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York Dispatch Staff Report

Former Dallastown High School wrestler Tanner Druck will be wrestling at NCAA Division II Seton Hill University next season.

Druck, who will graduate from Dallastown later this year, will wrestle for Dallastown grad Brian Tucker at Seton Hill. Tucker, who also wrestled collegiately at Ohio State and Pittsburgh, led Seton Hill to a 7-12 overall record last season in his first year as head coach.

As a 152-pounder last season, Druck placed fourth at the District 3-AAA Tournament to qualify for the PIAA Tournament. He finished with a 34-9 record last season and had a 118-37 career record at Dallastown.

COLUMN By JOHN WALK 505-5406 / @yorksportsguy

Twenty years had passed since Joe Musti last had serious competition on the wrestling mat.

As a result, the then-34-year-old Musti figured he should put forth some kind of effort to get in shape. So around this time last year, Musti began training for the first-ever Bald and Fat Wrestling Tournament, which he created for competitors ages 25 and up in an effort to raise money for the Central York Youth Wrestling Program.

A total of 93 competitors turned out for the event at Central York High School last April. A week later, Musti heard back from a lot of them with complaints of not feeling so well.

“I felt pretty good,” Musti said. “I thought I was gonna feel worse but it wasn’t too bad. But then again, I tried to get in shape the two or three weeks prior to it.”

The tournament raised roughly $4,000 and brought out dozens of fans to cheer on the older grapplers. With so much success in its first year, the Bald and Fat Wrestling Tournament is coming back again next month. And Musti is confident for an even larger turnout.

“I hope we get 150 (competitors),” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll get quite that many. I know guys who did it last year and didn’t feel so good a week after and they passed up on doing it this year.”

Changes: There will be some changes to this year’s tournament, which is slated for April 7 at Central York High School. While there will still be 10 weight classes ranging from 140 pounds to heavyweight (250 pounds and up), the tourney will have two age divisions.

“The ‘Past My Prime Division’ is ages 25 to 35 and the ‘Dead Division’ is 36 and over,” Musti said. “This year we had a lot of young guys who wanted to do it who are in their early 20s and I turned them down. I think for next season we’ll add that and have three age divisions. All of us old guys don’t want to wrestle the young guys.”

There will also be a team competition.

“We have a handful of teams coming. I won’t know for certain until probably about a week prior to it, but I know there are teams coming from Exeter, Penn Manor, Central York and Garden Spot.”

Musti said teams must have at least nine grapplers, each of whom has to have a tie to their school, either by being a former wrestler or current coach for the school or having a child who wrestles for that school.

Preparation: Musti, who has three young sons who wrestle for Central at various levels, will try to improve on his mark from last year’s tournament, when he finished fourth among 11 wrestlers in the 160-pound weight class. A 1996 West York grad who last wrestled full-time in the eighth grade, Musti said he and a group of “older guys” have already started preparing for the tournament by practicing a few times a week at an undisclosed location.

While those guys are taking their preparations seriously, the Bald and Fat Tournament is just a chance for former wrestlers to have fun and relive their glory days on the mat, with the proceeds going toward a good cause. It’s also surprisingly entertaining to watch.

For information on the tournament, contact Musti at 817-3522 or at joemusti@gmail.com. A registration fee of $25 is required to participate in the tournament. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

– Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com.

By JOHN WALK 505-5406 / @yorksportsguy

YORK-ADAMS LEAGUE RANKINGS

(Through March 10)

