Bishop McCort adding wrestling

I try to treat the offseason as just that - time off from the blog - but this story is just to big to ignore.
Bishop McCort is looking to add wrestling, sooner rather than later. The Crimson Crushers have been wrestling in a co-op with Westmont Hilltop the past three seasons. They attempted to end that co-op this week, but Westmont is making them live up to the terms of their contract, which runs through the 2015-16 season.
Bishop McCort Principal Tom Fleming said that the Crimson Crushers will be starting a program; it's just a year later than they had hoped. You can read Ron Musselman's story about it in The Tribune-Democrat.
The issue is starting to get contentious, as Westmont folks are upset about Bishop McCort ending the co-op. I can understand both sides of the argument. Three of Westmont's stud freshman - Anthony Walters (160, PIAA-8, SW-4, D6-2), Carnell Andrews (120, SW-4, D6-2) and Josiah Jones (220, D6-2, injury ended season) - attend Bishop McCort. If you're a Bishop McCort person, you're saying why should pay $10,000 to Westmont to wrestle for their team when we can start our own program? Westmont parents and fans, on the other hand, are upset because they feel that the McCort wrestlers are biting the hand that feeds them. Coach Matt Beaujon has helped develop Bishop McCort wrestlers over the past three years, even if the biggest names are only freshmen.
So I don't have strong feelings either way on that argument. Like any breakup, there are going to be hard feelings.
I did however, get into a lengthy Twitter debate about the potential of the Bishop McCort program. The way I see it, this could become a powerhouse program almost from its inaugural season, and I think that it's a scenario that public schools in districts 5 and 6 have long feared.
Don't believe me? Take a look at this:

That shows the area in a 30-mile radius from Johnstown, which seems like a reasonable distance that students might travel to attend a private school if so motivated. It's probably a bit unrealistic to expect anyone to travel from Latrobe or Hollidaysburg on a daily basis, but not so much for Ligonier Valley, Central Cambria or North Star. I know of some students that have attended Bishop McCort in the past few years from those school districts.
I'm not going to get into the "private schools recruit" debate that invariably pops up in these discussions. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that there is no recruiting going on whatsoever in our scenario. I still think that Bishop McCort could easily attract some of the top talent in the area without reaching out to anyone if the right coach is in place.
Imagine if the Crimson Crushers were somehow able to launch a program with Jody Strittmatter of Young Guns at the helm. Wrestlers from at least that 30-mile radius would be lining up to look at Bishop McCort under such a scenario. Not only would you get the guy responsible for the No. 1 club in the nation, but the big names that would follow would make most school practices have the feel of a club practice. That would make the Crimson Crushers a legitimate state contender in no time.
To be clear, I don't expect Strittmatter (or either of his brothers) to become the Bishop McCort coach. That was just a best-case/worst-case scenario (depending on your perspective).
Even without an elite club coach in the mix, Bishop McCort could find a well-respected local coach to give the program instant credibility. Again, without doing anything illegal or immoral, the program could draw interest from local wrestlers. Imagine you're a wrestler (or parent) at a school that doesn't have a very strong team. You are the best in the room and don't get much competition in practice. Now, you have the option of going to a private school (not for athletic intent, of course) where you already have three likely state qualifiers in the room and, potentially, a better coach. Most competitors would at least consider that option.

Here's a list of schools that are within about a 30-minute drive that the program could reasonably draw from:

• Greater Johnstown
• Ferndale
• Conemaugh Valley
• Westmont Hilltop
• Richland
• Windber
• North Star
• Forest Hills
• Blacklick Valley
• Central Cambria
• Conemaugh Township
• Shade
• Somerset
• Chestnut Ridge
• Ligonier Valley
• Blairsville
• United

Think you could come up with a pretty good team by getting one wrestler from even half of those schools? I certainly do. That was the discussion I was having on Twitter - a private school doesn't need to have a feeder system because, fair or not, students can come in from other districts.

