FloWrestling is the new home of the PIAA Wrestling Championships. The PIAA AA Dual Championships get underway Thursday, February 7th at 2pm from the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. This year’s AA field is headlined by traditional powers with one relatively new kid on the block, the Southern Columbia Tigers.

WATCH THE PIAA DUAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Southern is making their fourth straight appearance at the Dual Championships. 2016 was the first time the Tigers qualified for the PIAA Dual Championships that began in 1999. This is a resurgence of the program that shared the PIAA team championship in 1984 and placed 4th in 1988. The 1988 team was lead by a familiar face, current head coach Jerry Marks. Marks was a senior on the 1988 team and won his second state title. At the time he was also the PIAA all-time leader in rushing yards. Sound familiar? Sure, Gaige Garcia has been instrumental in the long-running football dynasty at Southern over the past three season. They have won two state titles and finished runner-up in three final appearances on the gridiron since Garcia’s arrival. The wrestling team has had similar success over the past three seasons. The Tigers have now won three straight District 4 Dual Championships. They have also finished as PIAA Dual and PIAA Individual team runner-up in 2018, as well as third and eighth in 2017. 

The 2017 and 2018 teams were anchored by two-time state champion Jaret Lane. Lane has moved onto Lehigh, but the Tigers have an answer for replacing that firepower in super freshman Gavin Garcia. Garcia made a name for himself as he ran off seven titles in eight years at the PJW Youth and Jr. High State Championships. That puts him on par with Cary Kolat in Pennsylvania youth credentials. Kole Biscoe is also a PJW Jr. High champion that entered the line-up for the Tigers this year. Marks had high praise for Biscoe in the week leading up to the Dual Championships, “he sucks all the information up thats given to him... at Chambersburg he won in the last couple seconds with a move that Jaret Lane showed him the day before. He's that kind of kid.”

Garcia has seen limited time so far this year. Like his brother, Gavin is also a feature running back on the football team. Gavin didn’t see any action on the mat until January 15th. Even though he has seen limited mat time, he does have some big match experience as he dropped a 5-4UTB bout to 2018 PIAA state runner-up Caleb Dowling at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament. 

Whatever the outcome, the Tigers will be challenging for titles for the foreseeable future as the young talent on the varsity level has already produced state medals and the Junior High team finished runner-up in a single class PJW Championship in 2018.

If the Southern Columbia Tigers are going to reach the top it will not be due to the demise of traditional powers. The field is jammed pack with tradition rich programs. Reynolds, Burrell, and Brookville all have PIAA Dual titles on their resume, and are all in the field. Chestnut Ridge has run off seven straight District 5 titles, were runner-ups at the 2015 PIAA Dual Championships, and finished third at the 2018 Dual Championships. Saucon Valley has won four straight District 11 Dual Championships and made an appearance in the 2016 PIAA Dual final. 

Looking at the top bracket, look for #10 Brookville and #6 Chestnut Ridge to challenge #2 Southern Columbia for the berth in the finals. The 2018 bracket played out that exact scenario as Southern Columbia defeated Brookville, 29-22, in the quarterfinals and Chestnut Ridge, 30-27, in the semifinals. Southern Columbia has filled the graduation holes better than both of those teams and they appear to be the favorite. Some late season weight adjustments have given the Tigers some flexibility in their line-up that can be very valuable in championship caliber dual meets. “Zachman is down at 195 with Gaige Garcia, that definitely gives us some flexibility there, same thing at 113 and 160. We're trying to solidify our line-up and make it as strong as possible,” Head Coach Jerry Marks.

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The Reynolds Raiders are the gold standard in Pennsylvania wrestling. They have won five PIAA Dual Championships and come up short in the championship finals four times. That means they have made the championship finals in just under 50% of the twenty PIAA Dual Championships. The Raiders are once again a favorite to wrestle for the title Saturday afternoon coming through the bottom bracket. The quarter just above #1 Reynolds houses what could be the most competitive quad of teams. The #5 Burrell Bucs have won thirteen consecutive WPIAL Dual Championships and are expected to be opposite of the #3 Saucon Valley vs #4 Muncy preliminary winner. Muncy placed fourth at the 2018 PIAA Dual Championships and Saucon Valley has been a consistent performer in Hershey, including a runner-up finish in 2016. Be sure to tune in to the 4pm Thursday round to catch this matchup. Whoever is still standing after the quarterfinal will have a tall task of taking down the Raiders in the semifinals. Unless, upstart #11 Notre Dame-Green Pond can pull a first round upset. This dual could feature #1 state ranked Ryan Crookham vs #2 Beau Bayless at 120. The Crusaders have the top end talent, but will they have enough depth to keep pace with Reynolds?

All state rankings are from PA Power Wrestling. All results and archived matches can be found on FloArena. The full schedule and all coverage can be located in the events page on FloWrestling. 