106

Name (School) Record

1. Dylan Chatterton (CY)31-4

2. Owen Wherley (SW)29-5

3. Brandon Rodriguez (D)20-11

113

1. Derek Wilson (SW)26-9

2. Derek Carlisle (SG)35-13

3. Nate Newberry (Big)35-10

120

1. Zack Clingan (SG)40-8

2. Nick Shields (Dt)22-11

3. Sam Butler (CY)30-7

126

1. Rodney Sunday (Dt)37-9

2. Noah Townsley (WY)26-7

3. Alec Zorbaugh (SG)24-15

132

1. Ian Brown (H)40-3

2. Dakota Laughman (SG)34-8

3. Gary Hake (YT)32-8

138

1. Wes Hoover (Dt)30-11

2. Tyler Shafer (H)28-9

3. Pat Scarborough (KD)30-5

145

1. Mason Bentzel (SG)42-6

2. Briton Shelton (BS)43-10

3. Garrett Stauffer (WY)25-8

152

1. Tanner Druck (Dt)34-9

2. Bobby Wildasin (SW)20-11

3. Tyler Miller (SG)21-16

160

1. Chance Marsteller (KD)40-0

2. Nick Mort (F)39-6

3. Tyler Lieberum (Big)37-6

170

1. Tristan Sponseller (BS)47-4

2. Kyle Narber (WY)28-12

3. Jonathan Gross (SG)36-10

182

1. Cooper Deller (Dt)33-6

2. Shaheed Mitchell (D)25-8

3. Andy Melhorn (SG)35-11

195

1. Alex Cooley (EY)36-5

2. Brock Linebaugh (BS)37-8

3. Zaire Lawrence (Dt)21-13

220

1. Alex Guinn (SG)35-9

2. Aram Moffitt (SW)30-7

3. Camden Stoops (EY)27-7

285

1. Trevor Stover (Big)41-4

2. Devon Ackerman (SW)29-8

3. Brock Hartman (NO)18-15

– Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com.

COLUMN By JOHN WALK 505-5406 / @yorksportsguy

Perhaps he’s working his way toward an eventual sponsorship years down the road.

Or maybe Chance Marsteller just really likes drinking Mountain Dew.

Either way, it’s the beverage of choice for the Kennard-Dale High School junior when he cheats on his diet.

In particular, Marsteller prefers Mountain Dew Voltage. Apparently, it’s his celebratory drink after he wins a PIAA gold medal.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” Marsteller said Saturday night at Hershey’s Giant Center when asked how he felt after winning his third state gold medal. “As soon as I get back and get some Mountain Dew Voltage I’ll be good. As soon as I go get four, five, six of them, then it might start hitting me.”

With the 2012-2013 high school wrestling season in the books, this is now the rare time of year when Marsteller can let down his guard with his nutrition. He likely isn’t alone. It’s only natural that after months of watching their weight and drinking lots of water, high school wrestlers indulge in the treats that have been tempting them for so long.

And grapplers from the York-Adams League certainly deserve to celebrate with a snack of their choice after one of the more successful seasons on the mat in recent history.

Marsteller tops a list of five wrestlers from the York-Adams League who placed in the top eight of their weight classes at the PIAA Class AAA Individual State Wrestling Championships on Saturday. A year ago, Marsteller was the only York-Adams grappler to accomplish that feat.

Joining him this year is Central York freshman Dylan Chatterton (106 pounds), Dallastown junior Rodney Sunday (126), Spring Grove junior Mason Bentzel (145) and Eastern York senior Alex Cooley (195). Chatterton and Sunday each placed fifth in their weight classes while Bentzel nabbed seventh place and Cooley finished in eighth.

The performances followed an impressive outing from York-Adams wrestlers at the District 3-AAA tournament two weeks prior at Hersheypark Arena. Six York-Adams grapplers placed in the top three at districts, two more than the year before. In addition, 12 total wrestlers placed in the top four at districts this year, seven more than in 2012.

Overall, wrestlers from District 3 (or the South Central Region) fared pretty well at the state tournament. Although the Southwest Region had seven state champs, the South Central Region (District 3) was next in line with three. District 3 was also second behind the Southwest Region’s 31 top-eight finishers.

District 3 produced 28 grapplers who finished in the top eight, four more than the year before. It’s still impressive despite District 3 qualifying four wrestlers in each weight class this year as opposed to three.

So, local high school wrestlers deserve to indulge a little bit, whether it’s cake or cookies or Marsteller’s drink of choice.

