The semifinal 2/13/2012

First Period

Stars and studs: After a couple of weeks in which an opponent of his has made it on here, Bedford's Ryan Easter warrants a spot on the list. The 113-pounder avenged one of his losses by beating Boiling Springs' Joe Byers in the PIAA Dual-Meet Championships. Byers was fourth in last week's Off the Mat Rankings, three spots ahead of Easter. ... Conemaugh Township's Cory Berchick became the school's all-time leader on Tuesday night with a very impressive win over Somerset's Josh Darr. A few days later, Berchick won the inaugural WestPAC tournament by going 5-0. He had three close matches, but won what most considered the event's most difficult weight class. ... Meyersdale's Stephen McKenzie isn't known for putting up huge point totals, but he scored a 14-0 victory over Portage's Chase Fox in the WestPAC Tournament. After Fox lost 5-2 to McKenzie in the first match of the season, I thought he might be able to compete with McKenzie, but the Red Raiders' 132-pounder left no doubt this time around.

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Upset-minded: There weren't many surprises in the WestPAC Tournament, so I'll go with Meyersdale's Billy Dunbar, who won the 170-pound title as the third seed. Dunbar had two pins, a tech. fall and a major in going 5-0.

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Second Period

On deck: While this week is mostly about the postseason, which begins with the District 6 Class AA Tournament on Friday in Altoona, there are some intriguing matchups early in the week. Cambria Heights at Ligonier Valley could be interesting if Josh Patrick is back in the lineup for the Rams, but I'm guessing he'll be waiting until Friday to make his return from an elbow injury that sidelined him for nearly two months. Wednesday brings Greater Latrobe at Bedford. A Triple-A squad like the Wildcats facing off against a top Double-A squad like Bedford is always interesting, but the Bisons are beaten up after a rough four matches in Hershey over the weekend.
Thursday has just one dual, but it should be somewhat interesting as Greater Johnstown can mark a bit of a milestone by reaching the .500 mark with a victory over Shade.
Then, the big competitions begin on Friday, as local wrestlers take the first steps on the road to Hershey.
As Bart Scott would say: Can't wait!

Tuesday
Cambria Heights at Ligonier Valley, 7 p.m.
Hyndman at Shade, 7 p.m.

Wednesday
Greater Latrobe at Bedford, 7 p.m.
Northern Cambria at Indiana, 7 p.m.

Thursday
Shade at Greater Johnstown, 7 p.m.

Friday
District 6 Class AA Tournament
At Altoona
First Round, 10:30 a.m.
Second Round, 11:30 a.m.
First-Round Consolations, 11:30 a.m.
Second-Round Consolations, 2 p.m.
Quarterfinals, 6 p.m.
Third-Round Consolations, 8 p.m.

Saturday
District 6 Class AA Tournament
At Altoona
Fourth-Round Consolations, 10:30 a.m.
Semifinals, noon
Consolation seminfinals, 2:30 p.m.
Consolation finals, 5:30 p.m.
Finals, 6:45 p.m.

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Third Period

Way atop the Mountain: I've stuck to high school wrestling for the most part on this blog, but I did want to point out the momentous occasion that likely will occur on Tuesday night in Shippensburg. UPJ coach Pat Pecora is in line to get his 500th career dual-meet victory. That's a number that I can't even fathom. Numbers have lost some of their importance with the huge increase in the number of matches wrestled (I think most of us can admit that 100 victories for a high school wrestler isn't as impressive as it used to be), but this one is still incredible.

Pecora is already the winningest coach in Division II history and he ranks sixth across all divisions. And he says he's not done yet. Pecora told me last week that he isn't even thinking about retirement. He said he could go for another decade and expects to be getting a call from me as he approaches his 600th career victory. If he can do that, he'd need just 17 more victories ti pass former Oregon State coach Dale Thomas to be the NCAA's all-time leader.