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The county again has only one top seed entering Saturday's event at Mechanicsburg High School, but with three returning champions and five No. 2 seeds, the area is in position to do fairly well in 2010.
The secondary goal to winning a title is to place in the top three, which qualifies a wrestler for the District 3 Tournament next weekend at Hersheypark Arena. Last year, nine area wrestlers made that trip.
"Franklin County should fare pretty decent; we should do better than usual," Waynesboro coach Eric Mowen said. "I hope we can prove to some people that our county has gotten better."
Chambersburg senior Jimmy Hughes (25-2) earned the top seed at 125 pounds. He won at that weight last year to become the Trojans' first three-time sectional champion.
"He has a good shot to become a four-time winner," Chambersburg coach Doug Rine said.
The other returning champions are Waynesboro's Jacob Smith (112) and Marvin Gaskill (285). Both are seeded second.
Smith (24-5) is seeded behind Cumberland Valley's Jon Brigham (23-3) and ahead of Big Spring's Dereck Enders (23-4). Smith lost by a point to Brigham this year; last year he beat Enders in the section final, although Enders ended up qualifying for states.
Gaskill (23-4) is seeded behind Carlisle's Gavin Nickle (20-4), who owns a 3-2 win
The Indians also have Shane McFerren (22-1) as a second seed at 215.
Mowen said, "We have a lot of guys seeded either No. 4 or 5 and they'll likely get the No. 1 seed in the semifinals. So we'll need either a big upset, or need them to come back in the consolations. We took three to districts last year and we hope to do better this time."
Waynesboro did lose one of its top entrants when senior Dan Mazzei (20-2 at 189) was ruled ineligible because of grades.
Also for Chambersburg, freshman Tanner Shoap (27-2) earned a second seed at 103, behind Big Spring's Dustin Rook, who beat Shoap 5-0 in a dual meet.
Alex Duke (20-7), who was third last year and earned a trip to districts, is seeded No. 5 at 135 pounds. Dawson Peck (25-4) got a third seed at 215.
Rine said, "For Dawson, 215 has been good for him, but there are four good kids at that weight. Tanner has been doing very well, but one of his two losses was to Rook.
"We've got four kids seeded fourth and two more seeded fifth and any one of those kids has a chance to get through to districts. There's one kid each of them needs to beat sometime to get through."
James Buchanan got a No. 3 seed at 130 (Todd Meyers, 28-5) and a pair of No. 4s -- Trevor Meyers, 27-7 at 119, and Nathan Dick, 25-9, at 189.
Rocket coach Matt Gordon said, "At one point Todd was sitting at No. 1 and Trevor was as high as No. 2. Todd still ended up on the same side of the bracket, so it doesn't matter. I think 119 was a nightmare to figure out, with a lot of bouncing around. Both Meyers twins are usually pretty good at getting up for tournaments.
"Not having Mazzei at 189 should help Nathan. I hope he wrestles up to his capabilities."
Greencastle-Antrim landed a pair of No. 2 seeds, with Tyler Ezolt (23-2) at 152 and Dylan Schaeffer (19-5) at 160. Schaeffer is a returning district qualifier.
Todd DeWalt (19-6) is a third seed at 189, also benefiting from Mazzei's absence, and Denton Ensminger (17-4) is a fourth seed at 285.
"We're in good position in a lot of places, but we have to go get it done," G-A coach Fred Yelton said. "Traditionally, this tournament hasn't been kind to us, but the kids seem ready this year. This group is hungry."
Shippensburg came up with a pair of No. 3 seeds -- Taran Hockenberry (21-7 at 145), a returning district qualifier, and Jared Furry (22-5 at 103).
In addition, junior Hunter Kyner, who was a sectional runner-up a year ago, has returned from a shoulder injury. Kyner (11-5) is seeded fourth at 125 pounds.
Hound coach Melvin Gray said, "He was out about a month. His lungs are all right; the question is will his body hold up? He has a lot of experience, so that will help."
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Ed Gotwals may be reached at 262-4755 and egotwals@publicopinionnews.com.
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Class AAA Section I
Wrestling Tournament
(At Mechanicsburg)
Teams: Chambersburg (Ch), Shippensburg (S), Greencastle-Antrim (GA), James Buchanan (JB), Waynesboro (Way), Cumberland Valley (CV), Mechanicsburg (M), West Perry (WP), Carlisle (Car), Big Spring (BS), Gettysburg (Get), Northern York (NY).