Because before we know it, they’ll soon have to start training for next season.

– Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com.

The PIAA State Individual Wrestling Championships have started at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Go here for the updated results.

By JOHN WALK 505-5406 / @yorksportsguy

HERSHEY — For the last two weeks, he had watched videos of his first-round opponent to get ready for the PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships.

So Central York freshman Dylan Chatterton (106 pounds) knew how North Hills’ freshman Gage Curry would attempt to take him down Thursday afternoon.

“I knew he was gonna go for a sweep (of my legs),” Chatterton said.

After a scoreless first period, when both wrestlers defended takedown attempts, Curry took a 1-0 lead on an escape and soon tried shooting at Chatterton’s legs. But the Panthers’ wrestler was ready. Chatterton caught Curry and took him to his back, locked on a headlock and got the pin in 3 minutes, 26 seconds.

Realizing he had just earned the first state tournament victory of his young career, Chatterton popped up off the mat and pointed to his family and friends in the crowd at Hershey’s Giant Center.

“I’ve came here for the past four years and been watching this,” Chatterton said. “My dad would say ‘It’s hard to believe I’m gonna watch you down there.’ This is definitely big.”

Chatterton’s performance kicked off what turned out to be a rather successful day for York-Adams League grapplers in the Class AAA event. He was one of seven York-Adams wrestlers who won first-round bouts on the Class AAA side to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals in the three-day tournament.

In Class AA, Hanover’s Ian Brown (132) and Bermudian Springs’ Briton Shelton (145) and Tristan Sponseller (170) each won their first-round bouts.

Overall, 10 York-Adams wrestlers remained alive in the hunt for state gold medals.

Narber: One of the more impressive AAA victories came from West York junior Kyle Narber (170), who spent the last two weeks practicing against Kennard-Dale phenom Chance Marsteller (160).

Pocono Mountain East senior Ernest Fogle, who entered with a 32-1 record, held a 3-2 lead on Narber in the third period when Fogle locked both hands around Narber’s right leg. As Narber laid on top of Fogle for the final 30 seconds, Narber used all his strength to straighten his right leg while trying to make Fogle as uncomfortable as possible in an effort to break Fogle’s hold. Finally, Fogle’s hands broke free just before the final buzzer sounded. Narber was awarded two points for the 4-3 win.

“I was just trying to get a cross-face on him while working his hands off me,” Narber said.

It marked Narber’s first state tournament win of his career, which has been somewhat of an uphill battle. As a freshman, he lost in the first round of sectionals to finish with a 10-19 record. Last year he went 0-for-2 at districts. Now, he’s moving onto the second round of states — this after helping the Bulldogs’ football team reach the District 3-AAA title game last fall.

“I’ve just been wrestling a lot in the offseason, getting into offseason tournaments, doing some freestyle and Greco-Roman (wrestling),” Narber said. “Plus it helps having that extra year of experience.”

Winners, staying alive: Marsteller, Spring Grove juniors Zack Clingan (120) and Mason Bentzel (145) and Dallastown seniors Tanner Druck (152) and Cooper Deller (182) also won their first-round bouts to advance to the Class AAA quarterfinals Friday, which start at 1:30 p.m.

Of the 14 wrestlers who placed fourth at the District 3-AAA tournament two weeks ago to qualify for states, Clingan, Druck and Narber were the only ones to win their first-round bouts Thursday.

Eastern York senior Alex Cooley (195) and Dallastown juniors Rodney Sunday (126) and Wes Hoover (138) all lost in the first round but won their consolation matches to stay alive and move onto the second round of the Class AAA consolation bracket, which begins at 3:15 p.m. Friday.

In Class AA, Hanover’s Tyler Shafer (138) and Biglerville’s Jasper Hankey (138), Josh Asper (170) and Trevor Stover (285) all lost in the first round but won their consolation matches.

The wrestlers in the consolation bracket can still earn a state bronze medal.

