8 p.m.: Warrior Run seniors Elias Biddle and Tyler Hain, both returning state medalists, will earn more state hardware. Biddle earned a tough 3-2 win over Athens' Garrett Russell in a tie-break. Biddle will now take on Pen Argyl's Phil Raciatto in another consolation bout later tonight for the right to wrestle for third tomorrow. Hain, a two-time state medalist, could not overcome a rib injury and fell to Fort LeBeouf's Jeremy King 11-5. Hain will take on Carlynton's Montana Trombetta for seventh tomorrow. Almost time for Nathaniel Brown and Ryan Solomon. 7:25 p.m.: Shamokin's Brandon Pesarchick moves up a couple of spots on the podium, beating Austin Matthews of Reynolds, 10-4 in the third-round of consolations. He improves to 38-6. He will wrestle again tonight against Tyrone's Ronnie Garbinsky, whose loss to Joe Spisak in the semifinals was his first of the year. 6:40: Line Mountain's Zain Retherford upsets defending state champion and the state's top-ranked wrestler Nick Roberts of North Star, winning 4-3, to advance to his first state title match tomorrow afternoon. Retherford used a third-period escape to deal Roberts his first defeat of the season. Retherford, now 39-1, takes on Bermudian Springs' Brad Farley in tomorrow's 103-pound title match. Farley (38-1) beat Pen Argyl's Matt Willams 11-5. Also at 103, Mifflinburg's David Sheesley fell 8-5 to Pius X's Anthony Billotta. Sheesley will wrestle for 7th tomorrow. 6:20: Semifinals and third-round consolations are up next. Perhaps the toughest round of the tournament to follow with semifinal losers having to return to mat for another consolation match following semifinals, a round that will not start until after 9 p.m. 3:30 p.m.: Update from the AP in Hershey...Three wrestlers each with a chance to win a third career gold are through to the semifinals at the PIAA championships. Two-time champ Dirk Cowburn from Coudersport is on track to face another returning champ in Benton’s Eric Hess in the Class AA final at 160 pounds. Each has to first get through semifinal bouts tonight. Class AAA two-timers Dylan Alton at 152 and Marshall Peppelman at 160 won quarterfinal matches Friday. Their semis start Saturday morning. Only 43 Pennsylvania grapplers have three career state tourney titles. The only returning champ to get beat early Friday was Juniata’s Arty Walsh in Class AA. Last year’s winner at 112 moved up to 119 this season but fell to Westmont Hilltop’s Tanner Hough on a takedown with about 8 seconds left. As a side note, Cowburn's lone loss this season is to Lewisburg's Nathaniel Brown, who also beat Hess. PIAA wrestling day 1 photos Click here for more AA photos Click here for more AAA photos 2:35 p.m.: Selinsgrove's Spencer Myers breezes into semifinals with a 7-0 win over Nick Ruggear. Myers has now outscored his first two opponents in Hershey 20-1. Myers, now 42-0, meets fellow unbeaten Sean Sadosky of St. Mary's in the semifinals. Sadosky won his second decision of states, beating Bucknell football recruit Travis Friend 8-4 to improve to 33-0. In the other semifinal will be East Pennsboro's Zachary Nye (38-0) and Whitehall's Taray Carey (31-1), whose only loss this year is to Myers at last week's regional. Myers is done for the day and returns Saturday morning for the semifinals. That's it for AAA from the Valley. AA wrestlers return later with semifinals and two rounds of consolations beginning at 6:30. Still alive for AA gold are Line Mountain's Zain Retherford (103), Lewisburg's Nathaniel Brown (171) and Milton's Ryan Solomon (189). Stay tuned. 2:15 p.m.: Class AAA quarterfinals nearing their conclusion, which means Selinsgrove's Spencer Myers is up soon. Even with defending champ Nate Gaffney out (he was beaten Thursday and then forfeited out of the consolations), their is a long road to the title for Myers. Remaining in his half of the bracket is his quarterfinal opponent, Oxford's Nick Ruggear (36-3) while he will face either Cumberland Valley's Travis Friend (23-1) or unbeaten Sean Sadosky (34-0) in the semifinals. Friend is a Bucknell football recruit. 11:20 a.m.: Shamokin 285-pounder Wes Tillett won his consolation match 7-4 over Tylor Unger of Boiling Springs. Tillett controlled the match as all of Unger's points came when Tillett allowed him to escape. Tillett will face Tyler DeMott of Benton in a rematch of last weekend's Regional Championship match, where Tillett dealt DeMott his first loss of the season. 10:50 a.m.: Tyler Hain of Warrior Run advanced at 152 pounds with a victory over Zach Strickland of Muncy. Hain jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second period with two back points, a takedown and an escape. Strickland rallied to 7-4, but couldn't score again. Hain will face Jeremy King of Fort Lebouf in the next round, a rematch of last year's semifinal match at 145 pounds, a match Hain won 8-4. 10:40 a.m.: Elias Biddle of Warrior Run stayed alive at 145 pounds with a 7-4 victory over Anthony Risaliti of Central Cambria. Biddle jumped to a 4-0 lead and held off a late comback by Risaliti. 10:35 a.m.: There was a defending state champion eliminated in the AA tournament at 119 pounds when Artie Walsh of Juniata lost his second match of the day, a 2-0 decision to Brandon Arnsberger of Octorara. 10:30 a.m.: Consolation round update. David Sheesley of Mifflinburg stayed alive with a 7-1 victory over Ryan Wilson of Mount Union. Brandon Persarchick of Shamokin won his bout at 130 pounds 10-6 over Derek Goodwin of Hamburg. The rest of the local wrestlers lost and were eliminated from the tournament. Ethan Midkiff lost to Matt Bryer of Cochranton 7-2, at 125 pounds, while Adam Kritzer of Line Mountain dropped a 9-0 decision to Jeremy Landowski of Burrell. Shamokin's Josh Lahr dropped a 5-3 overtime decision to Cody Copeland of Greenville at 135 pounds. Shamokin's Derek Shingara dropped a 5-4 decision at 140 pounds to Ian Chiesa of Northwestern. 