By Harold Raker
HERSHEY — The two long-time teammates, and two of the best who ever wrestled for Warrior Run, were set to end their stellar careers on adjacent mats on the floor of the Giant Center in Hershey on Saturday afternoon.
Elias Biddle and Tyler Hain combined to win 247 matches for the Defenders over the past four years.
But only one of this dynamic duo appeared to compete in the PIAA Class AA tournament consolation finals.
Hain, who battled through much of the season and all of the state tournament with nagging injuries, was unable to wrestle. He forfeited the final bout of his career and finished eighth at 152 pounds.
Biddle — who’s headed to North Carolina State to wrestle — faced fellow senior Shawn Perich of Portage, losing 3-0, to finish fourth at 145. The three-time state qualifier was eighth last season.
Biddle, who also plans to compete in college but has yet to make his decision, felt sad for the way his teammate’s high school career ended.
“I feel really bad for him. The kid’s got so much talent and just came up short at the state tournament this year,” he said. “He’s had a couple of injuries this year that we’ve tried to keep hidden. You don’t want people knowing that you’ve got a downfall or you’re hurting.
“It’s really sad, but hopefully he has a good career in college,” Biddle added.
Hain was a two-time PIAA runner-up, as a freshman and a junior.
“He was a big help. He was obviously one of the best (workout) partners in the state. We’re a good duo. We practice with each other. As long as he and I have been wrestling, we’ve been partners,” Biddle said.
“That’s really helped because you always have somebody there that is one of the top-notch guys in the state helping to make you better,” he said.
As for himself, Biddle said he is looking to make his mark in freestyle and Greco tournaments this offseason and then wants to compete and have a better career in college. He’s also looking at N.C. State, along with Lock Haven and Bloomsburg, among others.
“I’m going to go on to college and hope to make something happen there,” he said.
MAKING THEM PROUD: That fine Warrior Run program, coached for the past 39 years by Wayne Smythe, also had an impact on the Class AAA team race this season. Former Defenders wrestler Doug Buckwalter guided his Central Mountain Wildcats to the team championship and was named the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Class AAA Coach of the Year.
Former state champion Russ Hughes, who led his Benton Tigers to the AA title, carted home the AA Coach of the Year plaque.
END OF AN ERA: Perhaps the greatest brother act to ever don singlets in Pennsylvania wrestling ended in Hershey on Saturday night when Andrew and Dylan Alt finished with state titles at 145 and 152, respectively. The Penn State -bound Altons combined for 354 wins and just 13 losses. Dylan won three state titles and Andrew two.
Their final bouts ended not in falls, as fans might have wanted, but in a third-period technical fall for Andrew, whose opponent backed up enough times that he probably could have been disqualified, and a garden-variety 11-4 decision for Dylan.
ANOTHER DROUGHT ENDS: In the AAA tournament, Selinsgrove’s Spencer Myers ended his school’s 36-year drought of not having a state champion. He was not the only one to do that for his school.
Before Myers took the title at 215, Erie McDowell’s 130-pounder, sophomore Steve Spearman, completed an unbeaten season (41-0) with a state title, the first for his high school, and first for District 10 in 10 years.
SAVING THE DAY: After pulling off the shocker of the tournament when he knocked off the nation’s No. 1-ranked 103-pounder, Nick Roberts of North Star, in the semifinals, Zain Retherford and his Line Mountain coaches were anxious to bring the wrestler back to earth and get ready for his title-match opponent, Brad Farley of Bermudian Springs.
But when they tried to play a DVD of Farley’s match, it didn’t work in coach Mike Martz’s laptop computer.
“My dad brought a video camera in and we watched in on there,” Retherford said.
“We just watched some of his moves that he did in the semifinals and (tried to learn) what to do and stuff like that.”
STATE CHAMPS: Benton collected its third Class AA team title when its six-man contingent, five of whom placed, rolled up 93 points, well ahead of runners-up Shady Side Academy and Schuylkill Valley (64 points). The Tigers’ first state championship came in 1988 and their last one came in 1991.
The Tigers’ Eric Hess became the school’s 15th state champion when he eked out a 1-0 decision over Coudersport’s Dirk Cowburn in the 160-pound final. Hess, who’s headed to Lehigh, escaped in the second period and then turned back Cowburn’s best efforts for a third-period escape or reversal for the narrow win that earned him the Bob Craig Memorial Trophy that’s given to the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.
The state title was Hess’ second (he beat Hain in the 145-pound final last year) and denied the Penn State-bound Cowburn his third gold medal. Hess finished second on the Tigers’ career win list with a record of 154-14. Cory Lear, now at Bucknell, heads the list with 157 victories.
Benton’s two other finalists, Mike Rhone and Coltin Fought, both lost. Rhone fell, 2-0, to Reynolds junior Mason Beckman in the championship bout at 119 while Fought, a junior, was cradled twice in a 10-4 loss to Tyler Small of Delone Catholic. Rhone, who is headed to Lock haven University, finished his career with a 135-20 record.
JUST IN TIME: Athens senior David White followed Line Mountain’s Zain Retherford’s championship at 103 with a tremendous comeback effort at 112. White converted a takedown and tilted Bethlehem Catholic’s Randy Cruz for three backpoints in the last 44 seconds for a 5-3 win to earn the Northern Tier League school’s sixth championship.
UPSET AT 189: Towanda’s thirst for a state title still hasn’t been quenched. Travis Chesla was the clear favorite at 189 and cruised into the final, but the senior, who wrestled at 285 last season, surrendered two takedowns to unbeaten junior Steven Ceremuga of Commodore Perry and lost a 5-4 decision.
LOOKING FOR NO. 2: When Montoursville’s Luke Frey won the 103-pound championship as a freshman two years ago, he was considered a possible four-timer by many. Turns out winning a second has been impossible so far. Frey, who was fourth at 112 last year, reached the final at 135 this year. He got a first-period takedown against Tyrone’s A.J. Schopp but lost a 4-2 decision and had to settle for a runner-up finish.
QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY: District 2 takes an annual beating at the Northeast regional tournament in Williamsport. They did again this year, pushing just three wrestlers through to the state tournament. But that trio — Alex Stanton of Blue Ridge, Shane Stark of Lake Lehman, and Eric Laytos of Lackawanna Trail — each earned medals in Hershey.
Stanton finished fourth at 140 and Stark earned a third at 171. But it was Laytos who opened the most eyes at the Giant Center. The impressive sophomore reached the final at 215 and pinned Matt Mongera in 3:16, making him Trail’s first state champ.
District 4 sent 39 wrestlers to the Class AA tournament and 24 brought home medals, including three champions. District 3 had the most champions with 4.
