Three county wrestlers claim Thomas titles


6:51 PM PST, January 26, 2013


BEDFORD — Berlin’s Bryce Fochtman, Meyersdale’s Gavin Berkley and Somerset’s Jake Nickelson all captured individual titles to lead a group of 22 Somerset County placewinners at the 25th annual Thomas wrestling tournament on Saturday at Bedford Area High School.


Fochtman, a sophomore, used a first-period take down and an escape in the third to grab at 3-2 victory over J.J. Walker of South Fayette in the 160-pound final.


Fochtman improved his record to 26-2 on the season.


“He wrestled a heck of a tournament,” Berlin coach Jason Cornell said. “He wrestled very smart. He’s been setting goals all year long and this is just another step in the direction that we’re heading. But it’s a big step. You have extremely tough competition down here.”


Berkley, a junior, claimed his first varsity tournament title, according to coach Chadd Sines, in fine fashion with a 4-1 decision over Tri-Valley’s Lyle Troutman in the 182-pound final.


The score was 0-0 after two periods, but Berkley came to life in the third with a reversal and a takedown, compared to only one escape by Troutman.


Berkley, who entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed, ran his record to 32-2.


“He persevered throughout this tournament, which is exactly the kind of kid he is,” Sines said. “He shows up to wrestle. Every time he comes off the mat, he’s left every thing out there.”


Nickelson, a senior, knocked off Chestnut Ridge’s Dan Albright 7-4 in the 195-pound final. Nickelson had a big second period where he earned a reversal, then quickly clamped Albright in a cradle for three back points.


Nickelson’s record now stands at 20-1 for the season. He is ranked fourth in the state in Class AA at 195 in the latest Off the Mat Rankings.


“Jake stepped it up this weekend,” Somerset coach Brian Barron said. “He’s been working hard all year. He looked very, very good (in the finals). You couldn’t ask for much more.”


Other placewinners from Somerset County were:


Berlin: Tom DeArmitt (8th at 113), Joe Swank (5th at 120), Chris Miller (3rd at 132), Blake Miller (6th at 152), Stew Trulick (7th at 195).


Conemaugh Township: Tanner Cahill (3rd at 145), Taylor Cahill (4th at 152).


Meyersdale: Trevor Thomas (7th at 106), Collin Day (4th at 126), Tanner Hetrick (4th at 132), Seth Deist (5th at 145), Bill Dunbar (7th at 160).


North Star: Tayte Mostoller (8th at 120), Hunter Connor (7th at 182), Levi Albright (6th at 220).


Somerset: Jon Fabian (7th at 132), Mike Laue (7th at 145), Landon Lohr (3rd at 160).


Chestnut Ridge (213 points) won the team title despite not having an individual champion. The Lions had four wrestlers in the finals — Trent Crouse (126), Tyler Dibert (170), Albright (195) and Austin Buttry (285) — but they all had to settle for second.


Host Bedford had three first-place finishers in Jonathan Gabriel (106), Ryan Easter (120) and Garrett Thomas (126) to lead District 5. Northern Bedford had a pair of champs in Drew Gartland (145) and Eric Grace (220) while Tussey Mountain had one winner in Mitchell Hall (285).



2013 Bedford Thomas Tournament


Saturday’s Results


Team standings and key: 1. Chestnut Ridge (CR) 213, 2. Bedford (BD) 191.5, 3. South Fayette (SF) 180.5, 4. Berlin Brothersvalley (BB) 154, 5. Tri-Valley (TV) 144.5, 6. West Branch (WB) 139, 7. Jefferson-Morgan (JM) 133.5, 8. Huntingdon (HU) 113.5, 9. Meyersdale (MY) 103, 10. Northern Bedford (NB) 101, 11. Somerset (SO) 99.5, 12. Mount Pleasant (MP) 96.5, 13. Cambria Heights (CH) 90.5, 14. Blairsville (BL) 88.5, 15. North Star (NS) 76.5, 16. Richland (RI) 72.5, 17. Conemaugh Township (CT) 66, 18. Tussey Mountain (TM ) 65, 19. Claysburg-Kimmel (CK) 64, 20. Central (CEN) 56, 21. Penn Cambria (PC) 52, 22. Northern Garrett (NG) 39, 23. Tyrone (TY) 37, 24. Beth-Center (BC)35.5, 25. Newport (NP) 25.5, 26. Everett (EV) 22, 27. Shade (SH) 7.




Championship Matches


106-Jon Gabriel, BD, pinned Brendan Howard, JM, 5:39.


113-Seth Carr, SF, dec. Josh Brown, CK, 6-1.


