Champions for Blair were No. 3 Joey McKenna (113), No. 3 Mark Grey (132), No. 7 Todd Preston (138), No. 12 Dylan Milonas (145), and No. 1 Brooks Black (285). Finishing as runners-up were No. 17 P.J. Klee (120), Russ Parsons (152), and No. 15 Frank Mattiace (195).
The first championship match for the Buccaneers was the easiest of the night, as McKenna got his hand raised at 113 pounds without having to wrestle, after losing in the finals last year at the Beast. No. 9 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) medically forfeited the championship match due to an injury sustained during his 4-4 ultimate tiebreaker rideout victory in the semifinal round against No. 15 J.R. Wert (Christiansburg, Va.). Moisey was able to replicate his victory from last week at the Ironman, and again avenge a loss to Wert in last year's Beast final at 112.
In the semifinal round, McKenna scored a 5-0 victory over Aaron Assad (Brecksville, Ohio). It was a second consecutive victory for McKenna over Assad in the semifinal round, having won 4-3 at the Ironman last week. "I didn't know who (Assad) was last week," said McKenna in discussing his semifinal opponent. "However, now I knew how he wrestled, though it wasn't that different a match (except for the score)."
McKenna had slight disappointment about not having a match in the final. "It would've been nice to win and flip the loss from last year," said McKenna. "None the less it feels good (to win a title)."
Likewise Grey faced a Bethlehem Catholic wrestler in the championship match, No. 7 Randy Cruz. Cruz had upended Grey 9-4 in the semifinal round at the Ironman last week. However, it was a different story this week, as Grey earned the 4-2 victory keyed by a first period takedown. That performance gave him a fourth Beast of the East title, the first wrestler ever to accomplish the feat, despite having never won the Ironman the week before.
"I always come here trying to bounce back, and forget about the Ironman," Grey said.
Probably the most interesting sequence came at the start of the second period when Grey chose the down position despite having been ridden out in the second period of both the semifinal and consolation final last week. Cruz also scored a two-point near fall in the second period of the Ironman semifinal. However, this time Grey extended the 2-0 lead to a 4-0 lead due to an illegal hold by Cruz, a figure four to the head trying to avoid being reversed, and an escape thereafter.
"After Ironman, (Jeff) Buxton and (assistant coach Paul) Klavel worked with me on crab and leg ride counters," Grey commented on a key adjustment from this week. "Despite dealing with an injury, I was very motivated to win a fourth Beast title and avenge last week's loss."
The performance this weekend, three falls, an 8-3 semifinal victory over Tyson Dippery (Central Dauphin, Pa.), and that finals victory earned Grey a fourth Beast title and Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
Like McKenna, Preston was able to ascend one step higher on the podium with a 1-0 victory over Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.) in the championship match. "It feels good to be a champ," said Preston, "Just shows the hard work I do all year pays off."
Key to the victory were a second period ride out, and then Bannister let Preston loose right at the start of the third period for the match's lone point. Despite some attempts, Bannister - the lowest seed to reach the final (10th) -- was unable to really break through the Preston defense.
"I knew what (Bannister) was going to do," said Preston about his finals opponent, "so I wanted to make sure to keep contact throughout the match."
For a second consecutive week, Milonas beat multiple wrestlers ranked ahead of him nationally on the way to a tournament title at 145 pounds. This week, it was a 7-5 overtime victory over No. 6 Alenick Richardson (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.) in the semifinal and a 6-2 victory over No. 9 Matt Cimato (LaSalle, Pa.) in the championship final. Tied 2-2 headed into the third period of the final, Milonas scored a reversal midway through the period. Then, late in the period, he fended off a couple of reversal attempts by Cimato, countering the last of them into two near fall points at the buzzer.
"I just have to stay tough and push the pace," said Milonas about his ability to win the close matches against formidable opposition. "I've got the best people to work with, in the practice room, so I can focus on doing what I need to do to get better."
The sophomore Milonas pulled off the Ironman-Beast double after failing to place in both events as a freshman last year in the same weight class. "It just shows how much I've improved in a year, and it's a great feeling," he said.
The last of the five champions for the Buccaneers was junior Brooks Black at 285 pounds, who upended Dink Purnell (A.I. DuPont, Del.) 3-0 on an opening period takedown and second period escape. The pair had wrestled to a one point match during a November preseason event at Blair. "It was a preseason match," said Black, "I had things to work on, and I have over the last month. I thought I would face him in the final here, I've been here before, so it's my element."
Finishing second in the standings to Blair, a long way's back, was No. 10 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. with 179 points. The Blue Knights were anchored by champion Eric Morris (170) and third place finishes from No. 9 Dominick Malone (126) and freshman Michael Johnson, Jr. (285) who had six pins over the two day event. They also had a fourth place finish from No. 7 A.J. Vizcarrando (220), a seventh place finisher from Tyler White (138), and an eighth place finish from Cohl Fulk (145).
