NORTH ALLEGHENY SPORTS NETWORK

Wrestling

* SECTION CHAMPIONS *

 Photo by Al Durick, Portraits Plus Studio

HERBERT WINS STATE TITLE AT 171

Click here for final PIAA Championship results

Senior Jake Herbert was a "man on a mission" since he finished second at the PIAA championships last year.  On Saturday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, Herbert accomplished his task - a state championship.  The Tiger senior defeated Josh Weitzel of Oxford, 3-1, to win the gold medal.  Herbert had been second, third and sixth in the previous three state championships.  By winning his fourth state medal, he moved into select company among Pennsylvania wrestlers.

In the final match, Herbert scored a takedown early in the first period and made it stand up.  After allowing Weitzel up on an optional start, Herbert maintained the 2-1 lead after one period.  The lead was a little shaky late in the period when Weitzel had Herbert's leg up in the air, but the NA wrestler was able to avoid a takedown.

Herbert rode Weitzel for the entire two minutes in the second period, twice coming close to turning the Oxford grappler.  In the third period after Weitzel allowed Jake out on another optional start, Weitzel was unable to break through Herbert's defense, and the 171 pound title was Herbert's.  Jake came close to another takedown midway through the period, but the referee ruled a stalemate before Herbert could follow through.

It was a great night for the Herbert family and NA.  Jim Herbert, Jake's father and an assistant coach to head coach Jamie Kyriazis of NA, won the PIAA crown at 155 in 1974.  Two gold medals will now be part of the Herbert history.  Herbert and Weitzel know each other well as they trained together this past summer in Wexford at the Angry Fish Wrestling Club.  It was the second time Herbert defeated Weitzel, the first coming with a 5-2 win at the Powerade Tournament in late December.

In the semifinals, Herbert major decisioned Mike Corcetti of Kiski Area, 12-4, to advance to the final.  Herbert finished undefeated in his senior season with a record of 35-0.  Weitzel had a final record of 42-2, his only losses to Herbert.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JAKE HERBERT, PIAA CHAMPION!

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HERBERT WINS TO MOVE ON TO SEMIFINALS; CASSIDY, GLOMB LOSE IN QUARTERFINALS

Senior Jake Herbert kept his dream of a PIAA Championship at 171 alive with a 12-3 victory over Nate Rock of Ephrata at the Giant Center in Hershey on Friday afternoon.  At 189, Phillip Davis of Harrisburg pinned senior Eric Cassidy at the 3:40 mark while senior Chris Glomb lost a tough 3-1 decision at 215 to Kyle Sprenkle of Spring Grove.  Herbert will wrestle Mike Corcetti of Kiski Area this morning in the semifinals.  The finals are scheduled for tonight at 8:00 pm.

In the second round consolation matches, both Tiger wrestlers were defeated and are out of the tournament.  At 189, John Laboranti of Pittston Area downed Cassidy, 10-5, while at 215, Mike Viti of Berwick edged Glomb, 5-2.  Congratulations to Eric Cassidy and Chris Glomb for an outstanding senior year of wrestling at North Allegheny!

Tonight's finals will be telecast live on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN).  The non-profit network will present the Class AAA final matches beginning at 8:00 pm on Comcast Channel 48 and Armstrong Channel 47.  Replays will be shown at 2:00 am tonight and 2:00 pm tomorrow afternoon.

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TIGER TRIO ADVANCES TO QUARTERFINALS OF PIAA TOURNAMENT

All three Tiger representatives in the PIAA Tournament were victorious in the first round on Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.  Seniors Jake Herbert at 171, Eric Cassidy at 189, and Chris Glomb at 215 will move on to the quarterfinals this afternoon. 

Herbert pinned Brad Clark of Huntingdon at 1:56 of the first period.  His opponent in the next round will be junior Nate Rock of Ephrata.  Cassidy won a 7-2 decision over Marc Decker of State College to move on to a meeting with senior Phillip Davis of Harrisburg.  Glomb won by a 7-2 score also as he defeated Monty Rockey of Bald Eagle Area.  His opponent in the 215 pound weight class will be junior Kyle Sprenkle of Spring Grove.

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PIAA CLASS AAA
NA WRESTLERS AND OPPONENTS
Thursday, March 6, 2003
Friday, March 7, 2003
Saturday, March 8, 2003

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HERBERT, CASSIDY CAPTURE INDIVIDUAL WPIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

*COMPLETE CHAMPIONSHIP AND CONSOLATION FINAL RESULTS*

Seniors Jake Herbert at 171 and Eric Cassidy at 189 won individual titles at the WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Regional at Norwin on Saturday.  Senior Chris Glomb took place to qualify for states, along with Herbert and Cassidy.  The Tigers tallied 80 points to finish in fourth place in the team standings. 

