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           PENNSYLVANIA LEAVES NO DOUBT WHO IS BEST!!!

Any discussion about which state has the best high school wrestling must begin and end with the Keystone State.  At about this time each year, themat.com publishes a list of every NCAA D1 qualifier; the list is sorted by the wrestler’s home state.  This year, of the 330 wrestlers who have qualified for the tournament, an astonishing 61 of them are from PA!  Basically one out of every five wrestlers in the tournament call Pennsylvania “home.”  New York has every reason to feel proud.  Our 26 entries in the field is 3rd best, trailing only PA and OH!  

NCAA D1 Qualifiers By Home State
1.     Pennsylvania – 61 (amazing)
2.    Ohio – 30
3.    New York – 26
4.    Illinois – 20 (tie)
        New Jersey – 20 (tie)
6.    California – 17
7.    Michigan – 16
8.    Iowa – 11
9.    Missouri – 10
10.  Colorado – 9 (tie)
       Washington – 9 (tie) 

                        2012 NCAA D1 Qualifiers From New York State

Weight  Wrestler                 College         Hometown/High School                  Section
   125            Max Soria                        Buffalo                  Kings Park / Kings Park HS                                       11
   125            Steve Bonanno                Hofstra                 Wantagh / Wantagh HS                                              8
   133            Steven Keith                    Harvard                Shoreham / Shoreham Wading River HS              11
   133            Nick Arujau                     Cornell                  Syosett / Syosett HS                                                    8
   133            Jamie Franco                  Hofstra                 Monroe / Monroe Woodbury HS                              9
   141            Matt Mariacher               American             Elma / Iroquois HS                                                      6
   141            Steven Dutton                  Lehigh                  Miller Place / Rocky Point HS                                  11
   141            Mike Nevinger                 Cornell                 Perry / Letchworth HS                                                 5
   149           Donnie Vinson                 Binghamton        Marathon / Whitney Point HS                                   4
   149           Corey Jantzen                  Harvard                Shoreham / Shoreham Wading River HS              11
   157           Kyle Dake                          Cornell                  Lansing / Lansing HS                                                  4
   157           Justin Lister                     Binghamton         Rodman / South Jefferson HS                                   3
   165           PJ Gillespie                      Hofstra                  Long Beach / Long Beach HS                                     8
   165           Joe Booth                         Drexel                    Bayville / Long Island Lutheran                            Prep
   165           James Brundage             Rider                      Ossining / Ossining HS                                               1
   165           Mark Lewandowski        Buffalo                   Depew / Lancaster HS                                                6
   174           Dave Foxen                       Brown                    Garden City / Garden City HS                                  8
   174           Ryan LeBlanc                   Indiana                  Morrisville / Morrisville – Eaton HS                       3
   184          Nathan Schiedel              Binghamton          Caledonia / Caledonia-Mumford HS                       5
   197          Christian Boley                 Maryland               Hilton / Brockport HS                                                5
   197          Cody Reed                         Binghamton           Walton / Walton HS                                                   4
   197          Derek Stanley                   Army                        Saugerties / Saugerties HS                                       9
   285         Peter Capone                    Ohio State               Johnson City / Johnson City HS                             4
   285         Nick Gwiazdowski           Binghamton           Delanson / Duanesburg HS                                      2
   285         Ernest James                    Edinboro                 Coram / Longwood HS                                             11
   285        Maciej Jochym                  Cornell                     Williston Park / Herricks HS                                   8
       

Palmer wins two more matches….wrestling for 3rd place tonight!!!

UPDATE:  CJ Palmer beats Patrick Duggan by a 5-2 margin to finish 3rd in PA!!!  Great job of wrestling back all the way to 3rd place after dropping a 2-0 decision in the opening round…Congratulations CJ!!!

