Wrestling

Wrestling Adds 19 Recruits, Including Two PA State Runner-Ups and Eight Other State Place Winners
     06/29/09...Head Coach Pat Pecora (34th season) and the Mountain Cat wrestling program have added 19 new wrestlers for the 2009-10 season, including 10 Pennsylvania State Place winners from last year.  Of the 10 State Place winners, Hempfield Area High School’s Jack Bachman (Greensburg, Pa.) and Susquenita High School graduate Joe Harper (Duncannon, Pa.) were state runner-ups, while Forest Hills High School standout David Fogle (Summerhill, Pa.) and Northern Bedford High School’s Tyler Chesney (Roaring Spring, Pa.) both placed third... (Full Release and List of Recruits) 
     Of the 19 incoming wrestlers, 10 were Pennsylvania State-Place-winners, three others qualified for the PA State Tournament and four more were regional qualifiers.  In addition, Coach Pecora added a pair of transfer student-athletes in 2004-05 PA State Champion and three-time PA State Place-Winner Donnie Ament (Acme, Pa./Mount Pleasant Area H.S.), who transferred from Division I Lock Haven University and former PA State Qualifier Gary Lantz (Delta, Pa./Kennard Dale H.S.).  Ament wrapped up his career with a 179-28 over record and 91 falls.
     “You always want a recruiting class to consist of two things.  One is to strengthen your team immediately, and the other is to have an impact on the program in future years,” Coach Pecora said.  “With 10 former Pennsylvania State Place winners and 10 other very talented wrestlers, I feel we were able to address both issues with this year’s class.”
     Heading this year’s recruiting class are PA State Runner-ups Bachman and Harper.  Bachman, the PA AAA State Runner-up at 140 lbs., finished his senior season with a 47-2 overall record and a Southwest Regional championship.  Bachman also posted a 159-37 career record.  Harper was 40-3 in 2008-09 on his way to placing second at 152 lbs. at the PA State AA Tournament.  Harper also won the South East Regional title.
     Fogle, a four-time PA State Place winner, and Chesney both placed third in their respective weight classes in the PA State AA Tournament.  Fogle posted 36-6 mark in 2008-09 at 119 lbs., and Chesney was 33-4 at 125 lbs.
     Mitch Spencer (Avella, Pa./Avella H.S.) and Logan Shirey (Fairmont City, Pa./Redbank Valley H.S.) each finished fourth in the AA Tournament.  Spencer was 39-5 at 135 lbs., and Shirey ended his senior season with a 33-7 mark at 171 lbs.
     Coach Pecora also signed a pair of PA sixth-place finishers and two eighth-place finishers.    Bedford Area High School heavyweight Josh Krupa (Bedford, Pa.) placed sixth in AA with a 40-4 overall record, and David Cawley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.) was 20-3 on his way to placing sixth at 140 lbs in the AAA Tournament.  Petros Georgilas (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour H.S.) finished eighth in AAA at 189 lbs. with a 34-4 overall record, while Tim DeFrances (Cochranton, Pa./Commodore Perry H.S.) placed eighth in the AA Tournament at 189 lbs.  DeFrances wrapped up his senior season with a 34-8 record.
Three PA State Qualifiers are also part of this year’s recruiting class, including Chad Miller (152 lbs.) (Johnstown, Pa./Richland H.S.) (22-5 record in 2008-09), Cody Shippey (215 lbs.) (Manns Choice, Pa./Bedford Area H.S.) (30-10 record in 2008-09) and Nik Zimmerman (160 lbs.) (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area H.S.) (31-7 record in 2008-09).
     In addition, Pitt-Johnstown signed PA Regional Qualifiers Kyle Pucci (Friedens, Pa./Somerset Area H.S.), Jim Giampa (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin Area H.S.), Matt Rust (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown H.S.) and David Baker (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour H.S.) to round out the recruiting class.
