10:00am

East Side, So.Carolina 34 - Ceasar Rodney, Delaware 20 103 - Double FFT 112 -Kyle Condon (CR) dec 3-0 David Perkins (ES) 119 - Eddie Coles (ES) WBF 2:56 Nick Errara (CR) 125 - Alex Paladino (CR) dec 10-7 Wil Baker (ES) 130 -Andrew Jenkins (ES) dec 5-1 Kade Keily (CR) 135 - Chris Keague (ES) md 12-4 John Hobbs (CR) 140 - Isiah Meade (CR) md 15-4 Matt Golob (ES) 145 - Auston Poynter (ES) WBFFT 152 - Bryce Martin (ES) dec 8-2 Todd Koch (CR) 160 - Sr. Alex Meade (CR) md 20-8 Corbin Martin (ES) 171 - Weston Newton (ES) WBF 3:44 Casey Sargent (CR) 189 - David Dawkins (ES) WBF 3:02 David Melnick (CR) 215 - Chad McParlin (CR) dec 7-5 Garrett Jones (ES) 285 - Adrian Tucker (CR) dec 6-3 Bobby Jones (ES)

Easton, Pa. 67 - Benton, Pa. 6 103 - Coltin Fought (B) WBF 5:40 Fr. Mike Fleck (E) 112 - Fr. Joey Rizzolino (E) WBFFT 119 - Sr. Kegan Handlovic (E) dec 11-6 Mike Rhone (B) 125 - So. Mark Hartenstine (E) WBFFT 130 - Jr. Pat Corpora (E) WBFFT 135 - Sr. Jordan Oliver (E) md 20-7 Eric Hess (B) 140 - Sr. Tevin Gibson (E) WBF 1:20 Mitch Artsma (B) 145 - Jr. Eric Burgey (E) WBF 2:33 Rusty Younkers (B) 152 - Sr. Colin Dailey (E) WBF 5:41 Corey Lear (B) 160 - Sr. Jeremy Snyder (E) dec 6-4 Billy Pasukinis (B) 171 - Jr. Jeff Griffith (E) WBF 5:28 Stepvhan Winther (B) 189 - Jr. Storm Kruczek (E) WBFFT 215 - Sr. Stephan Vas (E) WBFFT 285 - Jr. Chris Wilson (E) dec 2-1Tyler Demott (B)

12:00 noon

Easton, Pa. 52 - East Side, So. Carolina 7 112 - Fr. Joey Rizzolino (E) WBF 0:58 David Perkins (ES) 119 - Sr. Kegan Handlovic (E) dec 6-2 Ed Coles (ES) 125 - So. Mark Hartenstine (E) md 13-0 Wil Baker (ES) 130 - Jr. Pat Corpora (E) dec 4-0 Andrew Jenkins (ES) 135 - Sr. Jordan Oliver (E) md 16-4 Chris Keague (ES) 140 - Sr. Tevin Gibson (E) WBTF 17-2 5:33 Matt Golob (ES) 145 - Jr. Eric Burgey (E) md 18-8 Auston Poynter (ES) 152 - Sr. Colin Dailey (E) dec 2-0 Bryce Martin (ES) 160 - Corbin Martin (ES) dec 4-1 Jeremy Snyder (ES) 171 - Jr. Jeff Griffith (E) dec 4-2 Weston Newton (ES) 189 - Ben Krakower (BA) dec 9-2 David Dawkins (ES) 215 - Jr. Chris Wilson (E) WBTF 20-5 2:37 Garrett Jones (ES) 285 - Sr. Stephan Vas (E) WBF 4:32 Bobby Jones (ES) 103 - Fr. Mike Fleck (E) WBFFT

Blair Academy, NJ 66 - Benton, Pa. 3 112 - Sean Boyle (BA) md 9-0 Mike Rhone (B) 119 - Tony Buxton (BA) WBFFT 125 - Chris Villalonga (BA) WBFFT 130 - Anthony Valles (BA) WBFFT 135 - Garrett Frey (BA) dec 5-1 Eric Hess (B) 140 - Austin Ormsbee (BA) md 18-7 Calvin Wolfe (B) 145 - Mario Mason (BA) WBF 1:24 Rusty Younkers (B) 152 - Corey Lear (B) dec 5-0 Jesse Shanaman (BA) dec 5-0 160 - Adam Hogue (BA) WBF 2:59 Billy Pasukinis (B) 171 - Brad Bishop (BA) md 12-0 Stephan Winther (B) 189 - Ben Krakower (BA) WBFFT 215 - Andrew Lajara (BA) WBFFT 285 - Kyle Hanson (BA) dec 4-2 Tyler Demott (B) 103 - Evan Silver (BA) WBF 1:23 Coltin Fought (B)