Now, if Bishop McCort doesn't hire a well-known and well-respected coach and instead hires a caretaker to collect a few PIAA medals courtesy of the studs already on the roster, it could very well be a middle-of-the-road - or worse - program. It could have the big three and very little after that, in which case that lack of a feeder system would be huge.

That's the feast-or-famine scenario that private schools face in wrestling. Need an example? Look at Shady Side Academy. A few years ago, they were winning regional titles left and right at the War Memorial and competing for state team titles. By 2013, they couldn't field a team.

So will Bishop McCort's program be more like Bethlehem Catholic or St. Joseph's Academy, a fellow District 6 school that started wrestling a few years ago? It's too early to tell. The single most important factor will be who is hired to lead the program.

District 6 regional qualifiers and recap

Unfortunately, due to a big project at work and a wild winter storm, I wasn't able to make it to the District 6 tournament in Altoona this weekend. Andy Elder covered the tournament for The Tribune-Democrat.
Complete brackets are available on the District 6 site. Here's a rundown of the regional qualifiers with my thoughts on the weight along with the top guy who won't be at regionals:

106

1. Logan Pirl, LV. 2. Derrick Christie, WH. 3. Huntur Campbell, CH. 4. Darren Yearick, PV. 5. Josh Boozel, MU.

Analysis: I didn't know anything about Pirl coming into the season, but he's been an impressive freshman. He made a name for himself by pinning top-seeded Campbell in the semis and beating Westmont's Derrick Christie in the finals.

Left out: Third-seeded Devon Brown of Tyrone was pinned by Boozel in the quarters, then lost 7-3 to Juniata's Tylynn Miller, who finished sixth, in the consis.

113

1. Max Murin, CC. 2. Nolan Link, PC. 3. Jake Keiper, FH. 4. Joseph Couteret, WB. 5. Izac Benson, HU.

Analysis: This one followed the seeds exactly. Murin beat Link in the finals, to avenge his lone loss of the season, which came in the finals at Bedford.

Left out: Mount Union's Andrew Todaro had a nice tournament from the 12 seed, as he beat No. 7 Clayton Dorian of Westmont Hilltop and No. 9 Bryce Campbell of Cambria Heights but fell just short, placing sixth.

120

1. Collin Glorioso, HU. 2. Carnell Andrews, WH. 3. Braedon Swab, CEN. 4. David Wiles, MC. 5. Tanner McCall, FH.

Analysis: Glorioso winning wasn't a surprise, but it looks like Andrews did a nice job, as the freshman pinned unbeaten Hunter Kern in the semifinals and dropped a 5-0 decision in the final.

Left out: Kern. The Juniata Valley sophomore won his first 24 matches of the season before losing his final three to finish sixth.

 

126

1. Triston Law, FH. 2. Curtis Decker, PV. 3. Ian Ostrowski, CC. 4. Brock Biddle, CEN. 5. Stephen Rouser, RI.

Analysis: Law was pretty dominant here. It looks like he only allowed a single point in the tournament - to Ostrowski in a 9-1 major in the semis.

Left out: Charlie Beatty, Marion Center. The freshman was the eighth seed, but beat No. 5 Alex Caldwell of Ligonier Valley.

132

1. Jake Boozel, MU. 2. Adam George, RI. 3. Richie Gilson, JU. 4. Jared Hurd, PV. 5. Drake Dorian, WH.

Analysis: This one surprised me. I saw Boozel struggle at Bedford and George has been remarkably consistent. Dorian getting out was also a surprise for me. The senior came in as the ninth seed, but he beat No. 10 Devon Walker of United, who had knocked off No. 5 Hunter Parks of West Branch, and then beat No. 4 Ethan Kennedy of Central.

Left out: Kennedy. The Central sophomore was the fourth seed and dropped a 4-3 decision to top-seeded George of the semis, but then lost 6-3 to Hurd and 4-2 to Dorian.

