Mountaineer Wrestling Tournament
@ Philipsburg-Osceola

December 1, 2001

District IX

1.Reynolds          183
2.Neshaminy         144.5
3.Norristown        122
4.New Oxford       103
5.Philipsburg-Osceola 102.5
6.Huntingdon        69.5
7.Cameron County    30
8.Somerset          22

103-Tim Harner (Norris) pinned Brian Jones (P-O) 1:51.
112-Jake Habel (Rey) pinned Scott Bilich (Hunt) 1:27.
119-Ryan Jablonski (Norris) dec. John Denny (Nesh) 3-2 .
125-Josh Pagano (Norris) dec Thad Blair (Hunt) 6-1.
130-Travis Battles (Rey) dec. Jeremy Kershbaumer (Nesh) 10-5.
135-Justin Hollobaugh (Rey) dec. Brian Rowan (Nesh) 4-2.
140-Matt Bush (P-O) dec. Tyler Middleton (Rey) 3-1.
145-Owen Brickell (Rey) dec. Pat Warusz (Nesh) 2-2, RO.
152-Barrett Claybaugh (N. Ox) dec. Ben Miles (Nesh) 6-4.
160-Ryan Anderson (N. Ox) dec.Bill Hunt (Nesh) 8-7.
171-James Yonushonis (P-O) dec. Jesse Tumpak (Rey) 8-3.
189-Todd Donaldson (N. Ox) pinned Nick Sommerfeld (Rey) 4:29.
275-Gary Clark (Cm Cty) dec. Mike Hills (Rey) 5-0.

103-Jason Brown (Rey) pinned Andrew Cariola (Nesh) 5:05.
112-Lucas Nelson (Cm Cty) dec. Mike Good (P-O) 5-2.
119-Trevor Emigh (P-O) dec. Chris White (Rey) 4-3.
125-Chris Lincoln (Nesh) dec. Ryan Miller (N. Ox) 9-4.
130-Mike Ferrer (N. Ox) dec. Oscar Glavin (Norris) 7-2.
135-Andy Knerr (Norris) maj dec. David Wood (P-O) 8-0.
140-Harry Keyser (Norris) dec. Bob Ireland (Nesh) 6-3.
145-Chris DiJoseph (Norris) dec. Nick Watkins (N. Ox) 8-6.
152-Joel Davis (Rey) dec. Taylor Knepper (Som) 3-0.
160-Brad Hurrell (Norris) dec. Mike Shingledecker (P-O) 7-5.
171-Josh Keys (Hunt) dec. Nick Walk (Nesh) 8-6.
189-Damien Gresko (Hunt) pinned Ryan Hughes (P-O) 3:57.
275-Jason Delaini (Som) dec. Ashley Boyers (N. Ox) 4-0.
189-Jesse Baldensperger (Wa) maj. dec. Shawn Adams (UC), 15-4.
Hwt-Wayne Gormont (GM) pinned Aaron Snyder (CS), 1:15.

by Todd Irwin, Sports Writer

PHlLIPSBURG - They have their own wrestling styles, but Philipsburg-Osceola wrestlers Matt Bush and James Yonushonis do have a couple things in common.

First, they both lost in last year's finals. Second, they both put last year's results behind them en route to claiming gold on Saturday night in the season-opening Mountaineer Tournament. Bush claimed the 140-pound title with a 3-1 win over Reynolds' Tyler Middleton, while Yonushonis earned the title at 171 with an 8-3 victory over Jesse Tumpak.

"We're happy about that," P-O coach Dave Caslow said. "Last year, we just had one champion."

The Mounties' other finalist, Brian Jones, lost in the 103-pound championship bout. Five other P-O wrestlers placed third or fourth as the Mounties finished in fifth place - a half point behind fourth-place New Oxford.

Trevor Emigh took third at 119, while Mike Good (112) David Wood (135), Mike Shingledecker (160) and Ryan Hughes (189) finished fourth.

Reynolds won the team title for the fifth time in the last six years withour champions and 183 points. They were followed by Neshaminy (144.5), Norristown (122), New Oxford (103) and P-O (102.5) in the top five of the eight-team tournament.

Bush reached the finals by pinning Cameron County's Kevin Topolski in 3:21 in the quarterfinals beating Norristown's Harry Keyser 8-4 in the semifinals.

After escaping nine seconds into the third period to tie the score, 1-1, Bush misfired on two takedown attempts before foiling a Middleton takedown shot. With 11 seconds left, Bush spun behind Middleton for a take-down and rode him out to win.

"I think Matt's conditioning was a big factor as the match went on," Caslow said. "He had trouble getting penetration early, but he had those near misses later. Middleton tried one too many fireman's carries. We're real happy with Bushy."

Yonushonis pinned Norristown's A.J. Pettygrew in 2:29 in the quarters and Cameron County's Matt Rarnarge in 58 seconds in the semis.

Tumpak took Yonushonis down in the first period, but the P-O senior escaped and took Tumpak down. After Turnpak escaped, Yonushonis nailed a double-leg takedown at the edge of the mat with a couple seconds left in the first period. Yonushonis rode Tumpak the entire second period, scored an escape and takedown in the third period to win the tournament title.

"I expected James to win," Caslow said, "and he didn't disappoint. James got off to the slow start, but he gets more intense as he goes. By the end of the match, he was in total control. James just wore him down with pressure (on top)."

Jones, who pinned Neshaminy's Andrew Cariola in 4:36 in the quarters and beat Reynolds' Jason Brown 7-2 in the semis, ran into a buzzsaw in Norristown's Tim Harner. Harner, a returning state qualifier, used a bar-arm and half nelson top in Jones with nine seconds left in the first period.

"Brian was just outmanned tonight," Caslow said. "Harner has a long reach. When he got on top, he tied Brian's arm up. But I believe in Brian. I'm certain he's going to have an outstanding season."

Emigh, a freshman, beat Reynolds' senior Chris White 4-3 in the consolation finals, fighting off back points at the end to win. Good was beating Cameron County's Lucas Nelson 2-1 late in the third period, but he was reversed to his back and lost 5-2.

Wood lost to fellow Norristown freshman Andy Knerr 8-0 in the consey finals. Shingledecker dropped two two-point decisions to Norristown's Brad Burrell, 8-6 in the quarters and 7-5 in the consey finals. Hughes was pinned by fellow Huntingdon sophomore Darnien Gresko in 3:57 for third.

"Some of our young wrestlers did well," Caslow said."We had some surprises. Trevor Emigh taking third was a good achievement for a freshman.

"This tournament is good competition. It lets you know where you stand, and we're looking for that this early in the year. We're young and there are a lot of things we haven't worked on at all at this point. Some of the things that are apparent, we'll be dealing with as soon as possible."

NOTES: Neshaminy came in second despite not having any champions.. .Norristown's Ryan Jablonski was named the Outstanding Wrestler with a 3-2 win over Neshaminy's Jon Denny. Both are returning state qualifiers.. .The Mounties are back in action on Tuesday at Hollidaysburg.

Philipsburg-Osceola's Matt Bush rides Reynolds'Tyler Middleton during their 140-pound championship finals bout on Saturday night at the Mountaineer Tournament. Bush would go on to win 3-1 to become the first of P-O's two champions.
Photo and story courtesy of The Progress.