     The Mountain Cats are coming off of a 13-4 dual meet season, a runner-up finish at the East Regional Tournament and a 14th-place finish at the National Tournament.  Six wrestlers advanced to the 2009 Division II National Tournament at the Winter Sports Festival in Houston, TX, including East Regional Outstanding Wrestler Shane Valko (133 lbs.) (Windber, Pa.).  At the National Tournament, two more Mountain Cats became All-Americans.  Valko was the National runner-up at 133 lbs., and Adam Whetstone (Claysburg, Pa.) placed fifth at 141 lbs.  The Mountain Cats also got it done in the classroom.  Whetstone was a Second-Team NWCA All-Academic Wrestling Team selection, while Jon Moore (184 lbs.) (Leechburg, Pa.) and Matt Moore (174/184) (Blairsville, Pa.) were Honorable Mention All-Academic choices.

Valko Finishes Second at National Wrestling Tournament;
Whetstone Places Fifth Place to Led Mountain Cats to 14th-Place Finish 
     03/14/09...Shane Valko (133 lbs.) (Windber, Pa.) defeated San Francisco State's Naveed Bagheri in the semifinals to wrestle for the championship Saturday night at the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Tournament at the Winter Sports Festival in Houston, TX.  Valko took on Joe Kemmerer (Kutztown) in the championship match but fell 2-1 to place second.  Adam Whetstone (Claysburg, Pa.) advanced to the semifinals at 141 lbs., but suffered back-to-back losses, before becoming an All-American with a fifth-place finish.  Six Mountain Cat wrestlers earned spots in this year's national tournament, but four were eliminated in the second round of the consolations.
     Nebraska-Omaha won the team title with 146.5 points.  Newberry (80.5 pts.) finished second, while Minnesota State-Mankato (71.5 pts.), Nebraska-Kearney (65 pts.) and Adams State (62 pts.) rounded out the top-five.  Pitt-Johnstown finished in 14th place with 33 points.
     In the semifinals, Valko secured a 3-0 decision over Bagheri to earn a spot in the title bout against last year's National Champion Kemmerer.  Valko pinned Kemmerer in overtime to win the East Region crown two weeks ago.  Unfortunately, Kemmerer won a 2-1 decision to calim the title.  Valko ended the season with a 27-1 overall record. 
     Valko won a 6-1 decision over Nebraska Kearney's Joseph Morrison in the first round, before advancing to the semifinals with a third period fall over Central Missouri's Grant Baker in the quarterfinals.
     After advancing to the semifinals, Whetstone lost a 14-3 major decision to Raymond Dunning (Adams State), and a 10-6 decision to John Putman (Minnesota State-Mankato).  Whetstone rebounded to defeat San Francisco State's Ben Lockett 7-3 in Saturday's Fifth-Place Match. 
     Whetstone reached the semifinals with a 9-3 decision over Cory Bloodgood (Central Missouri), before earning a 6-5 victory over James Annon (Fort Hays State) in the quarterfinals.
     Ryan McIntyre (149 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.), Kyle Keane (165 lbs.) (Bradford, Pa.), Patrick Walsh (197 lbs.) (Leesport, Pa.) and Chris Dempsey (HWT.) (Sewickley, Pa.) all posted 1-2 records, but were eliminated in the second round of the consolations.  McIntyre defeated St. Cloud State's Jacob Roberts 8-4 in the first round, but suffered losses in his next two matches.  Dempsey pinned Lance Peters (Augustana) at 2:50 in the opening round, but dropped his next two matches, including a ride-out loss to Findlay's Travis Clark in the third overtime period of ride-outs.  Keane and Walsh both lost their opening matches.  Keane rebounded with a fall over Jordan Larson (Colorado School of Mines) at :56, but fell in his next bout.  Walsh defeated Lucas Munkelwitz (St. Cloud State) 4-3 in the first round of the consolations, but also suffered a loss in the next round.