138

1. Tommy Opdenhoff, CC. 2. Dalton Clark, LV. 3. Nick Hoenstine, CEN. 4. Tyler Scott, HU. 5. Robbie Steel, MU.

Analysis: Clark was the top seed, but as I said earlier, I really liked the winner of the semi between Opdenhoff and Hoenstine to win this one.

Left out: Michael Stewart, Marion Center. There are quite few here - No. 4 Jacob Confer of Penns Valley and sixth-place finisher Zach Stephens of Penn Cambria come to mind - but the Stingers sophomore suffered a couple of tough losses. The No. 11 seed, Stewart beat Stephens before falling, 3-0 to Hoenstine. He also lost 3-2 to Steel, showing that he was right in matches with place-winners.

145

1. Robby Patrick, LV. 2. Isaac Stewart, MC. 3. Larry Brown, MV. 4. Travis Templeton, FH. 5. Seth Baney, HU.

Analysis: Patrick turned the tables on Stewart, who had beaten him earlier in the season. Brown did the same against Templeton, who beat him in the quarters but won their consi final match.

Left out: Mike Eckenrode, Penn Cambria. The No. 5 seed would have been good enough to make it out of most weights, but not this weekend in the deepest weight in the tournament. He lost twice to Baney, including by fall in the fifth-place match, and won't be going to regionals despite having beaten Patrick earlier in the season.

152

1. Jacob Oliver, HU. 2. Dominic Farabaugh, PC. 3. Andrew Hurd, PV. 4. Bryce Biddle, CEN. 5. Brent Troutman, JV.

Analysis: No surprise at the top, as Oliver is one of the studs of the tournament. Farabaugh hung with him in the district duals, losing 5-2, but it was a major this time. Farabaugh came into the tournament with just a 13-8 record, but a few quality wins got him the third seed, and he showed that he was better than his record with a 13-3 major of second-seeded Hurd in the semis.

Left out: Kris Smeal, West Branch. The fifth seed was pinned by Biddle and Hurd, then dropped a 12-6 decision to sixth-seeded Troutman for the final regional spot.

160

1. Drew Doak, BL. 2. Andrew Walters, WH. 3. Jon Wagner, HU. 4. Clayton Green, WB. 5. Ryan Thomas, MV.

Analysis: I was asked on Saturday evening how I thought a Doak-Walters final would go. I said I thought Walters could slow down Doak, but probably not enough to win, and anticipated a 3-2 Doak win. It turned out to be pretty close to that, as Doak didn't get the takedown I expected until overtime in a 3-1 victory. It was the 150th career win and fourth D6 title for Doak, so it says something about the freshman from Westmont that he was able to go toe-to-toe with the Blairsville senior.

Left out: Exree Loe, Greater Johnstown. The eighth seed had a chance to be the Trojans' first regional qualifier in AA, but lost in tiebreaker to Mo Valley's Thomas. He also dropped a 3-2 decision to Green, the fourth-place finisher.

170

1. Levi Niebauer, CH. 2. Luke Slippey, WB. 3. Nick Pecze, BL. 4. Jake Driskel, PC. 5. Zach Mock, BA.

Analysis: Not too many surprises at the top. 1-2 went according to seeds while 3-4 flip-flopped. Driskel doesn't get much attention, but the Penn Cambria junior has had a nice season. Mock was a surprise in the fifth spot, as he came from the eighth seed.

Left out: Ty Treaster, Juniata. The fifth-seeded senior got pinned by Pecze in the quarters and then pinned again by Central Cambria's Caliber Castel in the consis.

182

1. Corey Hazel, PV. 2. Scott Carbaugh, SH. 3. Taylor Foster, JU. 4. Dalton Waksmunski, CH. 5. Josh Wilson, BA.

Analysis: Statewide, I think this is the weakest weight. Hazel was second according to the most recent Off the Mat rankings, so I expected him to cruise through this bracket, but he only beat Foster 4-3 and Carbaugh - a surprise finalist from the sixth seed - 6-3. Other than a 4-3 victory over No. 3-ranked Dakota Geer of Franklin, Saturday's decisions marked the first time in two months that Hazel hadn't gotten bonus points. Waksmunski, the No. 10 seed, put together a nice tournament with a victory over second-seeded Wilson and a pair of wins over No. 7 Brad Smith of Marion Center.