The same six wrestlers placed at both the Ironman and the Beast for Wyoming Seminary. "These two weeks are a gauntlet, but we came through it better than when it began" said head coach Scott Green. "If those six wrestlers can place at these two tournaments, they can compete with anyone in the country. It's our job (as coaches) to keep them at that level, and bring the rest of the squad up (to that level)."
Morris, ranked No. 7 in the nation, at 170 faced No. 13 Elliott Riddick (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) in a rematch of a semifinal match from last week that Morris won narrowly. This week, it was a similarly narrow match, as Morris won 1-0 riding out Riddick in the third period.
"I had ridden him out in the past, but he's always a tough opponent" Morris said about Riddick. "I still felt confident in that third period situation up 1-0 in the top position, and was able to get good positios and breakdowns to win the match."
Even though No. 14 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. did fall short in three finals matches – Moisey at 113, Randy Cruz at 132, and Riddick at 170 -- the Hawks did bring home a champion in No. 3 Darian Cruz (106) and earn third place with 163.5 points. Darian Cruz, a junior, earned a repeat Ironman title with a 10-1 finals victory over No. 12 Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.), after a 12-6 decision against No. 17 Coy Ozias (Christiansburg, Va.) in the semifinals, and three other matches that did not go the distance (two pins and one technical fall).
"It feels great to bring home two titles (in a row) to Bethlehem Catholic," Darian Cruz said, "and I want to get a third one next year. I had to push the pace against the (last two) tough opponents I had, just have fun, and win."
A close fourth in the standings was No. 12 Christiansburg, Va. with 159 points. The Blue Demons had No. 11 Zach Epperly (160) earn a weight class title and the Major Ray Mendoza Award for scoring the most team points of any individual in the tournament with 34 in all. No. 6 Joey Dance (126) finished as a runner-up, while Ozias (106) and Wert (113) each brought home third place to bounce back from semifinal losses.
Epperly scored a second period pin at the 3:31 mark of the championship final against sophomore Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, N.J.). In advancing to the final, Sebastian beat fellow sophomore Patrick Coover (Blair Academy, N.J.) 1-0 in the quarterfinals on a third period rideout, and then upended No. 9 Jacob Crawford (Millbrook, Va.) 3-2 I the semifinal round.
Epperly had to rally from behind in his last two matches, a 9-7 overtime victory in the semifinals against fellow junior Brett Harner (Norristown, Pa.), and the pin against Sebastian on a counter move while trailing 4-2 midway through the second period. "I felt some pressure coming from his duck-under attempt, tried to jump through, and happened to catch him in position," Epperly said. "Once I snuck in the half-nelson, (Sebastian) was right on his back."
In addition to Epperly, two other wrestlers from the Commonwealth of Virginia brought home Beast of the East titles, Will Mason (120) for Cape Henry Collegiate and No. 4 Brandon Jeske (126) for Cox.
Mason upended No. 17 P.J. Klee (Blair Academy) by a 7-6 score, coming back from a 5-3 deficit after two periods with a reversal and late takedown. "I just had to keep going," was the comment about the comeback effort. "My condition is up there (with the best of them), and it feels awesome to finally win a title (after placing outside the finals the previous three years) at the Beast."
Jeske was a 5-4 ultimate tiebreaker winner against Dance, who he considers to be his best friend. Dance scored the only takedown of regulation in the second period, but a late stalling call in the third period took it to overtime tied at 3-3. Though Dance was in deep multiple times during regulation and overtime, Jeske was able to fend off the attacks heading into the tiebreaker periods, where each wrestler got an escape. Having scored first with a second period escape, Jeske chose down and got the escape to win.
"Wrestling Joey (Dance) is the hardest thing to do in the world (though the pair did wrestle in the consolation final last week, Jeske won that 3-2), we've trained with each other a ton, heck we lived together for two years even," said Jeske. "To be able to treat it like just another match, I thought about other things (like possibly winning the outstanding wrestler award) all week."
This was Jeske's first major in-season tournament title, though he won Cadet freestyle in the summer of 2010. "I've been so close so many times, yet got the stage fright," Jeske said. "It's all about mindset, and this time I broke through."
Other weight class champions were No. 16 Salvatore Mastriani (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) at 152 pounds and Ryan Wolfe (Caravel Academy, Del.) at 182, then a pair of football players in No. 10 Perry Hills (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.) at 195 and No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.) at 220 also won titles.
Mastriani won his last two matches of the tournament by 5-3 scores respectively. It was an overtime match against Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.) in the semifinals before upending Russ Parsons (Blair Academy, N.J.) in the final with first and third period takedowns to bounce back from getting called for an early illegal slam.