9:50 a.m.: Matchups for the consolation rounds: David Sheesley of Mifflinburg faces Ryan Wilson of Mount Union at 103 pounds. Ethan Midkiff of MIfflinburg faces Matt Bryer of Cochranton at 125 pounds. Brandon Pesarchick of Shamokin will face Derek Goodwin of Hamburg at 130 pounds, while Adam Kritzer of Line Mountain wrestles Jeremy Landowski of Burrell. Josh Lahr of Shamokin faces Nikko Stevens of Northern Lehigh at 135 pounds. At 140 pounds, Josh Lahr of Shamokin wrestles Cody Copeland of Greenville. Elias Biddle of Warrior Run faces Anthony Risaliti of Central Cambria at 145 pounds. At 152 pounds, Tyler Hain of Warrior Run wrestles Zach Strickland of Muncy for the third time in three weeks. The final consolation bout of the morning will be at 285 pounds where Wes Tillett of Shamokin will face Tylor Unger of Boiling Springs. 9:20 a.m.: Milton freshman Ryan Solomon was locked in a struggle in his 189-pound semifinal with Ian Grimbar of Saucon Valley. Solomon escaped with 15 seconds left in the rideout to advance to the semifinals. Solomon escaped to start the second period against the Southeast Regional champion almost made it hold up, Grimbar escaped at the edge of the mat with two seconds left in regulation. The two went through two scoreless overtime periods. Solomon cramped up and had to take some injury time. He chose down to start the rideout period, before escaping. Solomon had beaten Grimbar earlier this season at the Bethlehem Tournament. 9:15 a.m.: Just an update on some other things going on. Defending state champion Arty Walsh got knocked out in the quarterfinals. Welsh, who won a state title as a freshman at Wyomissing at 112, lost his first match of the year to Tanner Hough of Westmont Hilltop, 4-3. Welsh is now wrestling at 119 pounds for Juniata. Welsh's opponent in that final last Zac Beitz, now his teammate at Juniata, also lost his first match of the year as well, falling 6-5 to Coltin Fought of Benton. Also, Aaron Fry of Muncy, who entered the quarterfinals 41-0, fell in overtime to Nick Carr of South Fayette, 5-3. 9:10 a.m.: Lewisburg's Nathaniel Brown put on an impressive performance in his 171-pound quarterfinal against Luke DeLuise of Pius X. Brown used a takedown and back points to build a 5-1 lead on his way to a 10-2 victory. Brown improves to 39-0 on the season. 9 a.m.: Tyler Hain of Warrior Run fell behind 4-0 in the his 152-pound quarterfinal match against freshman Cody Wiercioch of Charleroi, before getting a reversal in the third period. Hain wasn't able to find any more offense, falling 4-2. Wiercioch improves to 36-1 on the season. 8:50 a.m.: Derek Shingara of Shamokin gave up a takedown with four seconds left in his quarterfinal, falling 3-2 to Richard Baker of North Star. Elias Biddle of Warrior Run was also unsuccessful in his quest for the semifinals. The senior fell to Jordan Moss of Sharon, 11-3. Moss improves to 44-0 on the season. 8:35 a.m.: Josh Lahr of Shamokin fell in his quarterfinal bout to Nick Hodgkins of Wyomissing by fall in 5:32 at 135 pounds. Hodgkins is the defending state champion at 130 pounds. 8:30 a.m.: Both Adam Kritzer of Line Mountain and Brandon Pesarchick of Shamokin both lost in the 130-pound quarterfinals. Kritzer fell behind 4-0 early in the first period in an 8-0 loss to Joe Spisak of Boiling Springs. Pesarchick took a 2-0 lead with a first period takedown and then after an escape by Mikey Racciato of Pen Argyl, looked to have another takedown, but after the officals consulted, it was waved off. Racciato reversed Pesarchick to start the second period and picked up two back points. Racciato then held on for a 5-3 victory. 8:20 a.m.: Ethan Midkiff of Mifflinburg lost in the 125-pound quarterfinals to Tyler Small of Delone Catholic by fall in 1:10. Small got a takedown early in the match and after he took some blood time, slapped a cradle on the Mifflinburg senior to pick up the fall. 8:10 a.m.: Line Mountain freshman Zain Retherford moved on to the semifinals with a 9-1 victory over fellow ninth grader Robert Ritschard of Oley Valley. Retherford got a quick takedown early in the first period and controlled the match from there. Retherford faces defending state champion Nick Roberts of North Star. Retherford is now 38-1 on the season, while Roberts is 37-0. Mifflinburg sophomore David Sheesley had a bit more trouble in his match with Matt Williams of Penn Argyl. Williams got a takedown in the first period and an escape in the second to open up a 3-0 lead. Sheesley came back with an escape to start the third and then was awarded a stalling point late in the third. Trailing 3-2, Sheesley had a chance at a takedown with five seconds left, but the clock ran out on him, before he could complete the move. 7:35 a.m.: Wrestlers are filing in for Class AA quarterfinals, which get underway at 8 a.m. 11 Valley wrestlers will be in action in this round, including Line Mountain's Zain Retherford and Mifflinburg's David Sheesley at 103 pounds.
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Harold Raker's column on high school wrestling: Playing the name game
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NCAA denies UConn APR waiver request
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Todd Stanford On high school boys basketball: Increasing the refs' workload
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High School Roundup: Greenwood boys complete perfect TVL season
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Defense helps Crusaders snap skid
