BY ERIC KNOPSNYDER
JOHNSTOWN — Cory Thomas and Tanner Hough each celebrated milestone victories on Friday night.
This morning they’ll meet with an even bigger prize on the line.
They are two of the 20 local wrestlers who reached the semifinals of the PIAA Southwest Regional Wrestling Tournament on Friday at Cambria County War Memorial Arena. The semifinals and third-round consolations begin at
11 this morning while the medal round is set for
5 p.m. The top five wrestlers in each weight class will advance to next week’s state tournament in Hershey.
That’s why today’s match between Bedford’s Thomas and Westmont Hilltop’s Hough is so important: The winner is assured of advancing.
Thomas won a pair of matches Friday, pinning Freedom’s Bo Bonzo in the first round and scoring a 7-1 victory over Penn Cambria’s Nick Szala in the quarterfinals. That gave the Bedford senior 123 career victories, which broke the school record set by Eric Gibbons in 2002.
Hough, who is just a junior, picked up his 100th career victory in the quarterfinals, but he needed overtime to do it, as he scored a takedown for a 4-2 victory over Victor Lipari of Chartiers Houston.
“All of the matches down here are going to be tough,” Hough said. “That one was no exception.
“I didn’t think I wrestled my best, but there’s always tomorrow.”
Hough didn’t look very happy coming off the mat, but after reflecting on his accomplishment, his mood changed.
“It’s great, especially to be the first junior at Westmont to do it,” he said of his 100th victory. “I was real excited.”
Half of the 14 weight classes feature multiple local wrestlers in the semifinals, but 140 is the only one to feature more than two. Central Cambria’s Phil Steinberg, a defending regional champion, will face North Star’s Richard Baker in one semifinal at the weight while Chestnut Ridge’s Josh Shane battles Chartiers Houston’s Michael Innes in the other one.
Shane and Steinberg have split a pair of matches this season, with the Chestnut Ridge wrestler handing Steinberg his only loss. Central Cambria coach Bob Nikolishen sees a possible championship date with Shane as a motivating factor for his 140-pounder.
“I think he’s anxious to see him again in the finals,” Nikolishen said. “That’s one of his goals for the weekend. I wouldn’t say vengeance, but he’d like to return the favor.”
Central Cambria also has 145-pounder Anthony Risaliti in the semifinals.
“It’s real exciting for Tony because it’s new- found ground for him,” Nikolishen said.
Portage’s Shawn Perich is the other 145-pound semifinal, giving the Mustangs a pair of semifinalists. David Kephart is the other at 171.
Kephart's weight also includes Westmont's Ryan Burnheimer, although they are in different semifinals.
In addition to Burnheimer and Hough, the Hilltoppers have semifinalists in Josh Polacek (112) and Trevor Kushner (135). Westmont's four semifinalists are the most of any local school, but they were handed a surprising setback at 285 pounds, where Josh Duplin lost 2-1 in rideout to Charleroi's Jake Linn.
The 285-pound class was supposed to be one of the area's best, but Richand's John Rizzo is the lone local heavyweight in the semifinals.
Forest Hills has two semifinalists in Chris Gallaher (160) and Zack Glessner (189), and the Rangers are two points ahead of Westmont in the team standings. Burrell sits atop the standings with 54 points while Shady Side Academy has 47, nine ahead of third-place Forest Hills. Penn Cambria is fifth with 32.5 points.
The Panthers have two semifinalists: Evan Link (112) and Zack Newton (189). Patrick Myers, the District 6 champion at 125 pounds, was upset in the quarterfinals and will face North Star's Joe Lascari, the District 5 winner, in a consolation match this morning with the loser going home.
Conemaugh Township's Tanner Cahill, the District 5 runner-up, is the lone local wrestler in the 125-pound semifinals
“I'm feeling pretty good,” Cahill said. “I'm only a freshman, so it's pretty good just to be here. I'm excited to get this next match under way.”
He'll face Burrell's Dave Makara in the semifinals, who is ranked third in the state, and Cahill knows that he still has to win at least one more match to qualify for states.
“There's been a lot of tough matches, a lot of upsets,” he said. “If I do lose, there's a lot of tough matches just to get to the third-or-fourth place match, or even the fifth-sixth match.”
North Star's Nick Roberts and Ligonier Valley's Josh Patrick are in separate semifinals at 103 while Bedford's Brian Gibbons is a victory from the 152-pound final.