Herbert won in impressive fashion, pinning all four opponents on the way to the title.  In the semis, Herbert pinned Steve Chirieleison from Plum in 45 seconds.  In the final, it was Charlie Pienaar of Penn-Trafford who lasted 2:52 before the Tiger senior put him away.  It was the second consecutive WPIAL championship for Herbert.

Cassidy earned his first WPIAL title with two wins on Saturday.  In the semifinals, Cassidy decisioned Nick Padezan of Penn-Trafford, 3-1, before winning by default over Gideon Short of West Mifflin.  Glomb came all the way back through the consolation round to pin Nick Hursky of Chartiers Valley in 4:37 to take the bronze.  The three Tiger wrestlers will begin competition for the state championship on Thursday at Hershey.

WPIAL/PIAA CLASS AAA SOUTHWEST REGIONAL
Norwin High School - Feb. 28-March 1

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

QUARTERFINALS

SEMIFINALS

FINALS

CONSOLATION ROUND

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HERBERT, CASSIDY ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS IN WPIAL/PIAA SOUTHWEST REGIONALS

Seniors Jake Herbert and Eric Cassidy were winners in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Regional at Norwin on Friday.  They will advance to the semifinals on Saturday.  Sophomore Mike Guttilla and senior Chris Glomb were defeated and will wrestle in the consolation round.

Herbert pinned his second consecutive opponent, Garrett McGuffey of McGuffey at 1:02 of the first period to advance to the semis at 171.  Cassidy downed Jim Toney of Connellsville, 7-1, to move on at 189.  At 152, Guttilla was defeated by the #2 seed, Albert Miles of Canon-McMillan, 6-2, while Glomb dropped a 9-7 decision to Mike Hursky of Chartiers Valley at 215. 

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HERBERT, CASSIDY, GLOMB WIN SECTION TITLES AT SHALER

Click here for COMPLETE SECTION RESULTS

The Tigers had three wrestlers earn section titles at the Section 3 Championships at Shaler on Saturday.  Seniors Jake Herbert at 171, Eric Cassidy at 189, and Chris Glomb at 215 were crowned champions and will move on to the PIAA Southwest Regionals next weekend at Norwin High School.  Six NA wrestlers qualified for the regionals.  Sophomore Mike Guttilla finished second at 152, junior Zach Herbert was second at heavyweight, and sophomore Rob Cawley was third at 112.

In championship matches, Herbert pinned Tony Eichler of North Hills at 1:15 of the first period to win at 171.  Cassidy decisioned Dave Sibenac of Shaler, 7-1, while Glomb pinned Aaron Brown of Butler at 1:41 of the first period.  Guttilla was major decisioned by Taylor Letters of Shaler, 16-5, in the 152 pound final.  Herbert lost to Greg Conti of Pine-Richland, 5-2, at heavyweight.

Three more NA wrestlers just missed the cut, coming in fourth.  At 135, junior Rick Jones lost the consolation final to Chris May of Hampton, senior Cliff Moore was defeated by Tim Allen of Pine-Richland at 145, and senior Tom Dentice was edged by Jon Miller of Butler at 160.  The top three wrestlers at each weight will move on to the PIAA Class AAA Southwest Regionals, beginning on February 27 at Norwin High School.

WPIAL CLASS AAA – SECTION 3
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES at Shaler

CONSOLATION FINALS

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TIGERS WIN FINALE, BEAT CHARTIERS VALLEY, 37-30

Coach Jamie Kyriazis’ Tigers defeated the Chartiers Valley Colts, 37-30, on Thursday night at the Senior High gym in the final dual match of the season.  In a match that saw five forfeits, the Tigers once again used their strength at the heavier weights to come from behind to win.  Seniors made the difference for the Tigers as Jake Herbert and Nick Lavery pinned their opponents, and Eric Cassidy and Chris Glomb won by decisions to secure the victory.

The match started with the heavyweight class after the pre-match drawing.  The opening match of the night was the most exciting.  Adam McKnight of Chartiers Valley picked up a take down and three near fall points early in the match to take a 5-0 lead over junior Zach Herbert of the Tigers.  After neither wrestler scored in the second period, Herbert escaped and took McKnight to the mat to tie the score at 5-5.  McKnight was then called for his second stalling warning, giving Herbert the point and a hard-earned 6-5 win.

After the Tigers took the 3-0 lead, Char Valley scored the next thirty points in the match.  Sophomore Ross Ventrone won by forfeit at 103, sophomore Ricci Minella edged Rob Cawley, 4-1, in a tough match at 112, Jim Slack pinned sophomore Justin Wang, and the Colts picked up two forfeit wins at 125 and 130 to take a 27-3 lead.  At 135, senior Sean Cote built a 6-2 lead after one period over junior Rick Jones and went on to win, 7-2, to increase the CV lead to 30-3.

