December 8, 2001 District IX
Team Scores: 1. Cochranton 191 2. Rocky Grove 120 3. Sharpsville 118.5 4. Erie Central 109 5. Strong Vincent 73.5 6. Cambridge Springs 65 7. ACVKU 30 8. Kennedy Christian 22 9. Iroquois 14
Story Courtesy of The Oil City Derrick
Cochranton crowned six champions to walk away with the team title in the 12th Annual Richard Nilson Memorial Tournament at Rocky Grove High School.
Coach Dick Lumley's Cardinals also had three runners-up and a fourth-place finisher to score 191 points. Rocky Grove finished in second place with 120 points, edging Sharpsville, which had 1181/2.
Claiming individual titles for Cochranton were Jeremiah Rideout (103 pounds), Adam Artman (119), Kyle Kennedy (130), Nick McElhinney (135), Chris Hogue (160) and heavyweight Matt Allen.
McElhinney, who previously won the Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament, pinned Erie Central's Allen Hanner in :14 in the championship finals.
Brian Rodgers (152), Bryan Hart (171) and Jayson Nesbitt (189) earned seconds for the Cards with Bill Allen placing fourth at 125.
Rocky Grove pushed four into the finals, but came up empty.
Ben Cochran was the closest to grabbing a title, dropping a 5-2 verdict to Sharpsville's Terry Balensky at 140. Ben Sheilds lost 11-4 to Chad Stauffer of Strong Vincent at 145.
Justin Wolfgong (103) and John Shook (112) rounded out the Orioles' runners-up.
Picking up thirds for Rocky Grove were Jason Gierlach (125), Nate Witherow (130), Nate Mitchell (135) and Casey Baker (160). Rounding out the Orioles placewinners with fourths were Bobby Ross (112) and Kevin Mong (189).
Wrestlers from the A-C Valley, Keystone and Union wrestling team earned four medals to help the squad to a seventh-place finish in the nine-team event.
Freshman Ty Williams placed third at 145 with Tony Beers (160), Mitch Carnathan (171) and Bruce Griebel (275) taking fourth.
Kennedy Catholic's Jimmy Gibson, the 171-pound champion, was voted the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler.