PIAA quarterfinals

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the blog a bit more today than yesterday. I have eight guys in the quarterfinals and, even though there will be a few up at a time, I should have a better chance of posting updates on the matches here.

Quarterfinals

113

SW-2 Justin Patrick, Jr., Ligonier Valley 34-4 vs. SE-1 Korbin Myers, So., Boiling Springs, 43-1

Myers 3, Patrick 1: Myers deserved to win this, but I didn't agree with how he won it. The first period was scoreless, although it shouldn't have been. I'm quite sure Myers had a takedown but didn't get the call before Patrick funked out of it. In the second, Myers stood up a few times (getting a stall warning on Patrick once) before eventually escaping. Myers rode Patrick for the first minute of the third, but Patrick escaped with 56 seconds left. Myers got in on another shot and before he could score a takedown (in my eyes) Patrick called for injury time. It drew a loud chorus of boos from the crowd, as it looked like an attempt to avoid the takedown. The ref gave the 2 with 16 seconds left, then the injury time. Patrick gets Southeast Regional fifth-place finisher Stephen Maloney of Bethlehem Catholic in the consolation round.

120

SW-1 Josh Patrick, Sr., Ligonier Valley, 28-0 vs. NE-3 Collin Edsell, Fr., Wyalusing, 34-5

Patrick 11, Edsell 3: I didn't see much of this, as I was watching the younger Patrick. I saw Patrick was up 2-0, then 6-2, then 11-2, so it wasn't really much of a match. Patrick will face a very difficult semi with top-ranked Darian Cruz of Beth Catholic. 

SW-2 Ryan Easter, Jr., Bedford, 34-2 vs. NW-1 Tyler Vath, So., Saegertown, 44-4

Easter 4, Vath 2: Good win for Easter. He got a first-period takedown (also missed that, as I was still on Patrick's match). He got ridden for most of the second, but escaped anyway for a 3-0 lead after one. He rode Vath for most of the third, but gave up a reversal with about three seconds left on the boundary. Vath put him up with three seconds left, but couldn't score.

Easter will take on South Side Beaver's Nathan Reckner, whom Josh Patrick beat 5-0 at the Southwest Regional last week, in the semifinals. The finals are a real possibility for Easter.

138

SW-2 Nick Naglic, Jr., Richland 317 vs. NW-1 Brock Zacherl, Jr., Brookville, 33-4

Zacherl 13, Naglic 4: Zacherl is looking very good. Just like he did in Thursday's 15-4 victory over Braden Fochtman of Berlin Brothersvalley, the Northwest Region champ attacked from the opening whistle. He shot at the very start of the match and had two takedowns in the first 21 seconds. Zacherl turned Naglic twice in the second. Zacherl looks like he might be the second-best in the weight class next to Benton's Zain Retherford. It's a shame they'll meet in the semis. Naglic gets a very tough consolation match against Southeast Regional champ Ryan Todora.

160

SW-1 Cody Law, Sr., Forest Hills, 31-0 vs. NW-3 Cole Shirey, Sr., Redbank Valley, 34-6

Law 9, Shirey 3: Law scored three takedowns in the opening period to make sure this was never really a match. An escape and a takedown made it 9-2 after two. Shirey escaped in the third but never came close to a takedown. Law gets Northeast Regional champ Ty Walter of Mifflinburg in the semis.

170

SW-3 Tyler Dibert, Sr., Chestnut Ridge, 39-5 vs. NW-1 Tim Vargo, Sr., Union City, 24-1

Vargo 4, Dibert 2: A minute into this match I thought Dibert might win easily. He hadn't scored, but got in deep on a couple of shots and looked like the better wrestler. But Vargo got into a scramble and came up with a headlock for a takedown. A second-period escape put Dibert down 3-0 and Vargo had just enough funkiness to keep him off-balance. He got a third-period reversal and immediately let Vargo up to try to take him down. The strategy nearly worked as he popped his head out for what would have the tying takedown, but the official blew the whistle for a stalemate at the same time. Dibert will wrestle Franklin's Chris Matthews in the consolation round.

195

SW-4 Dan Albright, Sr., Chestnut Ridge, 37-6 vs. NW-1 Ryan Morris, Jr., Corry, 26-5

Croyle 2, Albright 1: For the past two years, the talk about Albright has been how inexperienced he is. He only started wrestling in eighth or ninth grade. Unfortunately, that inexperience hurt him here. Leading 1-0 in the third, Albright was called for locking hands. When Croyle escaped with 14 seconds remaining, he effectively won the match. Albright will wrestle Somerset's Jacob Nickelson in an all-District 5 consolation match.

285

SW-4 Austin Buttry, Jr., Chestnut Ridge, 38-6 vs. Mitchell Hall, Sr., Tussey Mountain, 32-3

Buttry 7, Hall 4: I don't say it often, but this was a great heavyweight match. After the typical scoreless first, the action picked up in the second. Buttry was the victim of a horrible stalling call in the second. Hall stood up, Buttry brought him back down and ended up on his stomach, holding on to a single leg with Hall's 250-ish pounds on top of him. Somehow, the official decided that when nothing happened in 20 seconds that it was stalling on Buttry stalling instead of a stalemate. A second stall call with 121 seconds left in the period gave Hall a 1-0 lead going to the third. Buttry reversed him but was called for locking hands to tie it at 2. When Hall got a reversal with 28 seconds left, it looked like he would beat Buttry for a fourth time. Buttry escape with 9 seconds left, but it looked like a formality. Instead, he showed the heart that has been a staple, hitting a low single that I thought he scored on at the buzzer. But again, I must have been wrong, because he was awarded two backpoints for a 7-4 victory. Port Allegany's Nicholas Budd upset top-ranked Nazar Mironenko of Mifflinburg, meaning that Buttry has a real shot to be in the finals.