HERSHEY -- Almost immediately after earning his way into today's PIAA Class AA 125-pound championship bout, Tyler Small turned from participant to spectator and he had quite the seat.

Standing just a few feet away from Mat 2 on Giant Center's floor, the Delone Catholic wrestler watched Boiling Springs' Joey Spisak in his 130-pound semifinal match at Friday's state championship tournament.

The Bubbler senior pulled out an incredible victory over previously unbeaten Ronnie Garbinsky of Tyrone, getting three back points in the last 15 seconds for a 6-3 win and a spot in the finals.

Seems Small and Spisak have been friends for quite some time.

"We've been wrestling together since we were in fifth grade," Small said. "I was more happy for his (semifinal) win than I was for my own."

Spisak, a four-time PIAA qualifier like Small, was not surprised to see his friend in a state final of his own.

"(Tyler) is a great kid. We hang out a lot in the off-season," said the University of Virginia recruit. "We've been drilling together since my freshman year. He's an excellent wrestler."

Recently, the four-time District 3 champ was looking at some old wrestling pictures he has hanging in his room and realized that one of them was of the duo wrestling each other.

"Those pictures have been up in my room for eight or nine years. I just recently realized I've been looking at (Small's) ugly mug every day since then," Spisak said with the same big smile

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he has become known for by the Giant Center crowd.

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Finally, some upsets: It took a little longer but the Class AA field turned in some quality upsets in the form of three returning state champions.

In Friday's early session, Arty Walsh of Juniata dropped his quarterfinal match and then was eliminated with a second loss in the wrestlebacks. That means no medal for the Indian sophomore.

The other two returners were picked off in Friday's semifinal round.

North Star's Nick Roberts -- last year's 103-pound winner -- lost to Line Mountain's Zain Retherford, 4-3. Wyomissing junior Nick Hodgkins, the 130-pound champ for 2009, lost a 4-2 decision to A.J. Schopp (39-0) of Tyrone Area.

Bad loss: The biggest blemish on West York senior Billy Randt's resume this year came in his District 3 final bout with Middletown's Bo Candelaria.

Randt lost the 145-pound final by a 15-0 technical fall in 5:20.

There's a slim chance the two could meet again today.

Both will compete in 145-pound semifinals. Randt will face West Allegheny's Aaron McKinney (38-4). However, Candelaria (29-3) will try to topple Central Mountain's Andrew Alton (43-0), the nation's No. 1-ranked 145-pounder and a Penn State recruit.

The semifinal winner will take part in the Class AAA finals, which start tonight at 8.

Randt's district final loss seemed to provide him motivation heading into states.

"I actually think he's better this week than he was two weeks ago in districts," West York coach Brian Gross said of Randt's mindset. "We've got another match (this morning), and hopefully he'll have the same intensity, the same desire."

Wear and tear: The grind of the state championships -- on top of grueling regular season -- can be enough to sap the most well-conditioned wrestlers.

Even South Western's Cameron Throckmorton showed it. He spent most of his 6-3, quarterfinal victory controlling Council Rock South's Matt Rappo.

But after the match, Throckmorton said he was spent.

"My body's getting worn out," he said. "It's been a long season. Thankfully, (today's) the last day."

Fans aplenty: Boisterous crowds packed Giant Center on Friday for all three sessions.

As of Friday afternoon, official figures had 6,290 fans attending the morning session (Class AA quarterfinals) and 7,793 more taking in the mid-day session (Class AAA quarterfinals).

That didn't even include attendance for the evening crowd that arrived for the Class AA semifinals.