NHSCA Final four Saturday, January 19, 2008 Who: Blair Academy Buccaneers at Easton Red Rovers. When: 4 p.m. today. Where: 25th Street Gym, Easton Area High School, Palmer Township. Conference: Independent. Today's schedule: 10 a.m. -- Caesar Rodney (Del.) vs. East Side (S.C.) and Benton at Easton; Noon -- Blair Academy vs. Benton and East Side at Easton; 2 p.m. -- Blair Academy vs. East Side. Records: Blair Academy, 12-0 overall; Easton, 11-0. Express-Times rankings: Easton, No. 2 region, No. 2 big schools. Coaches: Blair Academy, Jeff Buxton (26th season); Easton, Steve Powell (24th season). Probable matchups: (Blair Academy vs. Easton wrestlers with records, not including Saturday's early matches, and Express-Times rankings in parentheses): 103 -- Fr. Evan Silver (24-5) or Fr. Kyle Taylor (11-6) vs. Fr. Mike Fleck (14-6, No. 4). 112 -- Jr. Sean Boyle (28-2) vs. Fr. Joey Rizzolino (17-5, No. 5). 119 -- Jr. Tony Buxton (18-7) vs. Sr. Kegan Handlovic (19-1, No. 1). 125 -- So. Chris Villalonga (25-0) vs. So. Mark Hartenstine (19-1, No. 1). 130 -- Sr. Joe Stanzione (17-2) or Sr. Anthony Valles (20-3) vs. Sr. Jordan Oliver (20-0, No. 1) or Jr. Nick Slack (1-1). 135 -- Fr. Austin Ormsbee (33-4) or Jr. Garrett Frey (21-0) vs. Jr. Patrick Corpora (12-7) or Oliver. 140 -- Fr. John Guzzo (19-7) vs. Sr. Tevin Gibson (16-5, No. 3). 145 -- Sr. Mario Mason (9-2) vs. Jr. Eric Burgey (20-4, No. 2). 152 -- So. Jesse Shanaman (23-8) vs. Sr. Colin Dailey (16-4, No. 2). 160 -- Jr. Adam Houge (15-4) vs. Jr. Jeremy Snyder (18-4, No. 2) or Jr. Jeff Griffith (6-10). 171 -- Sr. Corey Peltier (25-3) vs. Snyder or Griffith. 189 -- Jr. Ben Krakower (14-5) vs. Jr. Storm Kruczek (5-8). 215 -- Sr. Steve Hanzlik (24-8) vs. Jr. Chris Wilson (17-4, No. 2) or Sr. Steve Vas (9-10). 285 -- Sr. Kyle Hanson (27-4) vs. Wilson or Vas. Michael Blouse's prediction: Blair Academy is indeed the second-ranked team in the nation for a reason -- the Buccaneers are simply really, really good. Feature bouts should come at 125 with two talented sophomores, Villalonga and Hartenstine going head-to-head, and also at 130 with Oliver against whoever Buxton sends out for the Bucs. Yes, it's difficult to project the Red Rovers losing by 21 points to any opponent, but ... Blair Academy 36-15.