120-Ryan Easter, BD, pinned Mike Carr, SF, 5:09.


126-Garrett Thomas, BD, dec. Trent Crouse, CR, 12-8.


132-Chase Schaeffer, TV, dec. J.P. Hayles, WB, 7-2.


138-Nick Naglic, RI, dec. Toby Brett, BD, 9-3.


145-Drew Gartland, NB, dec. Blake Bowman, TV, 11-7.


152-Drew Doak, BL, dec. Tanner Williams, BD, 3-2.


160-Bryce Fochtman, BB, dec. J.J. Walker, SF, 3-2


170-Dustin Conti, JM, dec. Tyler Dibert, 8-5.


182-Gavin Berkley, MY, dec. Lyle Troutman, TV, 4-1.


195-Jacob Nickelson, SO, dec. Dan Albright, 7-4.


220-Eric Grace, NB, dec. Buzzy Maines, WB, 3-2.


285-Mitchell Hall, TM, dec. Austin Buttry, CR, 8-4.


Third-Place Matches


106-Collin Glorioso, HU, tech. fall Aaron Burkett, CR, 18-2 (4:36).


113-Caleb Bordner, TV, pinned Zach Swarrow, BC, 4:04.


120-Derrick Claar, CR, pinned Mike Novak, MP, 2:13.


126-John Demaske, JM, dec. Collin Day, MY, 5-0.


132-Chris Miller, BB, dec. Tanner Hetrick, MY, 9-2.


138-Noah Tarr, BL, dec. Hunter Harner, TV, 9-4.


145-Tanner Cahill, CT, dec. Ryan Zalar, JM, 3-1.


152-Grant Fetchet, SF, dec. Taylor Cahill, CT, 1-0.


160-Landon Lohr, SO, dec. Bill Bowlen, JM, 7-1.


170-Mike Fetchet, SF, maj. dec. Lucas Kristofits, WB, 13-1.


182-Justin Overly, MP, dec. Michael Brett, BD, 8-1.


195-Zach Walker, SF, dec. D.J. Wunder, TY, 3-2.


220-BradWinegardner, CR, dec. Mitchell Walker, BB, 2-1 (TB).


285-Aaron Gill, CH, dec. Morgan Selepack, WB, 1-0.


Fifth-Place Matches


106-Kyle Stephen, TV, dec. Dalton Klotz, EV, 9-8.


113-Kale Burket, CEN, dec. Jake Warren, BD, 7-0.


120-Joe Swank, BB, pinned Jason Schopp, TY, 2:58.


126-Joe Davis, CH, dec. Justin Opel, NG, 6-4.


132-Nathan Russell, HU, pinned Mike Eckenrode, PC, 1:58.


138-Tony Welsh, BC, dec. Jason Miller, JM, 6-2.


145-Seth Deist, MY, pinned Austin Mears, MP, 2:26.


152-Bobby Long, MP, dec. Blake Miller, BB, 8-1.


160-Caleb Grimes, BD, dec. Conner Buttry, CR, 8-2.


170-Tyler Crawford, CH, def. over Bobby Thompson, BL.


182-Brad Haney, SF, def. over Bradie Bollman, CR.


195-Michell Lauer, HU, pinned Alex Tripodis, BL, 4:15.


220-Luke White, BL, def. over Levi Albright, NS.


285-Matt Moose, RI, pinned Jon Wilkinson, PC, 1:56.




Seventh-Place Matches


106-Trevor Thomas, MY, dec. Lane Rounds, NG, 9-7.


113-Sam Shank, CR, tech. fall Tommy DeArmitt, BB, 17-2 (4:25).


120-Abe Albright, WB, dec. Tayte Mostoller, NS, 5-2.


126-Jordan Quarello, CEN, pinned Devon Green, HU, :43.


132-Jon Fabian, SO, dec. Colby Stroup, NP, 5-1.


138-Parker Bumbarger, WB, tech. fall Nick Hoenstine, CEN, 15-0 (3:52).


145-Mike Laue, SO, dec. Quinn Barnett, TM, 9-5


152-Luke Slippey, WB, dec. Anthony Snyder, TV, 4-3.


160-Billy Dunbar, MY, pinned Ethan Charlesworth, 1:47.


170-Nico Pecora, RI, pinned Blake Burket, CEN, 2:13.


182-Hunter Connor, NS,  maj. dec. Dalton Waksmunski, 8-0.


195-Stew Trulick, BB, pinned Eli Holt, MP, 3:27.


220-Seth McLendon, PC, dec. Chance Williams, BD, 1-0.