Spring Grove senior Derek Carlisle (113), South Western senior Aram Moffitt (220) and Fairfield junior Nick Mort (160) all saw their seasons come to an end with losses in the first-round consolations.

– Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com.

GENARO C. ARMAS The Associated Press

HERSHEY — Chance Marsteller hit the move with pinpoint accuracy.

Three high-fives followed by an elbow bump with his coach following an opening-round pin that took less than a minute at the PIAA championships Thursday.

Most of the favorites rolled to easy victories on the first day of Pennsylvania’s biggest scholastic wrestling tournament — none more so than Marsteller, a Kennard Dale junior considered one of the best grapplers in the country.

“One match at a time,” Marsteller said. “Go out there, take care, get off the mat and conserve energy.”

He achieved victory over Delaware Valley’s Lucas Markowitz in 42 seconds, extending his winning streak to 122 matches. He executed his post-match celebration with ease, too.

Marsteller said the goal was to work quickly to get back to working out to prepare for the rest of the weekend.

“Just really focusing on tomorrow,” he added, “and trying to get to Saturday.”

He just might get his third state title in three years that night. Marsteller is trying to repeat in Class AAA at 160 pounds after winning at 152 his freshman year two seasons ago.

If the seeds hold, Marsteller will face another returning champ in Central Dauphin’s Garrett Peppelman in a highly-anticipated finals matchup Saturday night.

Peppelman, last year’s winner at 152, won his opening match on Thursday, 15-5. Marsteller and Peppelman already faced off in the regional tournament on Feb. 23, with Marsteller winning 7-2.

Like Marsteller, Solanco junior Thomas Haines is also going for a third career state title, with a repeat at 220 pounds after taking the 215-pound division his freshman season. Haines scored a technical fall, 16-0, in 3:17.

“Last year, it kind of fell like more pressure,” Haines said. “This year, I know what I need to do, I just need to do it and have fun doing it. I feel a little more relaxed this year.”

The Class AAA wrestlers held court in the late session after the Class AA wrestlers took to the mats early.

Following a year off, Zain Retherford’s first match back in Hershey ended with a thud on the wrestling mat. It took just more than a minute for the 138-pound senior to get re-acclimated to the frantic sights and sounds of the biggest meet in wrestling-crazy Pennsylvania.

“Just wrestle. Don’t think about anything else or expectations. Nothing like that,” Retherford said after his first-round bout. “Just do your job and the wins will come.”

Except that the Benton senior had to wait two years to get back to Hershey.

Retherford won at 103 as a freshman at Line Mountain before finishing third at 112. He was ruled ineligible his junior year after transferring to Benton, so he was forced to just watch from the sideline as his new teammates from Benton competed.

Retherford was finally in uniform this year, and he didn’t waste time after pinning Camp Hill’s Alex Gallaher in 1:23.

“It was something that I was looking forward to, for too long now,” Retherford said minutes after his match. “I was sitting here, watching last year and cheering on my teammates … It’s exciting to have the opportunity to do it with them” this year.

The Giant Center is a high school wrestling fan’s dream, with six matches often going on simultaneously across separate mats laid out over an ice hockey rink. The tournament displaces the building’s regular tenants — the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Loud parents and friends often yell direction or encouragement over the hockey boards that ring the floor. The ear-piercing sounds from officials’ whistles echo with regularity through the arena.

Amid the chaos, Pen Argyl’s Michael Racciato was the picture of calm in the tunnel under the stands after his match Thursday, though a little out of breath. After a 2-2 start, Racciato pulled away from Burrell’s Phil Marra for an 11-3 victory.

Racciato is a veteran of the PIAA stage with titles already at 135 pounds as a sophomore and 138, last year as a junior.

He described his first match as “boring,” especially since he had already wrestled Marra three times this season. “But I won, so I’m happy to just move on,” he said with a monotone voice.

