Photo by Greg Reedy

Ridgway wrestlers Garet Pisani and Joe Chittester won both their matches yesterday afternoon and will continue their quest of winning a state title at the PIAA Class AA state wrestling championships at the GIANT Center in Hershey.

By Greg Reedy

Record Sports Editor 

HERSHEY – Two overtime matches, two Ridgway victories.
Garet Pisani and Joe Chittester both went beyond the regulation six minutes to win their preliminary round matches and advance to the quarterfinals.
“Technically, both matches were very sound, they did what needed to be done,” Gerber said. “They were thinking the whole match, a lot of kids forget to do that and they get excited in overtime matches. We always tell the kids, ‘Overtime’s not a bad thing.’ You just have to go through it and use your conditioning to your advantage.”
Pisani scored a 1-0 decision in an ultimate tiebreaker over Tyler Berger of Burrell in the 130-pound weight class. Pisani battled through a scoreless first period and could not get an escape from the down position in the second period, coming close multiple times during the second period. In the third, Berger was in the down position, but again, the two battled to a 0-0 stalemate through regulation.
A scoreless one-minute overtime followed and Pisani took the down position in the first of two 30-second tiebreakers, but could not escape. Berger had the down position in the second 30-second tiebreaker but could not escape leading to a 30-second ultimate tiebreaker. Pisani won the flip to decide position choice for the deciding 30 seconds and Pisani chose the up position, winning the bout as he held Berger down for the 30 seconds to advance to the quarterfinals.
“He didn’t panic, he kept his head, kept his focus which is what we want,” Gerber said. “You have to pay attention to the job. He almost lost it a little with the cautions at the end. He reeled it back in, pulled himself together and got the job done.”
Gerber said the patience shown during Pisani’s bout will be critical later in the tournament.
“The talent’s there, if he just stays focused, he can do most anything,” Gerber said.
Gerber said Pisani wrestled well with a hand that is not 100 percent.
“Both of them are overcoming setbacks,” Gerber said. “He wrestled well with that hand, he was a little conservative, he hasn’t wrestled with it because we haven’t let him wrestle with it, we didn’t want to rip it up. He actually came through it pretty well.”
Pisani wrestles Logan Sheldon of Hyndman (District 5) in the quarterfinal. Sheldon enters with a 35-1 record.
Chittester battled Lance Moore of Lackawanna Trail in 285-pound weight class. After a scoreless first period, Chittester chose the down position to start the second and was able to pull off the escape with 14 seconds left in the second period to take a 1-0 lead. Moore returned the favor in the third with an escape of his own just 26 seconds into the final regulation period to square the bout. The bout went into overtime and then into two 30-second tiebreakers after the one-minute overtime resolved nothing. Moore chose the down position in the first tiebreaker but could not escape. Chittester chose the down position in the second tiebreaker and secured an escape with 15 seconds left to pull out the 2-1 decision in a tiebreaker.
“His conditioning paid off, for a big man, he’s in good shape even though he’s been sick,” Gerber said. “He rode the kid out when he was on top and when he was on the bottom he exploded and got the one and wrestled smart from there.”
Chittester faces Marty Kisla of Chartiers-Houston in the quarterfinals. Kisla was the fifth-place finisher in the Southwest Regionals but upset Southeast Regional Champion Dan Fultz of Juniata in his preliminary bout.
Gerber said winning on the first day will give the wrestlers confidence.
“You get your foot in the door, it’s a good start,” Gerber said.
“It gives you the confidence that you need to have in the next round because each round is going to get tougher.”
The quarterfinals begin at 8 a.m. this morning with action to continue throughout the day.