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By JOE PETRUCCI jpetrucci@leader.net
Sunday, March 09, 2003 Page: 4C
HERSHEY – Jeremy Griffith, Nick Yalch and Mike Viti knew they were the core
of the Berwick wrestling team during the regular season, but that was all
thrown out the window at the PIAA Wrestling Championships.
The Bulldog trio made sure they proved it to the rest of the state by all
winning their Class 3A consolation final bouts on Saturday at Giant Center.
Griffith and Yalch took fifth place, and Viti won in the seventh-place final.
“Down here we had to come out and show it,” Viti said.
Four of five Wyoming Valley Conference wrestlers went out winners, as
Coughlin senior heavyweight Ryan Kittrick won in the fifth-place final.
Pittston Area ju nior 189-pounder John Laboranti did not wrestle in his
seventh-place final bout because of a knee injury and settled for eighth
place.
After winning four district titles, Yalch went out a winner in his first
and only trip to Hershey.
“I always knew I could wrestle with anybody in the state,” said Yalch.
“Getting here was the problem. It’s nice having company down here. It’s a
team thing.”
Yalch defeated Hempfield senior Corey Schwerin, the South Central
third-place finisher, 3-1, in third-round consolations before being pinned in
fourth-round consolations in 2:42 by Waynesburg ju nior Mark Throckmorton, the
Southwest bronze medalist.
Yalch bounced back in the fifth-place final, where he met Cocalico junior
Mark Fittery for the second time in the tournament. Yalch beat Fittery, who
was undefeated coming into the tournament, 9-8, in the preliminary round.
Yalch scored a takedown in the second period on Saturday, but Fittery scored a
reversal with 49 seconds to go in the period. Yalch started the third on
bottom and escaped at the 1:40 mark. Yalch, however, got into trouble late in
the period, but managed to stay off his back and win 3-2.
“He almost got me,” said Yalch. “I didn’t want to make it look like I
was stalling.”
After winning by forfeit in third-round consolations, Griffith nearly got
revenge against Norristown junior Tim Harner, the Southeast champ who beat the
Bulldog 3-1 in the preliminaries. Griffith led 5-3 in the third period, but
Harner notched a reversal with about three seconds left to force overtime.
Twenty-three seconds into the extra session, Harner took Griffith down to win
7-5. Griffith won by forfeit in the fifth-place final over Thomas Jefferson
senior Michael Goslicky.
“I would’ve liked to have had a match, but the kid was hurt,” said
Griffith. “I wish I could have placed higher, but it was definitely a tough
bracket.”
Viti’s injured left knee bothered him Saturday, which hindered his offense
in the seventh-place final against Interboro senior Adam Percell. With the
score tied at 1 in the third, Viti finally hit a single leg for a takedown
with 16 seconds to go for a 3-1 win.
“I couldn’t shoot at all,” said Viti, who will have surgery to repair a
torn miniscus on March 24. “But I knew I had to because he had choice (if the
bout went to double overtime). I finally got a piece of his leg.”
In third-round consolations, Viti lost 5-2 to Easton junior Marcus Millen,
who was beaten by Viti in the Northeast Regional semifinals.
In the fifth-place consolation match, Kittrick had an impressive win over
massive Glen Mills sophomore Callahan Bright, who weighed in just
one-tenth-of-a-pound under the 277-pound limit. Kittrick, about 258 pounds,
chose bottom in the second overtime and scored a slick reversal midway through
30-second period.
“Even though he’s strong and big, I knew I could get out,” said Kittrick.
“He slipped off my leg.”
Kittrick became Coughlin’s first state placewinner in 12 years.
“In a tournament you always want first, but I’m respectfully happy with
(fifth),” Kittrick said.
Kittrick pinned Kiski Area senior Branden Rupert, the Southwest runner-up,
in 1:50 in the third-round consolations. Bald Eagle Area senior Joel Yoder,
the Northwest runner-up, scored six points on Kittrick in the second period en
route to a 12-4 win.
Laboranti woke up Saturday morning with severe pain – it was so bad he
could barely get out of bed – in his left knee, the result of his second-round
consolation victory on Friday night. He was treated with anti-inflammatories
after being examined at the arena.
“It hurt real bad. I felt it when I’m sleeping,” said Laboranti “It kept
waking me up. They were thinking about numbing it, but if they did, it could
get really screwed up.”
On one leg, Laboranti lost via technical fall 16-0 (3:00) to Solanco senior
Brad Caldwell, the South Central third-place finisher, in third-round
consolations. Despite the eighth-place finish and a sore knee, Laboranti was
pleased.
“I had a lot of fun. Now I have to get back again next year,” he said.