"I was still confident, but I had to be more cautious," said Mastriani about his match plan after the illegal slam. "It was hard to finish, but I kept getting some good shots and angles, and felt comfortable despite the tight (nature of the) match."
Wolfe gave the host state a champion after they did not get one last year, though Delaware had at least one in each of the four previous additions. He upended the top seed Scott Gibbons (Archbishop Rummel, La.) in the semifinal 7-3, and then beat No. 15 David Reck (Colonial Forge, Va.) 3-2 in the championship match keyed by a late first period takedown.
"It feels great, unforgettable, best feeling I've ever had," said Wolfe about winning a title in front of the home crowd. "I've never placed at a major tournament before (was one match short at Super32 this year), and to finally do it, all the hard work paid off."
The sophomore sensation Snyder, ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2014 pound-for-pound, made it an Ironman-Beast double this year and back-to-back Beast of the East titles with a 2-1 victory over No. 5 (at 285) John Rizzo (Richland, Pa.). Prior to the final it was three pins, a 25-10 technical fall, and a 4-0 victory for Snyder. However, the final was much tougher.
"He's a tough opponent, and I hope to see him again," Snyder said of Rizzo. "Those are the fun matches, the ones that are close and come down to the wire."
And indeed it did, as Snyder used a penalty point in the second period, for a second stalling on Rizzo, and a third period escape to earn the narrow victory. The wrestlers each had leg attack chances in the third period that were fended.
During the football season, Snyder was a nose guard for the Good Counsel football team, one that was ranked No. 5 in the nation this year. In fact, he was even on varsity last year as a freshman. "I'm wrestling up to the start of football practice," said Snyder," and I even do some wrestling after football practice in the fall."
On the other hand, the 195-pound champion Perry Hills is much more atypical of the wrestling/football combination guys. He has verbally committed to play Quarterback at the University of Maryland next year. In fact, he was not in the Ironman last week due to visiting Maryland, and will not be at POWERade in two weeks due to an all-star game. He upended No. 15 Frank Mattiace (Blair Academy, 3-1, with a second period takedown.
"I've been practicing for just three weeks," said Hills about coming into wrestling off of football season, "In fact, before this, I had not been on a mat since state (early last March)."
This has been natural for him, as he's been doing the wrestling/football combination since he was five or six years old. Even as a quarterback, Hills finds wrestling beneficial.
"The mental and physical toughness involved (in wrestling) makes be better. Every QB should wrestle."
Finals Results:
106: No. 3 Darian Cruz (Beth. Catholic, Pa.) maj. dec. No. 12 V. Joseph (Pitt. Central Catholic, Pa.), 9-1
113: No. 3 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.) won by forfeit over No. 9 Zeke Moisey (Beth. Catholic, Pa.)
120: Will Mason (Cape Henry Collegiate, Va.) dec. No. 17 P.J. Klee (Blair Academy, N.J.), 7-6
126: No. 4 Brandon Jeske (Cox, Va.) dec. No. 6 Joey Dance (Christiansburg, Va.), 5-4 UTB
132: No. 3 Mark Grey (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. No. 7 Randy Cruz (Beth. Catholic, Pa.), 4-2
138: No. 7 Todd Preston (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.), 1-0
145: No. 12 Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. No. 9 Matt Cimato (LaSalle, Pa.), 6-2
152: No. 16 Salvatore Mastriani (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) dec. Russ Parsons (Blair Academy, N.J.), 5-3
160: No. 11 Zach Epperly (Christiansburg, Va.) pinned Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, N.J.), 3:31
170: No. 7 Eric Morris (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) dec. No. 13 Elliott Riddick (Beth. Catholic, Pa.), 1-0
182: Ryan Wolfe (Caravel Academy, Del.) dec. No. 15 David Reck (Colonial Forge, Va.), 3-2
195: No. 10 Perry Hills (Pitt. Central Catholic, Pa.) dec. No. 15 Frank Mattiace (Blair Academy, N.J.), 3-1
220: No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.) dec. No. 5 (at 285) John Rizzo (Richland, Pa.), 2-1
285: No. 1 Brooks Black (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. Dink Purnell (A.I. DuPont, Del.), 3-0
Team Standings (Top 10):
1. No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. 321.5
2. No. 10 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. 179
3. No. 14 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. 163.5
4. No. 12 Christiansburg, Va. 159
5. No. 28 Central Dauphin, Pa. 126.5
6. No. 40 Colonial Forge, Va. 113
7. No. 38 Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa. 107
8. No. 47 McDonogh, Md. 99.5
9. Jackson Memorial, N.J. 92.5
10 (tie). No. 41 Bergen Catholic, N.J.; Smyrna, Del. 86
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