The PA PowerRankings EST. 2004

PA's Top Wrestling Rankings Provided for Free; Produced Exclusivly by Jeff Upson

Top District in PA?

Which District in PA is at the top?

    There has been much debate recently over which district/region is the toughest in PA. I look to answer or at least attempt to settle the debate. There are many variables that determine the strength of each district.  Some examples are, number of schools in district, history of success, number of state champions produced, number of team titles, number of state place winners, and even the number of accomplished college wrestlers. Each of these factors plays a part in grading PA's twelve districts.  My ranking of the AAA Districts is as follows...

#1. District 7. The "hot-bed" of Pennsylvania wrestling, district 7 has excelled in almost all categories. The most prominent factor is the rich history of the WPIAL. District 7 holds the most 4 time state champions with four total. They also have the most 3 time state champions with eight. It is also no surprise that the WPIAL leads PA with the most state champions with a total of 314. The most recent evidence of District 7's success came during the 2009 PIAA AAA state finals. District 7 sent eleven wrestlers to the finals, producing seven state champions; Jimmy Gulilbon from Derry (103), Nico Megaludis from Franklin Regional (112), 3x State Champion Shane Young from Penn Trafford (119), Sam Sherlock from West Mifflin (125), Joe Waltko from North Allegheny (130), Jake Kemerer from Hempfield Area (160), and Nate Gaffney from Connellsville (215). The depth of District 7 also proved to be inferior, leading the way with 25 state medalists. District 7's last team to win the state tournament was in 2005. Connellsville won the state dual tournament and tied for the team title of the individual state tournament. The achievement of District 7 does not end in high school. Three of PA's most recent NCAA champions have come from District 7. Jake Herbert from Northwestern (North Allegheny), Colman Scott from Oklahoma State (Waynesburg), and Jarrod King from Edinboro (Connellsville) have all captured National titles.

#2. District 11. A smaller district in terms of number of schools but more powerful than most; District 11 just comes up short of the top district ranking. District 11 has a strong tradition of producing the country's top wrestlers; year in and year out. District 11 is second in the number of PA state champions with 209. One 4 time state champion, Matt Gerhard Catasauqua (AA) and six 3 time state champions hail from District 11. Easton leads District 11 with 34 state champions and is arguably the best overall team in PA.  District 11's most recent state team title came in 2007 when Nazareth won the dual state championship; they also won the individual state team title in 2006. Since 1999, when the dual team tournament first began, a team from District 11 has won the championship six out of the ten years. In 2009, District 11 sent 3 wrestlers to the finals and produced one state champion with Josh Kindig of Blue Mountain at 135 lbs. District 11 also had 18 state medalists. District 11’s last NCAA champion was Rob Rohn of Lehigh (Nazareth) at 184lbs. in 2002. Alex Krom of Maryland (Easton) was an All-American in 2009, placing 5th at 141 lbs. Three time state champ Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State (Easton) recently earned a bronze medal in the 60 kilogram bracket at the FILA Junior World Championships in Turkey.

#3. District 3. The district with the most recent success and strong improvement on the state level is District 3, hands down. District 3 ranks 5th in the state in number of state champions with 133. District 3 may not be the district with history of success but their recent dominance cannot be ignored. Much of that success is thanks to the district’s friendly rivals, Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin. The two met last year in both the District and State Dual Team Tournament finals; with Central Dauphin coming out on top in both. It was Central Dauphin’s second state dual title in a row. The Rams have also won the past three individual state tournament team championships. The success of District 3 has also been noticed on the national level, especially during the Beast of the East. Central Dauphin finished 3rd while Cumberland Valley was 5th in team points at the nation’s most prestigious tournament. The National High School Coaches Association also named Central Dauphin’s head coach Jeff Sweigard, wrestling coach of year for 2008-2009. This past year District 3 had another strong performance at the PIAA State Tournament. District 3 was 2nd in the number of state medalists with 24. Of those 24 six were in the finals, and three were state champions; Marshall Peppelman from Central Dauphin (152), Clay Gable from Dallastown (171), and Tony Dallago from Central Dauphin (189). District 3’s last National Champion came when Penn State’s Phil Davis (Harrisburg High) won the 197 lbs. National Championship in 2008.

#4.    District 6. When District 6 wrestling is mentioned people may think of Mike Johnson, Rob Koll, Wade Schalles, or even Dylan and Andrew Alton. Regardless of the time period District 6 continues to succeed on the state level. Success is not anything new to District 6 fans; one of the most successful PA wrestlers Mike Johnson, of Lock Haven, captured four state championships from 1958-1961. A legend who achieved success on the high school, college, national and world levels, was Wade Schalles of Hollidaysburg; arguably the best wrestler ever from District 6th and possibly Pennsylvania. A state champion in 1969 at 154 lbs, Schalles went on to wrestle for Clarion where he won two NCAA Division 1 championships in 1972 and 1973 where he was named OW. Another accomplished wrestler from District 6th is Rob Koll of State College. Koll was a state champion at 155 lbs. in 1984 before attending North Carolina where he won an NCAA championship in 1988 at 158 lbs. Rob Koll is the current head coach at Cornell University where he has earned various honors. District 6 is fourth in number of state champs with 159 and is home to 4 three time state champions. Looking to make it 5, Dylan Alton of Central Mountain is going into the 2009-2010 season as a two state champ and Penn State bound. His twin brother Andrew, also committed to Penn State, is just behind with one state championship going into the season. There are very few national or state tournaments that the Alton twins have not won. District 6 earned 10 state medals in 2008-2009 and for the second year in a row a District 6 wrestler was named the tournament’s OW (Dylan Alton in 2009, Quinton Wright in 2008). The first AAA dual tournament team champion ever was Bald Eagle Area in 1999.

