mark Havers and Cedar Cliff’s Clint Morrison, all silver medalists from last season were bounced out of the championship bracket in the first round of competition.
       
Havers, who lost to Central Dauphin’s Marshall Peppelman in the 152-pound final a year ago, was the biggest surprise of the group, dropping an 8-6 decision to Chichester’s Bobby Scheivert at 160.
       
Morrison, a runner-up at 171, was out-muscled by Cathedral Prep’s Jermaine Easter (37-5) 10-8 in an entertaining bout at 171. Easter had a big lead early, 8-2, before Morrison rallied and fell just short.
       
As for Rauenzahn, second at 119 last year, his loss wasn’t terribly surprising; he fell 11-7 to McDowell sophomore Steve Spearman, who boasts a spotless 39-0 mark at 130.
       
Morrison and Rauenzahn managed to win consolations, while Havers took an early two and out exit.

NO COMPLAINTS
This was the first year the PIAA held the state pairings until the Sunday before competition, and the process seemed to work out well.
       
"It's been a non-isuue," PIAA assistant executive director Mark Byers said. "We had one e-mail messaging complaining that one of the weights should have been re-drawn, but that was an anonymous message.  Otherwise, we had no complaints."
       
Byers said it's likely that the PIAA will retain the process.
       
"We'll review it at the wrestling steering committe [next month] and barring any changes, we'll likely proceed with this method in the future," byers said.

MEAT IN THE SEATS
Attendance for Thursday's sessions were 5,775 for Class AA and 6,909 for Class AAA for first-day total of 12,684, a bit off the PIAA's normal first-day numbers.

Milton Hershey's Cris Ramirez pins Shamokin's Wes Tillett in their preliminary match at the PIAA Wrestling Championships.

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(CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News)

Cris Ramirez probably never saw the movie “Cool Hand Luke.”
               
But he pulled a significant piece of advice from that classic con-on-the-run film. After a disappointing PIAA Class AA Southeast Region Wrestling Tournanment last week, he decided, in the word of Strother Martin’s famous Captain, to get his mind right.

It’s right.

Ramirez (25-8) turned his fifth-place regional finish into a flurry of improvement over the last four days, all of it resulting in a stunning first-round pin of Shamokin’s Wes Tillett (34-5) in the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championship Thursday at Giant Center.

Ramirez’s victory was one of two stunners by midstate wrestlers in a mixed bag for the locals.

The other came from Juniata senior Seth Beitz (42-7), who knocked off Central Cambria’s Phillip Steinberg, last year’s runner-up at 135 pounds, by a 6-3 score.

Six other midstate wrestlers scored first-round wins: Line Mountain’s impressive freshman Zain Retherford at 103 and Adam Kritzer at 130, Juniata’s PIAA champion Arty Walsh at 119 and PIAA runner-up Zac Beitz at 125, and Boiling Springs’ Joe Spisak at 130 and hot-as-slag Tylor Unger at 285.

But the victories by Ramirez and Seth Beitz were show-stealers for the locals.

“After regionals, we went back in the room and worked,” Ramirez said. “And not just baby practices. There was a lot of running, a lot of work.”

It wasn’t just physical work, either.

“We watched a video [of Tillett] and learned some things about him,” Ramirez said. “I was looking for his weakness, and when I found it, I went after it.”

What Ramirez found, in part because of the video that Milton Hershey assistant coach Ed Neiswender pulled of the wrestling site flowrestling.com, was that Tillett could be thrown. And that’s what Ramirez did … twice.

The first was a counter when Tillett, leading 2-1, attempted to tackle Ramirez, who went over and under and flipped Tillet for a takedown near the edge.

The second throw was much better. Ramirez walked into a low bear hug, lifted and tossed Tillett and got the pin at 3:27.

“I think maybe he thought it’d be easy since I was a No. 5 guy [from the region],” Ramirez said. “I know I thought that about Unger last week.” Unger (33-15), who pushed through a grueling 3-2 win over Wyalusing’s Pete Champluvier.

Unger, who entered the District 3-AA tournament with a 26-12 record, but has since gone 9-3 against good competition, turned in a stunning 9-2 decision over Ramirez last week.

“I learned from that,” said Ramirez, a Bronx resident who once loved theater.

Unger, for his his part, is thrilled with the new him, even if he’s not quite sure how to articulate his new-man turn of events.

“Everything’s just going well,” Unger said. “I just look at my opponent as my enemy and treat him that way.”

Boiling Springs head coach Rodney Wright was more concise about Unger’s improvement.

“He’s found a new love for the sport,” said Wright, the three-time PIAA champion from Lakeview. “Just the other day, he said ‘I can’t wait for next year.’ I told him, ‘Hey, let’s take of this year first.’ ‘’

Unger’s more famous teammate, Spisak (44-1), got in just 43 seconds of work, the time it took him to pin Bentworth’s Francis Mizia.