285-Bryce Christoff, SF, pinned Joel Hammel, CK, 1:59.






106-Howard, JM, dec. Burkett, CR, 8-1; Gabriel, BD, dec. Glorioso, HU, 2-1.


113-Brown, CK, dec. Swarrow, BC, 4-3 (UTB); Carr, SF, dec. Bordner, TV, 7-5.


120-Easter, BD, dec. Swank, BB, 2-1 (TB); Carr, SF, tech. fall Schopp, TY, 17-2 (4:27).


126-Thomas, BD, pinned Demaske, JM, 2:34; Crouse, CR, dec. Day, MY, 7-3.


132-Hayles, MP, dec. Hetrick, MY, 3-2; Schaeffer, TV, dec. Miller, BB, 4-3.


138-Naglic, RI, dec. Tarr, BL, 3-1; Brett, BD, dec. Harner, TV, 2-0 (SV).


145-Bowman, TV, dec. Deist, MY, 6-5; Gartland, NB, pinned Cahill, CT, 3:06.


152-Doak, BL, dec. Cahill, CT, 3-1; Williams, BD, dec. Fetchet, SF, 3-2.


160-Fochtman, BB, maj. dec. Bowlen, JM, 11-1; Walker, SF, dec. Lohr, SO, 3-1.


170-Conti, JM, maj. dec. Kristofits, WB, 10-0; Dibert, CR, dec. Fetchet, SF, 6-4 (TB).


182-Troutman, TV, pinned Brett, BD, 5:10; Berkley, MY, maj. dec. Bollman, CR, 10-1.


195-Nickelson, SO, pinned Walker, SF, 7:24; Albright, CR, dec. Wunder, TY, 5-1.




285-Buttry, CR, dec. Gill, CH, 2-1; Hall, TM, pinned Selepack, WB, 1:45.




Consolation Semifinals


106-Glorioso, HU, pinned Klotz, EV, 1:26; Burkett, CR, dec. Stephen, TV, 7-2.


113-Bordner, TV, dec. Burket, CEN, 4-2 (SV); Swarrow, BC, dec. Warren, BD, 6-1.


120-Novak, MP, tech. fall Schopp, TY, 15-0 (3:00); Claar, CR, dec. Swank, BB, 4-2.


126-Day, MY, maj. dec. Davis, CH, 11-3; Demaske, JM, pinned Opel, NG, 2:38.


132-Miller, BB, dec. Russell, HU, 5-3; Hetrick, MY, dec. Eckenrode, 2-1.




145-Cahill, CT, pinned Mears, MP, 4:36; Zalar, JM, dec. Deist, MY, 3-1.


152-Fetchet, SF, maj. dec. Miller, BB, 14-4; Cahill, CT, dec. Long, MP, 4-3.


160-Lohr, SO, dec. Buttry, CR, 9-2; Bowlen, JM, dec. Grimes, BD, 2-1.


170-Fetchet, SF, def. over Thompson, BL; Kristofits, WB, dec. Crawford, CH, 8-4.


182-Overly, MP, pinned Bollman, CR, 2:42; Brett, BD, pinned Haney, SF, 1:15.


195-Wundber, TY, dec. Lauer, HU, 5-3; Walker, SF, dec. Tripodis, BL, 3-1.


220-Walker, BB, maj. dec. White, BL, 9-0; Winegardner, CR, def. over Albright, NS.


285-Selepack, WB, pinned Moose, RI, :42; Gill, CH, pinned Wilkinson, PC, 2:13.


Consolation Quarterfinals


106-Klotz, EV, dec. Thomas, MY, 4-0; Stephen, TV, tech. fall Rounds, NG, 19-1 (5:00).


113-Burket, CEN, dec. Shank, CR, 5-1; Warren, BD, dec. DeArmitt, BB, 8-3.


120-Novak, MP, pinned Mostoller, NS, 4:09; Claar, CR, maj. dec. Albright, WB, 15-2.


126-Davis, CH, dec. Green, HU, 3-2; Opel, NG, pinned Quarello, CEN, 4:24.


132-Russell, HU, dec. Fabian, SO, 8-3; Eckenrode, PC, maj. dec. Stroup, NP, 11-3


138-Miller, JM, tech. fall Hoenstine, CEN, 15-0 (3:45); Welsh, BC, dec. Bumbarger, WB, 3-2.


145-Mears, MP, dec. Laue, SO, 2-1; Zalar, JM, maj. dec. Barnett, TM, 11-2.


152-Miller, BB, pinned Slippey, WB, :29; Long, MP, dec. Snyder, 9-2.