#5. District 1. With 61 AAA schools in District 1, they seem to always have a very representative group of wrestling programs in Hershey. In 2009 alone District 1 sent at least one wrestler from 27 different schools to the PIAA State Championships. In 2009 District 1 sent two wrestlers to the finals but came up empty handed with no state champions; District 1 was however 3rd in state medalists with 22. District 1 has a total of 76 state champions, which is 8th in PA. In 2005 Council Rock South tied for a share of the individual state tournament team championship. Upper Perkiomen led District 1 and the state in 2006 when they won the State Dual Team Tournament. Former District 1 wrestler Matt Moley of Bloomsburg (Spring-Ford) has reached All-American status the past two years and still has one more year of eligibility left. Matt placed 6th at 157 lbs. in 2009 and 8th in 2008. District 1 has several graduates who are currently on Division 1, 2, and 3 starting line-ups. This season District 1 is returning 23 state qualifiers.

#6.   District 9. With only 5 schools in the AAA class, District 9 may not have the highest number of programs but they do have the school with the most PIAA state champions. One of PA’s most impressive wrestling programs, Clearfield, has crowned 40 state champions. Seven of those first place medals belong to Jerry and Don Maurey; who were two of the best wrestlers from Clearfield and District 9. Jerry was a four-time undefeated state champion from 1947-1950, Don was a three-time state champion and a one-time runner up from 1945-1948. 31 of the 40 state champions from Clearfield were coached by Art Weiss. The all time leader in coaches with the most PIAA state champions; Art coached 31 state champs, in his 25 seasons at Clearfield along with recording a 184-37-3 dual meet record for the Bison. Clearfield is also home to NCAA National Champion Scott Collins from West Virginia University. Collins became the Mountaineer’s first National Champion in 1991 while competing at 149 lbs. In 2009 District 9 sent one wrestler to the state finals at 152 with Bradford’s Mark Havers, the junior came up short losing 8-0 to Marshall Peppelman. District 9 did bring home 3 state medalists including Havers. District 9’s most recent state champions are Sean Owen (285) in 2008, Matt Kyler (103) in 2005, and Brad Pataky (112) in 2004. Matt Kyler now wrestles for Army and has been a NCAA qualifier each of his first three years and was an All-American in 2008 placing 6^th at 141 lbs. Brad Pataky is now at Penn State University where he was a NCAA qualifier last year at 125 lbs. and looks to make the jump to All-American status in 2009-10.

#7. District 10. A district that may be better known for its AA success with schools such as Reynolds and Greenville; District 10 still makes noise with its 11 AAA wrestling programs. Prior to PA moving to two classes in 1974, District 10 produced 29 state champions. From 1974 on, District 10 has crowned 25 AAA state champions, compared to 61 AA champions. Reynolds is a large reason behind the success of AA with 20 state champions. The last AAA wrestler from District 10 to win a state championship was Dusty Heist of Meadville at 171 in 2000. Despite the lack of recent state champions, in 2009 District 10 claimed 4 state medals including freshmen Steve Spearman of McDowell who placed third at 125; Steve has a chance to be on top of the podium in the next three years. District 10 sent one wrestler to the state finals last year with Rocco Wellek from Erie Cathedral Prep at 130. Wellek came up short in the finals but is continuing his wrestling career at The University of North Carolina. Erie Cathedral Prep has won the past two District 10 team dual championships and leads the AAA schools with 7 state champions.

#8. District 2. From 2004-2009 District 2 has had at least one AAA PIAA state champion in each season. The district only composes of 13 different AAA schools and has a total of 53 state champions across all classes. District 2 has a history of success with programs such as Forty-Fort, Wilkes-Barre Meyers and Lake-Lehman. Wilkes-Barre Meyers has competed in both AA and AAA classes and is home to three-time state champion Jay Patterson. Wilkes-Barre Meyers leads District 2 with 13 state champions, followed by Forty-Fort with 10 state champions. Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School is a private institution that is now the dominating wrestling program in the area. District 2’s recent success has come on both the AA and AAA levels. Last season in AAA District 2 sent nine wrestlers to the State Championship and received four medals including Evan Craig’s Championship at 285 lbs. The last team to win the Individual Tournament Team Title for District 2 was Wilkes-Barre Meyers in 1978 (AAA) and Lake-Lehman in 1981 (AA). District 2 has also produced accomplished wrestlers on the college level. Joe Kemmerer of Crestwood (Kutztown University) was a two time national champion from the NCAA Division II School. Kemmerer won titles in 2007 and 2009. District 2 is also home to PA wrestling coaches on both the high school and college levels; including Rocky Bonomo of Lake-Lehman (Lock Haven University) and Jason Woodall of Pittston Area (Central Dauphin East High School).

#9. District 4.

#10. District 12.

#11. District 8.

#12. District 5. Due to District 5 not having any AAA schools, they are last by default. District 5 has been successful in AA with 16 state champions; the most recent being Nick Roberts (103) from North Star in 2009.