“I just wanted to come out physical, get the feel for it,” Spisak said. “Having only one match today is kind of anticlimactic, but that’s the way it’s set up. It’d be nice to have another.”

Seth Beitz showed he’s capable of reaching Saturday’s state finals by wrestling a smart, tough match against Steinberg. He trailed 3-2 after two periods, but was the aggressor in the third and outscored Steinberg 4-0 with a takedown and nearfall.

Beitz’s brother Zac had no problems, dumping Iroquois’ Dylan Simmer 9-2 at 125 while Walsh got enough of a fight from Blairsville’s Adam Weinell in a 9-3 decision.

Retherford was especially impressive in his 10-0 execution of Mount Union’s Ryan Wilson, who had just three losses entering the tournament, while Kritzer pulled off a mild surprise by topping North East’s Levi Morton 10-5. He gets Spisak in this morning’s quarterfinals.

Among those falling short in the opening round were Milton Hershey’s Nick Lamoreaux, who couldn’t find any openings against PIAA runner-up Evan Link of Penn Cambria in a 6-2 loss.

Annville-Cleona’s Dylan Killian fell behind Loyalsock’s Alec Eggerton 8-2, turned him with a third-period cradle, but couldn’t get the pin and lost 8-5.

Juniata’s Dylan Treaster at 152 and Dan Fultz at 285 also dropped first-round matches, Treaster to Tyler Gargano of Hickory 12-4 and Fultz to PIAA runner-up Tyler DeMott of Benton 10-2.   Williams Valley’s Ben Ancheff was pinned in overtime by Forest Hills’ Robert Oshaben.

Bo Candelaria of Middletown controls Tim Riley of Council Rock South on the way to a technical fall, 16-1 win in 2:54 during their PIAA AAA 145 pound preliminary match at the Giant Center. JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News...

Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, center, watches the PIAA AAA preliminary matches from a suite at the Giant Center.

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(JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News)

With a week between the Big Ten championships and NCAA championships, Penn State head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson took a break from preparations to observe some of his prized recruits in action at the PIAA wrestling tournament.

Three defending state champs, Central Mountain's Andrew and Dylan Alton and Coudersport's Dirk Cowburn, are Penn State recruits for next season, and Franklin Regional junior 119-pounder Nico Megaludis has verbaled to PSU.

Boiling Springs senior Joe Spisak prepares for his preliminary match against Bentworth's Francis Mizia.

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(CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News)

Boiling Springs' 130-pounder Joe Spisak wrestled for less than a minute before the first day of his PIAA wrestling tournament came to an end. In his preliminary match against Bentworth's Francis Mizia, Spisak scored a takedown in the opening seconds and locked in a quick cradle to register an early fall.

Spisak -- who has second, fourth and seventh place state finishes under his belt -- had the second-fastest pin of the preliminary round. The senior wrestles Line Mountain's Adam Kritzer, a 10-5 winner over North East's Levi Morton, in tomorrow's quarterfinals.

Juniata's Seth Beitz at the District 3 sectionals

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(CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News, 2010)

Juniata 140-pounder Seth Beitz scored an impressive first-round victory, knocking off Central Cambria's Phillip Steinberg 6-3 in the preliminary round of the PIAA wrestling tournament at Giant Center in Hershey. Beitz trailed 3-2 entering the third period and out-scored Steinberg, a state runner-up at 135 pounds last season, 4-0 in the final two minutes.

Beitz was one of three Juniata wrestlers to advance in the early portion of today's AA preliminaries.

Sophomore Arty Walsh, who won a state title as a 112-pounder at Wyomissing last season, labored to a 9-3 victory over Blairsville's Adam Weinell in his preliminary match at 119 pounds. The lanky Weinell presented a matchup problem to Walsh, who ran out of steam in the final minute of the match and clung to the 9-3 decision. Walsh, a perfect 44-0 this season, takes on Westmont-Hilltop's Tanner Hough in tomorrow's quarterfinals.

Walsh also struggled at the Southeast Regionals at Wilson High School last weekend, nipping Peter Renda of Brandywine Heights 4-3 in the regional finals. Stay tuned as he aims to add a second state title to his resume.

Zac Beitz marched on to the quarterfinals at 125, beating Dylan Simmer of Iroquois 9-2 in their preliminary match. He faces Benton's Coltin Fought, a winner by technicall fall in his opening match, in tomorrow's quarterfinals.

Central Dauphin's Kenny Courts, drags Cumberland Valley's Tristan Warner, to the mat during their 171 pound match in the District 3 Wrestling Championships.

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(CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News)

Four weeks ago, state wrestling fans were whipped into anticipation mode for the next three days.
   