Top Bracket Teams:

#13 Hamburg                                                         #7 Greenville

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                       State Ranked Wrestlers:

#11 Bailey Gimbor 120                                            #5 Mason Karpinski 152

#5 Dalton Gimbor 126                                             #13 Brady Gentile 170

#11 Shane Strausser 138                                        #2 Jacob McMaster 220

#15 Brendan Hamilton 170                                      #6 Max Willis 285

#19 Ben Weidenhammer                                          

Record: 17-3                                                           Record: 20-4

District 3 Champion                                               District 10 3rd

Head Coach: Glenn Miller                                       Head Coach: John Reynolds

#6 Chestnut Ridge                                                  #23 Freedom Area

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                         State Ranked Wrestlers:

#6 Kai Burkett 106                                                     #13 ZJ Ward 126

#1 Jared McGill 170                                                   #17 Kenny Duschek 138

#13 Austin Crouse 182                                               #19 Jake Pail 145

#12 Duane Knisely 220                                               #2 Trent Schultheis 152

Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:                                  #9 Bryson Miller 182

Jared McGill, Senior, 170, 6th

Record: 12-0                                                              Record: 9-3

District 5 Champion                                                  District 7 Runner-up

2018 Dual Finish: 3rd

2018 Individual Team Finish: 6th

Head Coach: Greg Lazor                                           Head Coach: Jim Covert

#10 Brockville                                                           Lake Lehman

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                          State Ranked Wrestlers:

#15 Owen Reinsel 106                                               #18 Robert Long 132

#20 Elliot Park 170

#4 Colby Whitehill 285

Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:

Colby Whitehill, Junior, 285, 19th

Record: 16-2                                                             Record: 9-2

District 9 Champion                                                 District 2 Champion

Head Coach: Dave Klepver                                      Head Coach: JJ Konigus

#2 Southern Columbia Tigers                                #19 Conneaut Area

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                        State Ranked Wrestlers:

#2 Kole Biscoe 113                                                  #14 Wes Davenport 145

#17 Patrick Edmondson 132                                    #5 Peyton Hearn 160

#4 Gavin Garcia 145

#8 Cade Linn 160

#2 Gaige Garcia 195

#9 Preston Zachman 220

#8 Lear Quinton 285

Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:

Gaige Garcia, Junior, 195, 6th

Record: 18-0                                                              Record: 14-3

District 4 Champion                                                  District 10 Runner-up

2018 Dual Finish: 2nd

2018 Individual Team Finish: 2nd

Head Coach: Jerry Marks                                         Head Coach: Carmen Russo

Bottom Bracket Teams:

#5 Burrell                                                                  #16 Newport

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                         State Ranked Wrestlers:

#13 Nick Salerno 113                                                #13 Gannon Smith 106

#3 Ian Oswald 120                                                     #19 Grant Kauffman 120

#20 Bryan Gaul 132                                                   #12 Dorian Gonzalez 132

#4 AJ Corrado 138                                                    #17 Devan Blose 145

#6 Austin Mele 160                                                    #10 Ethan Rode 220

Record: 10-2                                                             Record: 17-3

District 7 Champion                                                 District 3 Runner-up

2018 Individual Team Finish: 10th

Head Coach: Josh Shields                                       Head Coach: Mike Capozzoli

#3 Saucon Valley                                                       #4 Muncy

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                          State Ranked Wrestlers:

#9 Chris Arciuolo 106                                                 #14 Mario Barberio 138

#1 Joshua Jones 132                                                  #9 Coleman Good 152

#5 Thomas Spirk 138                                                  #12 Mike Kustanbauter 182

#10 Nick Rosengrant 145

#3 Matt Arciuolo 160

#15 Braydyn Lugardo 182

#8 Dane Csencsits 195

#9 Nick Warnke 285

Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:

Joshua Jones, Senior, 132, 19th

Record: 18-0                                                               Record: 19-2

District 11 Champion                                                 District 4 Runner-up

                                                                                     2018 Dual Finish: 4th

2018 Individual Team Finish: 8th                               2018 Individual Team Finish: 9th

Head Coach: Chad Shirk                                            Head Coach: Royce Eyer

#8 Westmont Hilltop                                                   Faith Christian

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                            State Ranked Wrestlers:

#16 Ethan Kelly                                                             #16 Eric Alderfer 106

#17 Hudson Holbay 152

Record: 13-1                                                                Record: 13-5

District 6 Champion                                                    District 1 Champion

Head Coach: Matt Beaujon                                         Head Coach: Ben Clymer

#1 Reynolds Raiders                                                  #11 Notre Dame-Green Pond

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                            State Ranked Wrestlers:

#1 Gary Steen 106                                                       #18 Evan Maag 106

#2 Beau Payless 120                                                   #1 Ryan Crookham 120

#12 Andrew Ischo 126                                                 #6 Brandan Chletsos 126

#10 Kaeden Berger 132                                               #6 Ritchie Markulics 132

#3 Rocco Bartolo 138                                                  #7 Nicholas Vonelli 138

#20 Hunter Thompson 160                                          #5 Andrew Cerniglia 145

#17 Cole Toy 170                                                         #14 Derek Berlitz 160

#13 Wyatt Owen 220                                                    #11 Isaiah DeJesus 170

#17 Derek Skeehan 285

Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:                                     Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:

Gary Steen, Sophomore, 106 lbs, 10th                         Ryan Crookham, Freshman, 120 lbs, 3rd

                                                                                       Andrew Cerniglia, Senior, 152 lbs, 18th

Record: 13-0                                                                 Record: 9-4

District 10 Champion                                                   District 11 Runner-up

2018 Dual Finish: 1st

2018 Individual Team Finish: 1st

Head Coach: Casey Taylor                                           Head Coach: Matt Veres