Left out: Logan Fisher, Huntingdon. The third seed was 13th in the state according to Off the Mat, but was edged, 4-3, by Carbaugh in the quarters, then lost 3-2 to Wilson in the consis.

195

1. Scott Thompson, BL. 2. Vince McDowell, WB. 3. Cody Hamilton, MV. 4. Richard Reader, TY. 5. Matt Norris, HU.

Analysis: No surprise at the top, as Thompson joined 160-pound teammate Drew Doak as a four-time champ and picked up his second straight OW award. He pinned McDowell in the finals, his third fall in four bouts on the weekend. Reader kind of came from nowhere. He was the 10th seed and had only wrestled nine matches entering the tournament - although he did win eight of them. He pinned sixth-seeded Dennis Link of Cambria Heights and majored No. 4 Adam Rigney of Mount Union in the consis.

Left out: Rigney, Mount Union. I haven't seen Rigney at all, but he came in with a 20-4 record and reached the semis. His was the only guy to go 6 minutes with Thompson on the weekend, but his 14-7 defeat was the first of three straight losses, which will keep from from attending the regional tournament in Canonsburg.

220

1. Buzzy Maines, WB. 2. Josiah Jones, WH. 3. Tyler Oliver, UN. 4. Mason Hockenberry, MU. 5. Raymond Carlheim, GL. 

Analysis: For me, Josiah Jones is the story of the tournament. I thought the Westmont freshman might be able to hang with Oliver, who was a D6 champ last season and a state place-winner; I didn't expect Jones to beat him in the semis. And I certainly didn't expect him to hang with Buzzy Maines, who is one of the most dominant guys I've seen in AA this season and deserving of his No. 1 ranking in the state. I knew that Jones, who missed the first part of the season while recovering from a knee injury, was good, but this was a really impressive showing, even if he only finished one spot above his No. 3 seed.

Left out: Tyler Elder, Claysburg-Kimmel. The Bulldogs will be shut out of regionals, as the fifth-seeded Elder lost by fall to the sixth-seeded Carlheim for the final spot.

285

1. Andrew Deitman, UN. 2. Nick Winfield, SH. 3. Kody Ness, GL. 4. Stevie Colyer, TY. 5. Jake Smith, BL.

Analysis: This went pretty close to expectations. Deitman, the second seed, beat top-seeded Winfield in the ultimate tiebreaker - shocking for heavyweights, I know. 3-4-5 went as expected.

Left out: Hussein Sbeitan, Westmont Hilltop. The Westmont senior, who could have wrestled 220, won 14 matches in just his second year of wrestling and was just one spot short of qualifying for regionals.

Team race

1. Huntingdon (175). 2. West Branch (157). 3. Westmont Hilltop (135.5). 4. Penns Valley (134.5). Blairsville (129.5). 
Analysis: I would have pegged Huntingdon as the favorite with West Branch in the mix. I believe it was actually pretty close until the placement rounds. Westmont's four freshmen runners-up made a big difference for the Hilltoppers. I wouldn't have expected a top-five finish from Penns Valley, which had a rough year in duals, but the Rams have some solid individuals. I was surprised Central slipped to seventh and Forest Hills was all the way down to No. 14. Glendale, which finished 19th, looks like it could be a program on the upswing.

Who will be top varsity newcomer in region?

I've been planning on taking a look at the top rookies in our area, and since Pa. Power Wrestling just released its Top 50 freshmen, I figured now was as good a time as any.

Districts 5 and 6 are well-represented in the rankings, which include both AA and AAA classes.