Who wouldn’t be after seeing Central Dauphin clip Central Mountain 35-34 in the PIAA Class AAA Team Championships semifinals. You could just sense that these two mat behemoths would go at it again in the individual brackets during the PIAA Championships at Giant Center.
   
Too bad it didn’t turn out that way.
   
Oh, Central Mountain did its part. The Wildcats will bring eight wrestlers to Hershey, five of whom were Northwest Region champions, while the Rams stumbled a bit at districts and qualified only four wrestlers. In other words, the team championship will probably be heading north to District 6.
   
So instead of focusing on a monster team showdown — there is no reason to — it would be more prudent to shift gears and focus on the best weights in class.
   
And there are plenty.
   
The crown jewel of Class AAA bracketology is the 171-pound weight. There are arguably six or seven wrestlers in this group who could end up at the top of the podium Saturday night.
   
“People are going to remember who comes out on top at 171,” Cumberland Valley hammer Tristan Warner said. “The weight is pretty strong top to bottom, but I think I’m up to the challenge. I’m looking forward to it.”
   
Warner (35-2) is a strong contender, as his only losses this season have come at the hands of Central Dauphin’s Kenny Courts (38-0), the last of which was a 4-2 overtime barn burner in the district final.
   
Courts, who took silver a year ago at 160, has already beaten four of his competitors at 171 and has a Beast of the East crown, which came with a victory over Warner in the final, making him the favorite.
   
But in order to earn best in class honors, he will have to run a gauntlet of talent that would like nothing more than to knock off a Central Dauphin wrestler on the way to gold.
   
Chartiers Valley’s Tyler Wilps (37-0) is undefeated and on a quarterfinal collision course with Central Mountain’s Dylan Caprio (35-5). Butler’s Cole Baxter (36-1), if nothing else one of the toughest names in wrestling, has made the leap from 145 and could meet Courts in a quarterfinal tilt.
   
As for Warner, if he can win his first-round match against Upper Moreland’s James Nicholson, he likely will face Hazleton’s Jared Kay (36-5), who bounced him out of the tournament last year, in the quarters.
   
“He beat me 1-0 last year,” said Warner, who will wrestle at Old Dominion next year. “He kept me from a medal and, if I win there, I will probably meet Wilps in the semifinals. There are no weak matches.
   
“I just have to bring my A game and get through one match at a time.”
   
If there is a close second as far as a tough weight class, it comes at 135, where seven competitors have four losses or less.
   
Heading the list is Council Rock South’s Josh Dziewa (35-1), whose only loss this season came at the hands of Central Mountain’s Andrew Alton 10-6. Other heavy hitters are Central Mountain’s Jordan Rich (34-2), Boyertown’s Alex Pellicciotti (41-4), La Salle’s Joey Mazzi (44-3), who will meet Rich in the first round, and Cumberland Valley’s Shawn Greevy (20-2).
   
One of the best finals in Class AAA could come at 125, where Nazareth’s Zachary Horan (35-1) and Bellefonte’s Mitchell Port (41-0) are on opposite ends of the bracket. And if that doesn’t trip your trigger, you can tune in to see if Central Mountain 152-pounder Dylan Alton (41-0) and Central Dauphin’s Marshall Peppelman (46-0) can make it three titles in a row.
   
The Class AA brackets aren’t as deep as their Class AAA counterparts, but there are plenty of notables that bode well for the fan shelling out money at the ticket window.
   
The best weight of the bunch could be 135. Sure, Wyomissing’s Nick Hodgkins (33-1), the defending 130-pound champion, is lurking, but Tyrone’s A.J. Schopp (38-0), Montoursville’s Luke Frey (30-0) and Ridgway’s Garet Pisani (34-2) are by no means pushovers.
   
Six returning champions will be vying to duplicate last year’s feat in Class AA, two of whom are on course to meet in the finals at 160. Benton’s Eric Hess (37-2) won at 145, while Coudersport’s Dirk Cowburn (45-1) was the 152-pound champ.
   
If you are looking for a team race, you’ve got it in Class AA.
   
Schuylkill Valley heads the list of entries with eight, followed by Pen Argyl, Benton and Burrell, each with six. Shady Side Academy and Reynolds boast five.
   
That means there will be an emphasis on winning a title, giving the advantage to Schuylkill Valley with defending 135 champ Colin Shober at 140. But don’t discount Shade Side Academy, which has three returning placers, including 2007 champion Frank Martellotti at 130, and Burrell, a team that has four returning place winners.

Chat with The Patriot-News from Giant Center in Hershey for the opening rounds of the PIAA wrestling championships. Action starts at 9 a.m.; in the meantime, check out complete brackets for the AA and AAA championship fields.