By Tom Fox
MaxPreps.com
Jeff Sweigard heard the boos ringing down from the crowd.
With the match wrapped up, and another PIAA Class AAA team championship heading his way, he made a decision that didn’t set well with the fans.
Instead of sending out his two stars, Marshall Peppelman and Kenny Courts, to face off with two of Cumberland Valley’s best grapplers in Joey Napoli and Bryce Busler, Sweigard sent out some of his backup athletes to get time in the Hershey spotlight.
“I know CV wasn’t real happy with me but this is team wrestling,” the Central Dauphin head coach said.
“We’ll see them down the road. We’ve wrestled Busler like three or four times, and the same with Napoli. I need the kids healthy for sectionals, districts and states.”
Central Dauphin beat Cumberland Valley for the third time this season, while defeating Connellsville in the quarters and Northampton in the semifinals.
Northampton, which survived a controversial, 31-27 win in the quarterfinals against Central Mountain, came back to capture third place.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” Northampton 189-pounder Joe Piro said. “I took two silvers with Easton and a silver with Northampton last year. I really wanted to get a gold in my senior year. But I am happy with how our team battled back to get third place.”
In the championship semifinals, Central Dauphin breezed past Northampton, while Cumberland Valley had to withstand a battle from Blue Mountain.
Blue Mountain’s downfall was it had to forfeit one weight, which turned out to be the difference.
“We pretty much dealt with it all season,” BM head coach Tod Kindig said. “We are super tough from 103 right up through 140, and we had a couple of injuries in the middleweights. We got a 215 in the past week or two, just so we could fill that hole. We still have some kids wrestling with injuries. It made it more challenging, but it also made it special that we could do what we did. It was a nice process that we all went through.”
Central Mountain, which finished third last season, returned back home with a fourth-place ending. CM had three undefeated wrestlers in the tournament: Andrew Alton, Dylan Alton and Jordan Rich.
“These guys are right there with the best guys,” CM head coach Doug Buckwalter said. “Central Dauphin and Northampton are really good teams, and we aren’t that far behind. This last round, we lost four one-point matches and that’s going to be important in the postseason tournaments. You have to win those close matches.”
Football: Chesney tabbed as MCA coach
One of the most storied high school football programs in the state of Pennsylvania has itself a new coach.
Bob Chesney was voted by the Mount Carmel Area School Board as the new leader of the Red Tornadoes.
Chesney, who was an assistant coach at MCA for the past two years, takes over for Mike Brennan, who left to take a similar spot at Blue Mountain.
“I know a little about the fiber of the community, I've lived in the Mount Carmel School District my entire life and I coached at numerous programs," Chesney told the Sunbury Daily-Item. "This is probably my last hurrah so to speak. I have an opportunity to get in control of one of the best programs in the state and I'm looking forward to continue the success that has already been orchestrated."
For Chesney, 59, this isn’t his first coaching stint.
He’s led almost every team in the Coal Region – including local rivals Shamokin, Lourdes and North Schuylkill.
He was an assistant at Southern Columbia and Milton, plus he has experience coaching three different institutions.
"My goal, as any head coach, is to win as many games as I can," Chesney told the newspaper. "We hope the intensity of the kids stays at a fever pitch in order for us to be successful. I still have the fire, desire and motivation to be a head coach.”
Boys Basketball: Williamsport top seed in upcoming D2-4 playoffs
The state-ranked Williamsport Millionaires are looking to get back into that title hunt.
The Billtown boys finished with an overall record for 19-3 in the regular season with respectable losses to William Penn, Penn Wood and Altoona.
Saturday, the team rallied from a halftime deficit to upend University City, 82-68. Jadiah Lynch scored 25 points to pace the Millionaires.
Allen Taylor’s boys netted 20 points in the third quarter to rally.
“The third quarter was big. Any time you take a lead when your down it's a big quarter but we definitely have to do something defensively," Taylor told the Sun-Gazette. "There's no reason we should be able to put 38 points up in a half and end up being down.”
Williamsport will play the winner of Wyoming Valley West and Delaware Valley.
Basketball: District 6 announces seeds
While tournament brackets will be released by Districts 2 and 4 later this week, the basketball playoffs in District 6 start Monday.
Three teams will compete in the Quad-A playoffs – Altoona, State College and Hollidaysburg. The district’s fourth school, Central Mountain, opted out in both boys and girls.
On the boys’ side, Central (Martinsburg), Cambria Heights and Bishop Carroll secured top seeds in their respective classes. Central is tops in Triple-A with Greater Johnstown and Tyrone getting the top three seeds. In Double-A, Cambria Heights, Bishop McCort and Penns Valley were the top three, while Bishop Carroll, Homer Center and Northern Cambria are the high seeds in Single-A.
On the girls’ side, state semifinalist Bellefonte is the top seed in the Triple-A playoffs, and there could be an interesting semifinal should No. 4 Lewistown beat No. 5 Philipsburg-Osceola meet in the quarterfinals. Bellefonte and Lewistown have met in the last few district championship games. Indian Valley, which lost twice to Bellefonte in the regular season, is the No. 2 seed.
In Double-A, state-ranked Southern Huntingdon is the top seed. The Rockets are undefeated in 2008-2009 and are ranked in the top five of the state. Bishop McCort and Marion Center are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively.
In Single-A, another state-ranked school, Bishop Guilfoyle, is the top seed followed by last year’s state runner-up Northern Cambria and Conemaugh Valley.
Tom Fox is Sports Editor at The Lock Haven (Pa.) Express and covers Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania for MaxPreps.com. Hecan be reached at tfox@lockhaven.com.
