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Charles Johnson of Wyoming Area works against Stone Kepple of Derry Area during 126-pound quarterfinal action at the Class 2AA PIAA Wrestling Championships Friday in Hershey.

HERSHEY — The Wyoming Valley Conference isn’t exactly known as a powerhouse when it comes to PIAA wrestling.

Heck, the conference hasn’t produced a state champion since 2007. But on Friday, the WVC extended a streak of reaching the state semifinals to 14 straight years with 38 participants in those seasons. You’d have to look long and hard to find another sport in the conference that has produced that many semifinalists or that has that much longevity in a current stretch.

The success continued Friday morning when Wyoming Area’s Charlie Johnson reached the Class 2A semifinals. A little more than an hour later, GAR heavyweight Saul Wilkins joined Johnson as a state semifinalist and marked the third straight season that the conference has had two in the state semis.

When Wyoming Valley West’s Cody Cordes and Dallas’ Ryan Monk advanced to the 3A semis, it marked the most semifinalists for the WVC since 2008 and ties for the second most during the prominent stretch.

WVC State Semifinalists

2002: Drew Feldman, Wyoming Valley West (Class 3A, 275 pounds); Matt Carey, Lake-Lehman (2A, 275)

2003: Matt Dragon, Lake-Lehman (2A, 130); Joe Rovelli, Meyers (2A, 152); Carlo Mercadante, Meyers (2A, 160); Jason Mitkowski, Nanticoke (2A, 189)

2004: Matt Dragon, Lake-Lehman (2A, 145); Joe Rovelli, Meyers (2A, 160); Damien Carbone, Meyers (2A, 275); Joe Kemmerer, Crestwood (3A, 119); John Laboranti, Pittston Area (3A, 215)

2005: Andy Josuweit, Lake-Lehman (2A, 145); Matt Dragon, Lake-Lehman (2A, 152)

2006: Trevin Cowman, Wyoming Valley West (3A, 275); Josh Roosa, Crestwood (3A, 135); Justin Accordino, Coughlin (3A, 140)

2007: Scott Davis, Lake-Lehman (2A, 140); Aaron Karns, Berwick (2A, 189); Josh Roosa, Crestwood (3A, 135); Nate Eachus, Hazleton Area (3A, 189)

2008: Nick Venditti, Berwick (2A, 160); Aaron Karns, Berwick (2A, 189); Jake O’Hara, Crestwood (3A, 135); Robbie Robinson, Pittston Area (3A, 152)

2009: Jake O’Hara, Crestwood (3A, 145); Tyler Cowman, Wyoming Valley West (3A, 285)

2010: Shane Stark, Lake-Lehman (2A, 171); Pat LaBuz, Hazleton Area (3A, 160)

2011: Josh Popple, Coughlin (3A, 189)

2012: Vito Pasone, Meyers (2A, 113)

2013: Kyle Krasavage, Wyoming Valley West (3A, 126); Brad Emerick, Coughlin (3A, 285)

2014: Austin Harry, Lake-Lehman (2A, 132); Ryan Monk, Dallas (3A, 285)

2015: Charlie Johnson, Wyoming Area (2A, 126); Saul Wilkins, GAR (2A, 285); Cody Cordes, Wyoming Valley West (3A, 160); Ryan Monk, Dallas (3A, 285)

Time Issues

For the second straight day, the tournament ran behind schedule.

Unlike Thursday, Friday’s schedule was affected. The 3A session started 35 minutes after it was slated to begin, while the 2A semifinals began about 40 minutes behind schedule.

The reason for the issues are mainly due to pre-assigned mats and an extra consolation round on both days. There are no extra rounds during Saturday’s sessions so there shouldn’t be any problems.

Defending their title

Entering Friday night’s Class 2A semifinal round, a total of 10 wrestlers were trying to claim a second state gold in both classifications.

In Class 3A, all eight who won in Thursday’s first round won again in Friday afternoon’s quarters.

In Class 2A Boiling Springs’ Korbin Myers and Derry Area’s George Phillippi, both in the 132-pound bracket, stayed alive with wins in Friday morning’s quarterfinals.

Going for perfection

All 12 wrestlers, who entered Friday’s Class 3A undefeated remained that way by picking up wins Friday afternoon.

In Class 2A, four unbeatens lost in Friday morning’s quarterfinal round, while nine more were wrestling in the night’s semifinal session.