Five local wrestlers set for East Super Regionals

Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.
·4 min read

Mar. 6—Five local wrestlers with sights set on Hershey will continue on that quest Saturday at the PIAA East Super Regionals in Quakertown and Pottsville.

At Quakertown High School, the Hazleton Area trio of Beck Hutchison, Bryce Molinaro and Seth Hunsinger, and Crestwood's Trey Zabroski will compete in the Class 3A East Super Regional after their top-4 finishes in last week's Class 3A Northeast Regional.

Meanwhile, at Martz Hall, the Class 2A East Super Regional will include Tamaqua's Nate Wickersham, who took gold at the Class 2A Southeast Regional last weekend.

The top four finishers in each weight class move on to the PIAA Wrestling Championships in Hershey next weekend.

In Class 3A, Hunsinger (14-3) comes in seeded fourth at 215 pounds after finishing as runner-up at both districts and regionals. The senior will wrestle CB West's Carl DiGiorgio (21-3) in the quarterfinals.

Should Hunsinger get by DiGiorgio, top-seeded Ryan Catka (13-0) of Sun Valley could await in the semifinal round.

The possibility of a fourth showdown between Hunsinger and Delaware Valley's Jason Henderson looms in the final. Henderson has handed Hunsinger all three of his losses this season by decision, including in title matches the last two weekends.

Molinaro, a junior, carries a 17-1 mark into the Super Regional, having won gold at districts and rebounding from his first loss of the season to place third at regionals.

The 189-pounder, seeded sixth, will first wrestle Garnet Valley's Sam DiTrolio (18-2), the third seed and Southeast Regional runner-up. The top seed in the field is SE champion Joey Milano (12-0) of Spring-Ford.

Hutchison (15-3) is coming off a fourth-place finish at regionals after winning District 2 gold at 126 pounds. The senior, seeded eighth, takes on top-seeded Dominic Findora (10-0) of Downingtown West in the quarterfinal round. Findora won the Southeast Regional crown .

Zabroski (6-3), who had just one contested match coming into districts due to COVID issues in the Crestwood program, took silver at districts and placed fourth at regionals. Seeded eighth at 138 pounds, he'll look to keep his goal of reaching states alive starting against top-seeded Kyle Hauserman (15-0) of Council Rock North. He is the Southeast Regional champion.

At Quakertown, Wickersham (20-1) is coming off a gold-medal performance at the Class 2A Southeast Regional after placing second at districts the week before. The 215-pound senior will first wrestle Berks Catholic freshman Brody Kline (18-4), the fifth-place finisher at the Southeast Regional, in today's quarterfinal round.

Both Super Regionals will wrap up Saturday evening, and the top four in each weight class punch their ticket to Hershey. The Class 2A championships will be held Friday, March 12 and the Class 3A tournament will go off Saturday, March 13.

Super Regional Wrestling Pairings

Class 2A

East Super Regional

When: Saturday

Where: Martz Hall, Pottsville

Sessions: Session I — Weights 106-138, quarterfinals at 8:30 a.m., semifinals/first-round consolations at 9:30 a.m., consolation semifinals at 10:30 a.m., fifth-place matches at 11:30a.m., finals and third-place matches at 12:30 p.m. Session II — Weights 145-285, quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m., semifinals/first-round consolations at 3:30 p.m., consolation semifinals at 5p.m., fifth-place matches at 6 p.m., finals and third-place matches at 7 p.m.

Advancement: Top 4 in each weight class qualify for the PIAA Championships on Friday, March 12, at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Local Pairing

Quarterfinals

215 — SE-1 Nate Wickersham, Tamaqua, sr., 20-1 vs. SE-5 Brody Kline, Berks Catholic, fr., 18-4

Class 3A

East Super Regional

When: Saturday

Where: Quakertown H.S.

Sessions: Session I — Weights 106-138, quarterfinals at 8:30 a.m., semifinals/first-round consolations at 9:30 a.m., consolation semifinals at 10:30 a.m., fifth-place matches at 11:30 a.m., finals and third-place matches at 12:30 p.m. Session II — Weights 145-285, quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m., semifinals/first-round consolations at 3:30p.m., consolation semifinals at 5 p.m., fifth-place matches at 6 p.m., finals and third-place matches at 7 p.m.

Advancement: Top 4 in each weight class qualify for the PIAA Championships on Saturday, March 13, at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Local Pairings

Quarterfinals

126 — SE-1 Dominic Findora, Downingtown West, jr., 10-0 vs. NE-4 Beck Hutchison, Hazleton Area, sr., 15-3

138 — SE-1 Kyle Hauserman, Council Rock North, sr., 15-0 vs. NE-4 Trey Zabroski, Crestwood, sr., 6-3

189 — SE-2 Sam DiTrolio, Garnet Valley, jr., 18-2 vs. NE-3 Bryce Molinaro, Hazleton Area, jr., 17-1

215 — NE-2 Seth Hunsinger, Hazleton Area, sr., 14-3 vs. SE-3 Carl DiGiorgio, Central Bucks West, jr., 21-3