A look at some names to know:

Robby Patrick, Ligonier Valley – The younger brother of Josh and Justin, he is the top local wrestler in the rankings, as he checks in at No. 6 statewide. He's bigger than his older brothers, as he projects as a 145-pounder, and he's more accomplished at this point in his career with a FloNationals Middle School championship and two Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling titles to his name. He'll definitely be one to keep an eye on this season, as Pa. Power Wrestling projects him as a state qualifier. Breaking in at 145 as a freshman is much harder than in the lightweights – as he found out going 1-2 at the Super 32 this weekend – but it wouldn't surprise me to see him on the podium in Hershey in March.

The Fab Five, Westmont Hilltop – After a fantastic run in the late 2000s, the Hilltoppers have been relatively quiet in the postseason the past few years. That could change very quickly. The co-op with Bishop McCort should pay huge dividends this year, as Carnell Andrews, No. 7 in Pa. Power Wrestling rankings, is a now a Crimson Crusher instead of a Johnstown Trojan. The same goes for No. 17 Anthony Walters. Westmont's own Josiah Jones is No. 43, giving Matt Beaujon's team a staggering three of the state's top-50 ranked freshmen.

Like Patrick, Andrews has two PJW and one FloNationals Middle School championships to his name. He's projected as a 126-pounder and a state qualifier.

Walters finished third at PJWs last year and won a FloNationals Middle School championship. He's projected as a 170-pounder and state qualifier.

Jones took fourth at PJWs last season and, like Andrews and Walters, was a FloNationals Middle School champ. He suffered a serious knee injury in the summer and won't be in the lineup for the first part of the season. If he can return from the injury and get in shape for the postseason, expect him to be a regional qualifier at 220 pounds.

Westmont's freshmen class has more than just the big three, as Clayton Dorian finished sixth at PJWs at 112 last season. He should give Andrews a great practice partner in the 126 range and give Beaujon plenty of flexibility in creating dual-meet matchups, not to mention another young stud.

Throw in Derrick Christie, a PJW qualifier for Ferndale who will suit up for the Hilltoppers, and Westmont's freshman class has to rank as one of the best in the state. Christie should make an immediate impact at 106. I've been told that he's made big strides over the past few months and could be a darkhorse in the region.

Trent Hidlay, Mifflin County – The younger brother of Hayden Hidlay is a six-time PJW medalist, including a runner-up finish in 2014, when he lost to Ligonier Valley's Robert Patrick. Pa. Power Wrestling projects him as a state qualifier at 138 or 145. He went 2-2 at 145 in the Super 32 this weekend.

Justin McCoy, Chestnut Ridge – Not that the loaded Lions need much help in the lightweights, but this talented freshman should provide it. He's finished third (2014, '12), second ('13) and first ('11) at PJWs and is projected as a 113- or 120-pound state qualifier by Pa. Power Wrestling. My local sources saw him more as a 126-pounder, but that could be just to start the season. Either way, he'll make an immediate impact for coach Greg Lazor and should make a strong postseason run.

Terrell Williams and Austin Barber, Greater Johnstown – Even without Andrews and Walters, new Trojans coach Will Harris will be able to inject some young talent into the lineup. Williams is a sophomore who finished second at 147 at PJWs last year while Barber is a freshman who placed eighth at 157. It will likely be harder for them to reach regionals this season after Johnstown dropped from AAA to AA, but both have the talent to do so.

Campbell twins, Cambria Heights – Mike Eckenrode, who is now sharing the head coaching role with Steve Makin, will get a nice bump in the form of sophomore twins Huntur and Bryce Campbell. Huntur, who likely will be a 106-pounder this season, finished fourth at 92 pounds at PJWs while Bryce, a projected 113-pounder, was a qualifier at 97 pounds.

I'm sure there are some other up-and-coming youngsters that I don't know about, especially in the eastern half of District 6. Who should have been included on my list? Let me know (hopefully in a polite way) in the comments section along with some reasons why.