In the late consolation session, Quakertown’s Tyler Seislove was taken from the floor on a stretcher after lying face down on the mat for several minutes while being attended to by medical staff. A brace was put around his head and neck, and Seislove was taken to the hospital.

A PIAA official said there was no updated condition at the end of the night on Seislove, though the 138-pound senior was able to move his arms and legs.

By JOHN WALK 505-5406 / @yorksportsguy

The alarm clock goes off at 4 a.m.

The sun has yet to rise, but Alex Cooley soon finds himself on a drive with his dad from their East Prospect Borough home to Gold’s Gym in York Township. Sometimes teammate Camden Stoops tags along. The group meets Cooley’s older brother, Shane, a former Eastern York and York College heavyweight wrestler. They then go through a routine that lasts roughly 90 minutes. Workouts vary from legs and neck to shoulders and triceps to back and biceps.

Then it’s back home for a quick shower and a bite to eat before heading off to school, which is followed by a practice or game.

“We go four days in a row, a day off,” Cooley said before Tuesday’s wrestling practice at Eastern York High School.

Cooley, a senior at Eastern, has stuck to this routine throughout the school year since the ninth grade. It’s no wonder the 5-foot, 8-inch multi-sport athlete is built like a tank. Cooley said he maxed out at 455 pounds on the bench press over the summer. He’s also dead-lifted 455 pounds and squatted more than 600 pounds.

But he’s learned he’s going to have to rely on more than just his strength to meet his goals this weekend in the three-day PIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament, which begins Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Cooley is one of 12 York-Adams League wrestlers slated to compete in the state tournament in Class AAA. Eight York-Adams wrestlers will compete in Class AA.

Accomplished: Everyone familiar with Cooley knows his many accomplishments by now.

On the track, he finished third last season in the 100-meter dash at the York-Adams Track and Field Meet with a time of 11.10 seconds.

On the football field, he set new league records in career rushing yards (6,015), career touchdowns scored (80) and rushing yards in a single season (2,845). He’ll play football next season at NCAA Division II East Stroudsburg.

“They have the business program that I want,” Cooley said. “And it’s cheap. They’re going to give me about $3,000 a year on a (partial) athletic scholarship. I love it up there.”

On the mat, Cooley took third at 182 pounds at districts and placed fifth at states in Class AA last year. In Eastern’s jump up to Class AAA this year for postseason competition, Cooley took fourth place at 195 pounds at the District 3-AAA Tournament two weeks ago to qualify for the PIAA tournament.

“There’s not much of a strength gap that there was for (Cooley) at AA, where most kids he could just overpower,” Eastern coach Dan Garner said. “There are kids now that match up with him in strength, so he has to use more speed and technique to win those matches.”

Cooley entered this year’s district tourney a perfect 31-0 on the season and won his first two bouts to reach the semifinals, where he lost, 11-2, to Big Spring sophomore Tommy Rayhart.

“I needed to lose one,” Cooley said. “I felt like I needed to get that out of the way.”

Cooley later qualified for states by reaching the third-place bout, where he lost, 3-2, to Lampeter-Strasburg senior Jeff Pickel, who placed third at districts for the second year in a row.

“It was 3-2 or something, so it’s not like I got beat bad or nothing like that,” Cooley said.

In addition to his early-morning workouts, Cooley has been preparing for states by practicing against his coaches and Stoops (220 pounds), a senior who will wrestle at Gettysburg College next year.

“I think I can place in the top eight,” Cooley said of his goal this weekend. “If there’s an opportunity for me to win it I’m gonna try.”

– Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com.

Comng up:

—WHAT: The PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships.

—WHERE: The Giant Center in Hershey.

—WHEN: The first-round matches begin at 9 a.m. Thursday for Class AA and at 4 p.m. Thursday for Class AAA. The three-day tournament wraps up Saturday with Class AA championships being held at 2 p.m. and the Class AAA championships held at 7 p.m.

