Thoughts From Behind The Mic: PIAA AA
Thoughts From Behind The Mic: PIAA AA
Recap of the 2021 PIAA AA State Wrestling Championships
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It was a strange year. The PIAA State Championships weren’t any different. The PIAA did what they had to do to let the wrestlers compete. They should be commended for being flexible to arrange the schedule to have the postseason within the guidelines. Below I share my thoughts on the PIAA Championships as I observed from the matside announcers table.
Super-Region Breakdown
This observation started the minute the postseason adjustments were made. Everyone started to look how each weight class measured up in each super-region. It wasn’t an ideal system as the balance of power in some weights heavily favored one of the super-regions. Top eight guys were left at home this week because of the qualifying procedure. This happens in a normal year, but was accentuated by the super-region format.
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 106 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 113 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| 120 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 126 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 132 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| 138 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
| 145 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 152 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 160 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 172 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| 189 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 215 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| 285 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 25 | 59 | 63 | 88 | 36 | 51 | 58 | 88 | |
| 1.92 | 4.54 | 4.85 | 6.77 | 2.77 | 3.92 | 4.46 | 6.77 | |
| West | Average | 4.52 | East | Average | 4.48 |
When seeing the breakdown I was surprised how balanced the AA field was when averaging the placement of each super-region. The East was slightly better with an average of 4.48, and the West averaged 4.52.
Only one champion was not a Super-Region Champion, that was Louie Gill (Hickory) at 106lbs. The West won the battle for gold medals with 9/13 champions coming from the West.
Breakdown By Class
I don’t have enough historical data compiled to definitively say this is the most medals freshmen have ever taken on the AA side. I can tell you that it is the most freshmen medalists in the past decade. Keep in mind that is more impressive for this class of freshmen because there were only 13 weights this year after the previous decade saw 14 weight classes contested. Not only did 12 freshmen medal, six of them were in the top four and four made the finals.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9th | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 10th | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| 11th | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 25 |
| 12th | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 49 |
| 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
McMillen Into Exclusive Club
Brock McMillen didn’t win four titles, but he came as close as you can come. He was second as a freshman before running off three titles in a row. This club is as exclusive as the four-timer club in Pennsylvania. 13 wrestlers have won four titles. 52 have won three titles, but just 13 of those three-time champions lost in the finals the year they didn’t capture a championship. McMillen joins the majority of the club as eight of them lost as freshmen before winning three straight.
| Name | School | Class Of | Classification | Year of Loss | Finals Loss | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Maurey | Clearfield | 1948 | One Class | Freshman | John Heacock | Bedford |
| Jan Clark | Northern Bedford | 1977 | B/AA | Freshman | Bob Enders | Susquehanna Township |
| Terry Williams | Bald Eagle Nittany | 1980 | AA | Junior | Randy McKinney | Fairview |
| Joey Wildasin | Southwestern | 1990 | AAA | Freshman | Dan Finacchio | North Penn |
| Mike Shingara | Line Mountain | 1997 | AA | Freshman | Chris Marshall | Biglerville |
| Jordan Oliver | Easton | 2008 | AAA | Freshman | Matthew Kyler | Clearfield |
| Marshall Peppleman | Central Dauphin | 2010 | AAA | Freshman | Tyler Nauman | Middletown |
| Cody Wiercioch | Charlerio/Canon-Mcmillan | 2013 | AA/AAA | Sophomore | Travis McKillop | Burrell |
| Luke Karam | Bethlehem Catholic | 2016 | AA/AAA | Freshman | Devin Brown | Saegertown |
| Luke Pletcher | Greater Latrobe | 2016 | AAA | Junior | AC Headlee | Waynesburg |
| Cameron Coy | Penn Trafford | 2017 | AAA | Sophomore | Sam Krivus | Hempfield Area |
| Spencer Lee | Franklin Regional | 2017 | AAA | Senior | Austin DeSanto | Exeter Township |
| Brock McMillen | Glendale | 2021 | AA | Freshman | Josh Boozel | Mount Union |
Lawrence vs Pitzer Down The Line?
Rune Lawrence (Frazier) became the third heaviest freshman champion in PIAA history. Lawrence won the 172lb title in dramatic fashion, picking up nearfall in the closing seconds of the third period of a tied match. When the dust settled Friday evening my mind started wandering to a Dayton Pitzer vs Rune Lawrence matchup.
Pitzer was a freshman champion at 182lbs in 2019. He missed the 2020 championships with an injury, but got back to the top of the podium in 2021 at 215lbs. With Pennsylvania readjusting weight classes this year, it might be unlikely, but not out of the question that we see Lawrence and Pitzer at the same weight next year. Lawrence wrestled 157lbs at the PAJW Championships in eighth grade and 172lbs as a freshman. He is tall for the weight class and has room to fill out. If Pitzer is back at 215lbs it wouldn’t be totally unthinkable for Lawrence to skip right over 189lbs.
Arrignton and Haines Impress
You often see high school wrestlers make jumps through their careers. Two of the memorable jumps I can think of in Pennsylvania over the last decade are Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) and Jason Nolf (Kittaning). Both were extremely good wrestlers. Between their junior and senior seasons something happened with their development that they put a huge gap between them and the field.
That appears to have occurred this year for a pair of juniors on the AA side this season. This is scary as Jackson Arrington (Forest Hills) won a title and was third in his first two seasons. Levi Haines (Biglerville) had finished second twice. These two met in the semifinals a year ago with Haines earning the decision. There is another layer of intrigue as fans look forward to next season. Ryan Crookham (Saucon Valley) is expected to be back from injury. He won the title at 126lbs last season defeating Haines in the final. If any two of the three end up at the same weight next season it will definitely be a treat for the fans.
Speaking with Arrington prior to the finals I was looking for answers. How did he make such a jump? Was there something he technically he improved on? How did he put such a pace on his opponents to get them into deep waters? Paraphrasing his response: he basically said it was a mental adjustment. He believes in his cardio and enjoys bringing a hard pace to the mat. The most poignant statement was that it is a lot more fun to score while exerting effort instead of exerting effort just to tire the opponent out. He wants to be efficient in his wrestling, but will press the pace to force his opponent to a breaking point.
It sounds simple. Executing is the difficult part. Arrington seems to have put all the pieces of the puzzle together that his belief is matched by his execution.