Senior Nick Lavery got the Tigers’ comeback started at 140 when he aggressively went after Ryan Boynes and got the pin after just 24 seconds.  With the Tigers trailing, 30-9, senior Cliff Moore won a crucial match at 145.  In a defensive struggle, Moore and Vince Minella were able to garner only one point each on escapes in regulation time to send the match into overtime.  Early in the OT, Moore escaped to earn a 2-1 victory and cut the Colts lead to 30-12.  The Tigers got some gift points in the next two weight classes with forfeits with sophomore Mike Guttilla at 152 and senior Tom Dentice at 160 given the victories. 

With the Tigers now trailing by only six points, undefeated senior Jake Herbert took the mat with a chance to give NA a tie in the team score.  Herbert did not disappoint as he pinned Bob Brown with 58 seconds left in the second period to tie the score at 30-30.  Senior Eric Cassidy, the top-ranked wrestler in the WPIAL at 189, met Dan Kearney.  The Tiger senior methodically took care of Kearney, jumping off to a 5-0 lead after one period.  After a scoreless second period, Cassidy piled up five more points in the third period to earn a 10-1 major decision which gave the Tigers a 34-30 lead with one match to go.

Senior Chris Glomb dominated Bryan Mox in the 215 pound final match, winning a 6-1 decision to give NA a 37-30 win.  The victory improved the overall NA record to 11-4 on the season and should move the Tigers up in the final rankings.  As a result of his performance, the North Allegheny Sports Network selected senior Jake Herbert as the Outstanding Wrestler.  The Tigers will be back in action next weekend as NA wrestlers vie for individual honors in the Section 3 Championships at Shaler.  We will have more information later next week.

MATCH SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY – 37             CHARTIERS VALLEY – 30       

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TIGERS FALL TO TRINITY, 44-30

Coach Jamie Kyriazis' Section 3 Champion Tigers were defeated by the defending WPIAL Champion Trinity Hillers, 44-24, in the first round of the WPIAL Team Championships at Kiski Area High School on Tuesday night.  Seniors Jake Herbert and Eric Cassidy, both wrestling up a weight, pinned their opponents.

The Tigers' other points all came on forfeits.  Sophomore Mike Guttilla at 152, senior Tom Dentice at 160, and  junior Matt Territ at 171 were declared winners for NA.  Trinity swept all other classes, winning four by pins, two by major decisions, one by forfeit, and two by decisions.

The Tigers' overall record dropped to 10-4 on the season with just a non-section match with Chartiers Valley on February 13 remaining.  The section tournament will be held on February 22. 

MATCH SUMMARY
TRINITY - 44    NORTH ALLEGHENY - 30

WPIAL TEAM TOURNAMENT

FIRST ROUND

SECOND ROUND

QUARTERFINALS

SEMIFINALS

FINALS

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WPIAL CLASS AAA - SECTION 3 STANDINGS
(as of 2/10/03)

* - Qualified for WPIAL Team Tournament

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NSN TOP TEN - WRESTLING
(as of 2/3/03)

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE TEAM RANKINGS
(as of 2/3/03)

WRESTLING REPORT.COM RANKINGS (as of 2/3/03)

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS  
(NA only – as of 2/17/03)

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  WPIAL WRESTLING – 2002-03

The Tigers will compete in Class AAA again this year, along with 52 other teams.  Playoff entry for the 2002-03 WPIAL team championships will include the teams who finish in the top three places in the section.  If  two teams tie for the last qualifying spot, the winner of the match played between them will enter the team tournament.  A three-way tie will be broken by comparing the head-to-head competition between the tied teams that may result in one of the teams demonstrating a higher cumulative total of victories.  The tiebreaker applies only to section matches.

The WPIAL individual championships will begin with a sectional tournament.  Sectionals will be held in a one-day format.  The top three place winners from each sectional tournament will advance to the WPIAL/Southwest Regional tournament from which three wrestlers will advance to the state tournament.  Five wrestlers will advance to the state tournament.  Wrestle-back competition will be included from the first round of the Sectionals, WPIAL and Regional Championships.  

The tiebreaker system used in post-season play will be applied to all regular season matches between WPIAL teams if they end in a tie score.  If ties occur, the following criteria shall be followed to break the tie.  They are listed in order of priority.  The winner shall be:

1. The team who has been penalized the least number of team points for flagrant or unsportsmanlike conduct.

2. The team having won the greater number of matches.

3. The team having accumulated the greater number of points for fall, defaults, forfeits or disqualifications.

4. The team having the greater number of points for technical falls.

5. The team having the greater number of points for major decisions.

6. The team having the greater number of points for near-falls.

7. The team having the greater number of takedowns.

8. The team having the greater number of reversals.

9. The team having the greater number of escapes.

10. The team whose opponent has been penalized more often for stalling.

11. The team whose opponent has been warned more often for stalling.

12. The team whose opponent has the greater number of points for all other infractions.

13. Determined by a coin toss when the above cannot resolve a tie.

CLASS AAA – 53 TEAMS