Easton picking up the pieces BLAIR ACADEMY 51, EASTON 10. Wins by Oliver, Handlovic silver linings in Rovers' resounding loss. Sunday, January 20, 2008 By MICHAEL BLOUSE The Express-Times PALMER TWP. | If Saturday's Blair Academy-Easton wrestling showdown were a football or basketball game, the mercy rule would've kicked it. If it were a baseball game, the 10-run rule would've stopped the action. But in wrestling, the match must go on -- and unfortunately (depending on your point of view) -- it did. When the final score was tallied, it looked awfully ugly for faithful fans of the Easton Red Rovers: Blair Academy 51, Easton 10. Rarely, in Steve Powell's 24-year reign as head coach, has Easton Area High School's wrestling program suffered a defeat as lopsided as Saturday's 41-point debacle in the NHSCA Final Four at the 25th Street Gym. "We definitely should've won a few more matches," said one of the Red Rovers' two winners, 130-pounder Jordan Oliver. "I don't think we wrestled to our expectations as a team." "Easton's a national power," said Blair Academy's 135-pound freshman phenom, Austin Ormsbee. "I thought they'd do a little bit better." Seniors Oliver and Kegan Handlovic -- both defending Pennsylvania state champions -- were Red Rover winners. Oliver pinned Joe Stanzione in 1:19 at 130 and Handlovic ended the rout with a 15-6 major decision over Tony Buxton. Handlovic and Buxton were locked in a scoreless tie entering the third period before Easton's 100-match winner prevailed in a wide-open final 120 seconds. Oliver was named the event's Terry Gibson Outstanding Wrestler. "It's pretty awesome," Oliver said of the award. "I was looking at the plaque downstairs before today and I was hoping my name ended up on it with all these other great names." Other than the usual stellar bouts from Oliver and Handlovic, the rest of the match for the Red Rovers was filled with either disappointing close losses or mismatches. Easton missed opportunities to keep it close against Blair Academy with defeats at 140, 152 and 215 pounds. Ormsbee bumped up a weight class on Saturday and beat Red Rovers senior Tevin Gibson 6-4 at 140. Gibson took a brief 4-3 lead on a third-period takedown at the edge of the mat with 35 seconds left. Ormsbee escaped five seconds later and got deep on a single-leg takedown with 10 seconds remaining. "I was confident even when I fell behind," Ormsbee, with a 36-4 record, said, "because I had already gotten an escape easily in the second period. I knew there were 30 seconds left and I wanted to be aggressive but also cautious. It felt good to end it before overtime." At 152, Easton's Colin Dailey and Blair's Jesse Shanaman needed two overtimes to decide the outcome. In the second 30-second rideout period, Shanaman reversed Dailey with 12 seconds left and secured two near-fall points for an 8-4 win. At 215, Chris Wilson trailed Steve Hanzlik 5-2 into the third quarter before the Red Rovers junior used an escape and a takedown to tie the bout at 5. Hanzlik escaped at the 45-second mark and Wilson was unable to take down his opponent in the final seconds. "There were some great bouts," Powell said, "but our kids were not able to stay in there and fight through the last minute or 30 seconds to win close matches. Jordan and Kegan, our state champs, are comfortable in close matches. They're able to pick up the pace in the last minute and it has nothing to do with conditioning." Blair Academy (15-0) used pins from Garrett Frey at 135, Corey Peltier at 171, Ben Krakower at 189 and Kyle Hanson at 285 to reach the 50-point mark on Easton (13-1). "I figured we'd win at least eight bouts," Blair coach Jeff Buxton said. "I knew we could handle them up top, from 160 through heavyweight. But Easton is real tough from 112 through 130 or 135. We were able to win the close ones." The Red Rovers are looking toward a big week this week with Lehigh Valley Conference matches against Liberty on Wednesday, Northampton on Thursday and Bethlehem Catholic on Saturday afternoon. Powell's squad caps its week against archrival Phillipsburg on Saturday night at Shawnee Middle School. "Our kids will never be down in the dumps about losing to Blair," Powell said. "It's a big week ahead, so we can't dwell on this loss. When you wrestle in the Lehigh Valley, you've got to move on and get ready for the next team. "The sun comes up tomorrow. We'll pick up the pieces and start all over again." Michael Blouse can be reached at 800-360-3601 or by e-mail at mblouse@express-times.com. NHSCA FINAL FOUR Sunday, January 20, 2008 By MICHAEL BLOUSE The Express-Times -- Completing the schedule for Saturday's NHSCA Final Four was quite a challenge for the event's co-chairman, Bob Ferraro Jr. Originally, Colonial Forge (Va.) was slated to wrestle four matches Saturday. But Colonial Forge backed out early in the week because of the forecast for inclement weather, according to Easton coach Steve Powell. Long Branch (N.J.) was picked as the replacement but cancelled Thursday because of a scheduling conflict. Finally, on Friday, Ferraro Jr. secured Class AA Benton (Pa.) to wrestle matches against Easton and Blair Academy. Benton was drilled by Easton 67-6 and Blair 66-3. East Side (S.C.) failed to fare much better, falling to Easton 52-7 and Blair 54-9. Blair Academy routed Easton 51-10 in the afternoon's final and featured matchup. The only competitive meet came at 10 a.m. between East Side and Caesar Rodney -- a 34-20 East Side win. "Even though the matches weren't really close," Ferraro Jr. said, "there were a lot of close bouts in every match. With Blair, it's difficult to schedule competitive matches because there are only like three or four teams in the country who can compete. There were some real close bouts in Blair-Easton, but Blair pretty much won every one." "Still, I think it was a pretty good day for wrestling fans." -- Easton's Jordan Oliver expects to be very comfortable with his freshman year roommate at Oklahoma State. Oliver's teammate/roommate will be a familiar name to Red Rover fans: Caesar Rodney's Alex Meade, who spent some time at EAHS after transferring from the Delaware school to the Lehigh Valley before his sophomore year. "Alex is my second cousin," said Oliver, who owns a 158-5 career record. "We both were planning to go to the same college. It's gonna be pretty cool. He committed to Oklahoma State a couple weeks after I did." Oliver is ranked No. 1 in the nation at 130 pounds by the Amateur Wrestling News. Meade is No. 1 nationally at 152 pounds. Meade won a 20-8 major decision during Caesar Rodney's 34-20 loss to East Side (S.C.). -- Oliver and Kegan Handlovic, the Red Rovers' two defending PIAA Class AAA champions, were the only Easton wrestlers to finish the day 3-0. Oliver earned two major decisions and a fall, and moved into second place on Easton's career wins list. The two-time state champ will, with five more victories, eclipse Alex Krom's record of 162 wins. Handlovic, meanwhile, was tested in all three of his bouts. The 119-pound senior won an 11-6 decision over Benton's Mike Rhone, a 6-2 decision over East Side's Ed Coles and a 15-6 major decision over Blair Academy's Tony Buxton.

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