Tyrone's A.J. Schopp and Bedford's Brian Creps were last year's Altoona Mirror Wrestler of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, but to repeat those honors this year they would have to overcome some major obstacles in their way.
In order to win his first state title after finishing second in two previous state tournaments, Schopp had to go through two state champions, Wyomissing's Nick Hodgkins and Montoursville's Luke Frey, with a broken nose he sustained the Sunday before the PIAA Championships began.
Creps lost some key wrestlers from last year's record-setting 19-2 Bedford team that finished fourth in the PIAA Team Championships, including a couple Mirror first-team all-stars in Tyler Gould and Josh Krupa, and he had to fill in spots with first-year starters.
They both overcame those obstacles, as Schopp won the state title with a 4-2 win over Frey in the finals to complete a 42-0 season, and Creps guided his team to another undefeated regular season. For their performances, they have earned top honors again for the 27th annual Mirror all-star team.
Schopp joins Juniata Valley's Garrett Scott as the only wrestlers to be selected for the Wrestler of the Year award multiple times. The three-time state champion Scott was selected the top wrestler in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05.
A four-time first-team all-star and four-time state placewinner, Schopp led the area in pins for the second straight year with 29, was voted the Outstanding Wrestler at the District 6 tournament for the second straight year, captured his third district title and his third Southwest Regional title.
Schopp became Tyrone's 12th state champion and the school's first since Terry Tate claimed gold in 2005. Schopp broke Tate's school and area record of career wins of 149 at the district tournament and pushed the new record to 160.
Creps' team again went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the Mirror rankings and finished as the top team for the fourth year in a row.
The Bisons only have one Mirror first team all-star in 119-pounder Cory Thomas, but no area team has more than two. Altoona, Penn Cambria, Tyrone, Central Cambria and Portage have two on the first team.
The first, second and honorable mention teams follow the order of the Mirror rankings, with some exceptions at deep weights. Here's the rest of the first team and its accomplishments:
103 pounds: T.J. Brandt, Altoona: Brandt, a freshman, followed up his junior high success by going 32-4 with 21 pins, despite being one of the smaller 103-pounders in the area, breezing to a District 6 Class AAA title, beating Bald Eagle Area's returning district runner-up Justin Giedroc, 12-3, in the finals and finishing second in the Northwest Regional Tournament.
112 pounds: Evan Link, Penn Cambria: The Panther junior returns to the first team after winning his second District 6 Class AA title, placing third in the Southwest Regional for the second straight year and taking seventh at the PIAA Championships. Ranked No. 1 by Off The Mat entering Hershey, Link went 37-7, led the area in major decisions with eight and had 11 pins and six technical falls. Link will enter his senior season with a 96-19 career record.
119 pounds: Cory Thomas, Bedford: A two-time second-team all-star, Thomas finally makes the first team as a senior after going 40-6 with 22 pins, winning his third District 5 title, placing third at the Southwest Regional and taking sixth at the PIAA Championships. Thomas finished his career with a 128-29 record and 73 pins, setting the school record in both categories previously held by Eric Gibbons.
125 pounds: Pat Myers, Penn Cambria: The Panther senior is on the first team for the second time after making it as a sophomore. Myers finally won a district title after finishing second the previous three years, beating Juniata Valley's Taylor Boyd, 9-3, in the finals, but he was stopped from making his fourth trip to the state tournament in a strange twist by North Star nemesis Joe Lascari, 4-3, in the regional quarterfinals.
Myers was a 33-4 with 16 pins and six technical falls. He broke Nathan Link's career wins record of 138, finishing his career with a 140-26 record.
130 pounds: Ronnie Garbinsky, Tyrone: Garbinsky won his first 40 bouts using a physical style of wrestling between 130 and 140 pounds before Boiling Springs' eventual state champion Joe Spisak scored three late nearfall points in the semifinals to win, 6-3. Garbinsky, who placed fourth as a freshman and sophomore, finished fifth this year.
The Golden Eagle junior went 41-2 with 21 pins and five technical falls, won his third district title easily, and, with a No. 1 ranking by Off The Mat in his pocket, beat Shady Side Academy's second-ranked Frank Martellotti, 1-0, for his second regional title. Garbinsky, a two-time first-teamer, will enter his senior season with a 119-9 career record.
140 pounds: Phil Steinberg, Central Cambria: Steinberg, a 2009 state runner-up, returns to the first team after winning his third district title in a wild 7-6 victory over Somerset's Luke Lohr and his second regional crown before placing eighth at Hershey. The hard-working Red Devil senior went 35-4 with 19 pins this season, and he finished his career with a 105-19 record.
145 pounds: Shawn Perich, Portage: His regular-season winning streak was snapped this year, but Perich had his best finish of his career. The Mustang senior went 41-2 with 23 pins, beat Central Cambria's Tony Risaliti, 11-5, to win his second district and survived a 6-5 war with South Fayette's eventual state champ Nick Carr to win a regional title.
He went on to place third in Hershey, with his only loss coming to Sharon's former state champ Jordan Moss, 8-5, in the state semifinals. It was Perich's third state medal, placing seventh last year and sixth as a sophomore, and he's the first Portage wrestler to do that. He finished his career with a 138-17 career record, easily becoming the school record holder in wins.
152 pounds: Damian Lascoli, Hollidaysburg: Lascoli, who had three wins as a freshman and went 20-9 last season, made an even bigger jump this year, going 34-9 with five major decisions. The Golden Tiger junior, who was an honorable mention pick last year, took third in the District 6 Class AAA Tournament and third in the Northwest Regional, avenging his district loss to Bald Eagle Area's Coleman Hoffman, 3-2, in the consolation finals.
160 pounds: Tyler Dibert, Chestnut Ridge: Only a freshman, Dibert went 29-8 with 13 pins and won a District 5 title with a 6-3 win over Everett veteran Luke Hoover. Dibert's Southwest Regional Tournament losses were 8-6 in the tiebreaker and 10-8.
171 pounds: David Kephart, Portage: Kephart, who returns to the first team, expanded his style in his junior season, and it paid off in the form of a 36-6 record. He was a district runner-up, losing to Westmont Hilltop's Ryan Burnheimer, 4-2, in overtime and a regional fourth-placer, losing to Shady Side's eventual state champ Matthew Cunningham in the semifinals and to Burnheimer in the ultimate tiebreaker. He has a career record of 83-26.
189 pounds: K.J. Walters, Altoona: Walters loves playing baseball, but he'll graduate from Altoona as the school record-holder in career wins, amassing a 116-30 record. He won his second District 6 Class AAA Tournament title with a 4-2 win over Lewistown's Tyson Searer and finished second at the Northwest Regional. Walters was 36-4 with 20 pins this season.
215 pounds: Joel Suter, Northern Bedford: After going 26-7 his sophomore season, Suter went 31-6 this year. Suter, a two-time District 5 runner-up who was hampered by injuries late in the season, placed fourth at the Southwest Regional.
285 pounds: Shane Morris, Central Cambria: An honorable mention selection as a sophomore, the Red Devil junior makes the first team after being ranked No. 1 by the Mirror the whole season. Morris went 28-7 with 19 pins and placed fourth at the district tournament.