Top Seeds, Area Entries
Below are listed the top seed in each weight class, followed by all area entries, and records.
103 -- (1) Dustin Rook (BS), 19-6; (2) Tanner Shoap (Ch), 27-2; (3) Jared Furry (S), 22-5; (5) Colby Mowen (Way), 17-10; (7) Rusty Pine (GA), 14-11; (10) Devyn Hykes (JB), 7-20.
112 -- (1) Jon Brigham (CV), 23-3; (2) Jacob Smith (Way), 24-5; (4) Colten Arnold (Ch), 17-10; (7) Jordan Hykes (JB), 14-20; (8) Jake Heure (GA), 7-11; (10) Nathan Coldsmith (S), 9-19.
119 -- (1) Zachary Ross (NY), 17-5; (4) Trevor Meyers (JB), 27-7; (5) Ben McCurdy (S), 22-8; (6) Richie Scott (Way), 16-6; (10) Hunter Boock (Ch), 1-5.
125 -- (1) Jimmy Hughes (Ch), 25-2; (4) Hunter Kyner (S), 11-5; (5) Jonah Smith (Way), 20-11.
130 -- (1) Anthony Taylor (Car), 13-9; (3) Todd Meyers (JB), 28-5; (5) Ian Hammond (Ch), 19-12; (6) Brady Coy (S), 12-7; (7) Gabriel Lynch (Way), 9-8; (9) Bobby McPherson (GA), 11-14.
135 -- (1) Shawn Greevy (CV), 13-2; (4) Trey Andree (Way), 14-3; (5) Alex Duke (Ch), 20-7; (7) Kaleb Shields (S), 12-10; (9) Jay Marshall (JB), 13-21; (10) Tanner Maloy (GA), 11-17.
140 -- (1) Jared Ross (NY), 17-4; (4) Chase Wenger (Ch), 24-6; (5) Tyler Warner (Way), 20-9; (8) Nathan Rummel (JB), 14-19; (11) Alex Ruquet (S), 7-20; (12) Jordan Ladzinski (GA), 5-13.
145 -- (1) Rustin Barrick (M), 21-6; (3) Taran Hockenberry (S), 21-7; (4) Charles Hicks (Ch), 15-9; (5) Jesse Smith (Way), 11-12; (7) Chris Kinsey (GA), 12-14; (9) Joe Clipp (JB), 18-15.
152 -- (1) Jayshon Wilson (Car), 25-1; (2) Tyler Ezolt (GA), 23-2; (6) Steven Wilmot (Ch), 9-15; (7) T.R. Rook (Way), 9-16; (8) Ethan Mangum (JB), 10-24; (11) Fernando Torija (S), 0-7.
160 -- (1) Luke Etter (BS), 26-5; (2) Dylan Schaeffer (GA), 19-5; (4) Dayton Daywalt (Ch), 21-10; (7) Ken Corl (JB), 15-19; (10) Matt Wade (Way), 5-17.
171 -- (1) Tristan Warner (CV), 30-1; (4) Jesse Mowen (Way), 22-9; (6) Justin Merideth (GA), 3-8.
189 -- (1) Chaz Sheaffer (WP), 26-1; (3) Todd DeWalt (GA), 19-6; (4) Nathan Dick (JB), 25-9; (7) Louis Yvelle (Ch), 8-13; (8) Alex Harry (S), 4-12.
215 -- (1) Travis Friend (CV), 16-0; (2) Shane McFerren (Way), 22-1; (3) Dawson Peck (Ch), 25-4; (4) Cary Hess (S), 13-9; (8) Tyler Biehl (JB), 8-26.
285 -- (1) Gavin Nickle (Car), 20-4; (2) Marvin Gaskill (Way), 23-4; (4) Denton Ensminger (GA), 17-4; (5) Tyler Fairchild (S), 14-9; (8) Ean Starr (Ch), 14-11.
Section I-AAA wrestling
Event: District 3 Class AAA Section I Wrestling Tournament
When: Saturday
Where: Mechanicsburg H.S.
Sessions: Preliminary round begins at 9 a.m., includes quarterfinals, semifinals and consolations ... Consolation finals begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by championship bouts.
Goal: Top 3 at each weight advance to next weekend's District 3 event at Hersheypark Arena.