CJ Palmer continues his to wrestle back hard!  After dropping a 2-0 decision in the opening round 126 pound bout to Tyson Dippery, Palmer has reeled off four straight wins and is now positioned to wrestle for third place in tonight’s medal round.  The Delaware Valley senior has won both of his consolation matches today in convincing fashion.  He pinned Josh DiSanto of Pennsbury in 4:34 of his 3rd round consie match this morning.  Next, Palmer majored Josh Maruca of Franklin Regional 12-0 to earn his spot in the 3rd place match.  His opening round opponent, Dippery, has made it to the finals.  Palmer finished third in PA as a sophmore at 112 pounds.  The link below provides brackets that are updated after every match.

                                                         2012 PA State Tournament

2009 Port Jervis graduate JD Zitone lost his quarterfinal bout but won his first wrestle-back match so he is guaranteed a spot on the All-American podium.  Zitone wrestles at 285 for Centenary College in New Jersey.  Congrats JD!!!  Link below to coverage provided by themat.com.

UPDATE:  Congratulations JD Zitone for finishing 7th at this weekends NCAA DIII Championships!!!!  He won his 7th place match by a score of 3-2 over fellow NY native Joe Giaramita (John Glenn, 2011).  Great job JD!!!

                                NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships 

Delaware Valley 126 pound wrestler CJ Palmer has won both of his consolation matches and is still alive in the PIAA Wrestling Championships.  After losing his opening round match, Palmer has posted victories over Tyler Clapp 0f Strath Haven (maj. dec. 11-0) and Dustin Rook of Big Spring (dec. 6-2).  With one more victory, Palmer will be guaranteed a top-6 placing.  His next match will take place on Saturday morning where he will take on Josh DiSanto (34-2) of Pennsbury. 

Delaware Valley’s two other participants in the tournament, Marc Wagner and Martin Strenk, have both been eliminated.  Wagner, a 170 pound senior, dropped two straight matched after an opening round victory.  His tournament began with a 9-4 victory over Chris Kurkian of Marple Newton in the opening round.  Wagner was then defeated by Zach Towers of Meadville by a 9-0 score in the quarters before being eliminated by Geno Morelli of DuBois in the consies via a 2-1 UTB decision.  Strenk also won his opening match defeating Danny Hockensmith of Big Spring 3-1.  The 182 pound junior was then pinned in the quarterfinal round in 3:16 by Kiski Area’s Matt McCutcheon (37-1) before losing his wrestle-back match by a 5-1 margin to Tyler Greene of Easton.

The NCAA website is providing outstanding coverage of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships this weekend.  Click on the link below for access to both video coverage of the tournament as well as updated brackets.

2009 Port Jervis graduate JD Zitone is the #3 seed at 285 pounds.  Zitone, who wrestles for Centenary College in New Jersey, is undefeated on the season sporting an impressive record of 26-0.  Good luck JD!

(Note: NCAA site not working well….now linked to Themat.com’s coverage page.)

                                        NCAA Division III Wrestling Coverage

The PIAA wrestling tournament began on Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA and SectionIXWrestling.com will be will help you follow all of the action.  Delaware Valley HS sent three wrestlers to Hershey and two have won their opening round matches.  170 pound senior Marc Wagner won his opening round match with a 9-4 victory over Chris Kurkian of Marple Newtown.  At 182, Martin Strenk defeated Danny Hockensmith of Big Spring by a 3-1 margin.  126 pound senior CJ Palmer had the toughest opening round draw having to face Tyson Dippery (45-2) of Central Dauphin.  Palmer gave Dippery all he could handle, however dropped a 2-0 decision and must now wrestle through the consolation bracket in order to place.  Palmer won his first wrestle-back by an 11-0 score over Tyler Clapp of Strath Haven.  Below are links to the brackets for both AAA and AA divisions; DV competes in the AAA division.

                                                             PIAA Tournament Coverage

The Friends of Section 9 will be hosting the 11th Annual Banquet of Champions on Sunday, March 11th at The Meadowbrook in New Windsor.  Doors open at 5:00 and dinner will be served at 6:00.  Anyone interested in attending must RSVP by Friday, March 9th.  Please click below for the banquet flyer which has all reservation information.

                                                                     11th Annual Banquet of Champions