Devils’ Risaliti ready to renew battle at districts

When Forest Hills' Cody Law beat Central Cambria's returning District 6 champion and state medalist Tony Risaliti, 10-7, in the Sheetz Holiday Classic final, it raised a few eyebrows.

When Law beat Risaliti, a seventh-placer at the PIAA Championships last season, in the dual meet, 7-4, it might have been an even bigger surprise.

Law and Risaliti are the first and second seeds, respectively, at 160 pounds for the District 6 Class AA Tournament, and they'll very likely meet again in the finals Saturday night. And it might not be the last time they wrestle as Law, who was third at districts and sixth at the Southwest Regional at 145 last season, is ranked third in the Off The Mat rankings, and Risaliti is sixth.

"As we always talk about, seeds don't mean anything until the final round," Central Cambria coach Bob Nikolishen said. "We'll be anxious to see that matchup again for the third time. They could possibly meet five times this year. We're looking for a good battle. We're looking for three more shots at this guy.

"This can be compared to the [Evan] Link and [Nick] Roberts matchup. You've got two local guys who work real hard at this game, and, unfortunately, they're going to meet up. We're excited to see these matches though."

"I'm feeling really good about my wrestling," Risaliti said. "I'm getting prepared. It's a hard grind to get to the finals. I always try to not look too far ahead. That way you don't make as many mistakes."

But, Risaliti says, the two friends who work out together at Young Guns have talked about more bouts against each other.

"I always talk to Cody, and we joke about rematches," Risaliti said. "One thing we joke about is wrestling each other in the districts, regionals and state finals. We hope it happens like that. We are good buddies, and it's cool to go through that with him. They'll be hard-fought matches."

The tournament begins at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Altoona Fieldhouse with the pigtail round. The second round will follow at 11:30 a.m., and the quarterfinals are set for 6 p.m. Three rounds of consolations will be wrestled the first day.

Wrestling resumes at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with the fourth round consolations. The semifinals are slated for noon. The third and fifth-place finals are set for 5:30

The tournament begins at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Altoona Fieldhouse with the pigtail round. The second round will follow at 11:30 a.m., and the quarterfinals are set for 6 p.m. Three rounds of consolations will be wrestled the first day.

Wrestling resumes at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with the fourth round consolations. The semifinals are slated for noon. The third and fifth-place finals are set for 5:30 p.m., and, after the District 6 Hall of Fame ceremony, the championship finals will take place at about 6:45.

Only the top four wrestlers at each weight qualify for the regional tournament for the second straight year.

The other weight class that's causing a buzz is 138, where somebody really good won't make the regional tournament. Three of the top five seeds - Claysburg-Kimmel's top-seeded Ty Dively, Penn Cambria's second-seeded Nick Szala and Juniata's fifth-seeded Brandon Rowles - qualified for the PIAA Championships.

The other two guys - Blairsville's third-seeded Noah Tarr (32-2) and Bellwood-Antis' fourth-seeded Trevor Helsley (29-2) - qualified for regionals last season.

"You sort of anticipated when they changed the weights this would happen," C-K coach Dave Marko said. "130, 135 and 140 were loaded last year, and now there's only two weights [132 and 138]. It's where most of the wrestlers are. Some guys didn't grow and some did, and it made for a perfect storm."

Dively is vying for his first district title after finishing second the previous three years, including last year at 125. Szala was a runner-up at 130, and Rowles was a runner-up at 135. Tarr was a second seed at 140 who finished fourth. Helsley finished fourth at 135 last season.

"Ty is wrestling well," Marko said. "I like his chances of winning. He has to wrestle his best so he can move on. Ultimately, though, if you place well at states, nobody will remember how you did at districts. It's a stepping stone, and you take one week at a time."

Dively is among six area top seeds. Dively's teammate James Dodson (132), Cambria Heights' Joe Davis (120) and Ross Inzana (170), CC's Ben Rager (126) and Moshannon Valley James Stodart (195) are also No. 1 seeds.

Dodson (30-0) and Rager (29-0) are also returning champs. Rager, who finished fifth at 125 in Hershey last season, wrestled the whole year at 132, but dropped to 126 for the postseason.

"We expected him to be right where he's at," Nikolishen said. "He feels, real, real solid at 126, and we expect a real good tournament from him as well."

Cambria Heights' Ryan Dupas captured a district title at 103 last season, but he's seeded second at 113 to Ligonier Valley's Josh Patrick, a district runner-up at 112 who placed fourth in Hershey. In addition to Dupas, Davis and Inzana, Heights has another second seed in Jake Beach (195).

"I think that's great," Heights coach Mike Eckenrode said. "We still have to go out and wrestle. We've been wrestling pretty good. They have a good attitude. It's definitely what we look forward to all year."

Richland's two-time state champion John Rizzo will be going for his fourth District 6 title - this season at 220. Forest Hills' Richard Brydon and Juniata's Zach Beitz are returning champs, and they're both at 145. United's John Blankenship (170) is also a returning champ.

Mount Union, the District 6 Duals champion, is the favorite to win the team title, but C-K, which didn't wrestle in the Duals amid controversy, West Branch, Heights and Blairsville could make a run at the team crown.

"The guys we have are really looking forward to it," Marko said. "We get to show what we can do. We want to advance as many as possible, and the team race will care of itself. We have several guys who have a chance at making the finals. Somebody said we always have somebody that gets through that nobody expected to get through."