By Harold Raker
HERSHEY -- Being ranked No. 16 in Pennsylvania would have been impressive during the regular season for Line Mountain sophomore Adam Kritzer.
But after the Eagles' 130-pounder qualified for this week's PIAA Class AA championship tournament, the statewide ranking service, Off the Mat, projected Kritzer to finish 16th -- out of 16 in his weight class.
Good fodder for motivation, right?
Not for Kritzer. He never looked at the rankings or the projections.
But Kritzer looked anything like the worst wrestler in his weight class in Thursday's preliminary round in the Giant Center. He hit Northeast senior Levi Morton with a four-point move in the first period en route to a 10-5 decision.
Kritzer was part of a successful early showing for the Valley's wrestlers as 11 of the 12 won their first bout Thursday morning, advancing to this morning's quarterfinals.
Only Shamokin junior Wes Tillet tasted defeat in the preliminary round, as he was pinned in 3 minutes, 17 seconds by Milton Hershey's Cris Ramirez. Tillet rebounded with a 6-4 win over Greenville's Dillon Scarcinella to advance to today's consolations.
The other first-round winners were Line Mountain freshman Zain Retherford, 103; Mifflinburg sophomore David Sheesley, 103; Shamokin junior Brandon Pesarchick, 130; Shamokin junior Josh Lahr, 135; Shamokin senior Derek Shingara, 140; Warrior Run senior Elias Biddle, 145; Warrior Run senior Tyler Hain, 152; Lewisburg junior Nathaniel Brown, 171; and Milton freshman Ryan Solomon, 189.
Today's quarterfinals begin at 8 a.m. followed by second-round consolations. Semifinals are at 6:30 tonight.
Kritzer said, "I haven't looked at any rankings. I know that if I wrestle my best, I can beat good competition. (Wrestling tough competition all year) has helped me a lot."
Kritzer, making his first trip to the state tournament, said his coaches helped keep him from being nervous. "All my coaches said to calm down and let it fly, so I wasn't really too bad. I got a little nervous during the match with those cautions, but then I calmed down again," he said.
Kritzer led 4-1 before Morton reversed him and scored two nearfall points in the second, but Kritzer immediately reversed him to his back for four points and an 8-5 lead. He added a third-period reversal.
"(Getting up 4-0) helped me a lot because it made me feel like I could compete here, at the state level," he said.
On his early takedown, Kritzer nearly had a shot to pin Morton, but the latter was able to get out of bounds. "I had his head and I had his arms, but he just got out too quickly."
Kritzer said he wasn't concerned when he got reversed and put on his back.
"I knew I could pull it through. I had been practicing hard all year and I had a good practice partner until he got hurt -- Travis (Erdman). He helped me a lot."
Kritzer's teammate, Retherford, struggled early before getting a takedown in the first period en route to a 10-0 major decision over Mount Union's Ryan Wilson.
"I felt like he wasn't really trying much," said Retherford, who had practiced with Wilson in the past.
"It is kind of hard to wrestle a defensive kid," he said.
Getting the initial takedown gave him the confidence he needed. "I felt like I could ride him on top."
Shingara, making his third trip to states, said he was still a little nervous, but ecstatic to win his opener and get the rest of the day off. He got takedowns in the first and second periods for a 4-2 win over Dalton Anthony of Bermudian Springs.
"Every year I had to work for it (the first win), but this year I got it out of the way in the morning," he said.
Shingara listened to his coaches and wrestled in the middle of the circle and, although Anthony didn't go after him, Shingara was warned for stalling. "I like to wrestle ... the whole six minutes."
Pesarchick, also a third-time state qualifier, wasted no time with a quick takedown and 31-second pin of Schuylkill Valley's Dakota Davis.
He said the opportunity for the pin was there right away. "Once I got him on his back, I got excited to get in there and get off the mat. I wanted to get it done," he said.
The nerves were no problem for the Indians' veteran. "I saw everybody warming up and I saw some nervous kids and I used to be one of those, but now I am relaxed.''
Lahr had every opportunity to become frustrated as he twice appeared to get takedowns against Tim Clark of Saegertown, and was tied 1-1 after regulation. He used a reversal in the second overtime period for a 3-1 tiebreaker victory.
"I thought they were takedowns. I didn't know what was going on. I looked over at (coach Todd Hockenbroch) and put my hands up. I was frustrated," Lahr said. "But you have to overcome that down here."
He said he was not nervous about the overtime nor concerned when Clark put legs in with Lahr on the bottom position to start the period. "I knew what he was going to do. I wrestled (former Montoursville state champion) Luke Frey and Frey's a monster, and he's good on top. I figured if he's going to try it, I know how to get out of them. I work on that stuff all week."
Lahr admitted he has a tough draw, now facing 2009 130-pound state champion Nick Hodgkins (34-1). "I'm just going to go out and wrestle him. I've got nothing to lose."
Hain began his quest for a third state medal (he has won two silvers) with an 8-5 win over Northern Lehigh's Craemer Hedash. The Defender converted the opening takedown, taking Hedash directly to his back for a four-point move. He had to take two injury timeouts for a rib problem.
Hain faces once-beaten freshman Cody Wiercioch of Charleroi, the Southwest Region champ, today.
Sheesley used an early takedown to slip past Ligonier Valley's Joshua Patrick 2-1.
Midkiff hit a Peterson roll for a key five-point move against Anthony Elias of Shady Side Academy and added another set of back points in a dominating 9-4 decision.
Biddle defeated Jackson Stabile, Hamburg, 4-1. He outfunked Stabile for the first takedown and cruised for the win.
Brown, a bronze medalist last season, pinned Nick Edmonson, Saucon Valley, in 5:44 to improve to 38-0. Brown dominated the bout, leading 14-0 before the fall.
Solomon edged Kyle Dudley, Valley, 3-2, converting a takedown off a Dudley shot in the second period and escaping in the third.
Tillet said he knew he made a mistake against Ramirez when he went for a double-leg. "I should have taken his knees out and he wouldn't have thrown me," he said.
Ramirez threw Tillet twice for takedowns, both times by countering shots by Tillet.
He said the loss put pressure on him to win his next one to stay alive, but he added, "I'm just taking them one at a time. I'm just going to keep shooting away."
n Correspondent Frank Dimon contributed to this story.