160-Buttry, CR, dec. Charlesworth, MP, 9-2; Grimes, BD, dec. Dunbar, MY, 3-2.


170-Thompson, BL, maj. dec. Burket, CEN, 10-2; Crawford, CH, pinned Pecora, RI, 1:27.




195-Lauer, HU, pinned Holt, MP, 2:35; Tripodis, BL, dec. Trulick, BB, 4-2.


220-Walker, BB, dec. Williams, BD, 3-0; Winegardner, CR, dec. McLendon, PC, 3-2 (TB).


285-Moose, RI, pinned Christoff, SF, 1:31; Wilkinson, PC, dec. Hammel, CK, 4-1.




Third-Round Consolations


106-Thomas, MY, dec. Lenny Beeman, NS, 5-1; Klotz, EV, pinned Joey Couteret, WB, 2:08; Stephen, TV, dec. Andrew John, SF, 9-2; Rounds, NG, pinned Jared Musselman, 1:20.


113-Shank, CR, pinned Wyatt Sankey, WB, 4:01; Burkett, CEN, for. Over Billy Charlton, MY; DeArmitt, BB, pinned Tyler Bodenschatz, RI, 2:27; Warren, BD, dec. Garret Foster, SO, 4-2 (SV).


120-Novak, MP, dec. Damian Jano, SO, 4-0; Mostoller, NS, dec. Matt Wilson, HU, 1-0; Claar, CR, pinned Adam George, RI, 4:01; Albright, WB, dec. Kody Ofsanko, CT, 3-1.


126-Green, HU, pinned Shane Ging, SF, 2:30; Davis, CH, dec. Sheldon Wagner, SO, 9-4; Opel, NG, pinned Scott Weimert, TM, :22; Quarello, CEN, pinned E.J. Custer, BB, 2:26.


132-Fabian, SO, dec. Colby Hillegass, CR, 5-2; Russell, HU, dec. Aldo Garcia, MP, 5-1; Eckenrode, PC, dec. Terry Albright, CEN, 4-3; Stroup, NP, dec. Mason Replogle, NB, 6-4.


138-Hoenstine, CEN, dec. Damian Corle,NB, 5-2; Miller, JM, maj. dec. Braden Fochtman, BB, 11-1; Bumbarger, WB, maj. dec. Dalton Klinger, NP, 13-0; Welsh, BC, dec. Tevin Mostoller, 5-4.


145-Mears, MP, dec. Eri Darr, BB, 3-0; Laue, SO, dec. Luke Palmer, BL, 7-5; Barnett, TM, forfeit; Zalar, JM, inj. def. over Eric Lynn, JM, 2:25.


152-Miller, BB, dec. Levi Niebauer, CH, 6-4; Slippey, WB, maj.dec. Kyle Winegardner, CR, 9-0; Long, MP, dec. Corey Fritch, NS, 8-6; Snyder, TV, maj. dec. Nic Getz, TY, 12-4.


160-Buttry, CR, dec. Matt Norris, HU, 2-0; Charlesworth, MP, dec. Austin Connor, NS, 8-2; Billy Dunbar, MY, tech. fall Ryan Miller, NG, 15-0 (3:23); Grimes, BD, maj. dec. Ryan Grosik, CT, 13-0.


170-Burket, CEN, pinned Austin Piper, MP, 4:25; Thompson, BL, pinned Trevor Moore, BB, 4:11; Crawford, CH, pinned Duelin Douglas, NB, 2:03; Pecora, RI, maj. dec. Shifflett, CT, 14-1.


182-Connor, NS, dec. Cameron Strayer, CK, 6-3; Brunner, NB, pinned Overly, MP, 2:46; Waksmunski, CH, dec. Logan Eller, SO, 8-6; Haney, SF, maj. dec. Andrew Gowarty, CT, 15-1.


195-Lauer, HU, pinned Shad Brunbaugh, TM, 1:43; Holt, MP, dec. Mason White, TV, 5-2; Trulick, BB, pinned Trey English, WB, 2:06; Tripodis, BL, dec. Henry Schlosser, PC, 6-1.


220-Williams, BD, pinned Dominic Novella, CH, 3:51; Walker, BB, dec. Tyler Wholaver, HU, 1-0; Winegardner, CR, pinned Josh Lind, MP, 1:50; McLendon, PC, dec. Mike Shildt, SF, 4-0.


285-Christoff, SF, dec. Anthony Collins, BB, 5-4; Moose, RI, dec. Jake Keslar, 2-1; Hammel, CK, pinned Nate Shoemaker, BD, 3:55; Wilkinson, PC, pinned Dalton Kocik, HU, 3:35.