—WHO: Twelve York-Adams League grapplers will compete in Class AAA: Eastern York’s Alex Cooley (195 pounds); Central York’s Dylan Chatterton (106); West York’s Kyle Narber (170); Dallastown’s Rodney Sunday (126), Wes Hoover (138), Tanner Druck (152) and Cooper Deller (182); Kennard-Dale’s Chance Marsteller (160); South Western’s Aram Moffitt (220); and Spring Grove’s Derek Carlisle (113), Zack Clingan (120) and Mason Bentzel (145).

Eight York-Adams wrestlers will compete in Class AA: Bermudian Springs’ Briton Shelton (145) and Tristan Sponseller (170); Biglerville’s Jasper Hankey (138), Josh Asper (170) and Trevor Stover (285); Hanover’s Ian Brown (132) and Tyler Shafer (138); and Fairfield’s Nick Mort (160).

By JOHN WALK 505-5406 / @yorksportsguy

All high school wrestlers likely dream about it.

But we understand for the majority of them, winning an Olympic gold medal will stay just that — a dream.

Still, it doesn’t deter them from pushing through the grueling sport for years on end in the hopes of achieving more obtainable goals, such as winning a district or state title in high school, which is still an impressive feat. And perhaps the upper echelon will have a chance to win a national championship in college.

That’s why I’m not worried too much about the popularity of wrestling at the high school or college ranks being hurt in any way, despite the possibility of the sport being excluded from the Summer Olympics starting in 2020. I still don’t agree with the decision from the International Olympic Committee, but that’s another topic for another day.

Anyway, I’d like to think that the majority of wrestlers will stick with the sport because of their love for it. Why else would they push through the demands of one of the most grueling athletic activities in existence?

I got that sense chatting about this topic recently with local high school standouts Chance Marsteller and Brooks Black. After all, the duo has the best shot of any current York County high school grapplers at making it to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“My main thought is I really think it’s going to get overturned,” Marsteller said Feb. 23, shortly after winning his third District 3-AAA gold medal.

The Kennard-Dale junior is 121-0 in his high school career and will be going for his third state gold medal this weekend in Hershey. He’ll have one year left at the high school level before moving onto the college ranks, and possibly trying to make the U.S. Olympic team for the 2016 Games at Rio.

“Whether it is or isn’t (overturned) I still have a shot at going to Rio in a couple years down the road from now when I’ll be older and more mature and ready to roll with some of the top dogs,” Marsteller said. “Right now I’m just preparing for that. And then if 2020 it’s (in) there, then lucky me.”

Black, the Dover native who wrestles for Blair (N.J.) Academy and is the No. 2-ranked heavyweight in the country by intermatwrestle.com, has similar sentiments.

“It’s upsetting. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s also disrespectful because it (wrestling) has been around for such a long time,” Black said. “But everyone feels the same about it. I feel like it’s going to be brought back.”

Wrestling will now compete with eight other sports vying for one bid to be included in the 2020 Summer Olympics. And it sounds like wrestling groups across the globe are campaigning hard for that bid.

“I’ve talked to (NCAA) Division I coaches and they’re asking me what’s going on?” said Marat Tomaev, a native of Russia who came to the U.S. at the age of 16 and wrestled for Blair and Penn State. Tomaev has been training Black since a young age.

“I called Slaeig Bagaev, he coached for the Russian national team and coached me for 10 years. It sounds like Russia and many counties as a whole are working hand-in-hand trying to reverse this decision,” Tomaev said.

Should wrestling be booted from the Olympics after 2016, it remains to be seen what impact it would have on countries such as Russia, where Tomaev says a grappler is basically set for life if he wins a gold medal. Gold medalists from the United States aren’t taken care of as well as that — the U.S. Olympic Committee pays its gold medal winners $25,000.

So it’s fair to say United States’ grapplers aren’t in it for the money. The love of the sport would still drive most, if not all, wrestlers, even if the Olympics are taken out of the equation.

“I wouldn’t say it dampers it,” Black said. “I don’t really try to think about it right now because I still have college wrestling to worry about.”

– Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com.