The Berries advanced 9 matmen into the semifinals, while Lakeview and Reynolds moved 8 into position.

While there is no official team championship awarded by District 10 as in the past, the District 10 Coaches Association will present a team title trophy. Current standings show Cranberry with 38 points, Reynolds 35 and Lakeview 29.

"We lost a couple of close ones, but we're not out of it," said Reynolds coach Brian Hills, looking for his team's 29th section title, albeit not recognized by the PIAA. "I'm seeing a lot of improvement in our less experienced guys and all the guys we expected to win did. Tomorrow's another day."

While "tomorrow's another day," Friday was a big night for Sharon senior Jared Moss and the Slippery Rock High team. Moss, the top seed at 140, won his 100th career match with a fall.

The fledgling Slippery Rock team, which wrestled a junior varsity schedule all year, made its first-ever appearance in the postseason. None of the five Rockets entries made it to the semis, but they are alive for one of the consolation places to advance to districts.

All of the top seeds advanced Friday night, all but one with ease. Fairview's Drew Macko, at 152, was the only top seed who didn't score a fall or earn a bye. Macko had a real tussle with Reynolds' Jesse Tumpak, but pulled out a 1-0 victory.

Lakeview's solid showing came as no surprise to coach Eric Mount.

"All year long I knew we had a good tournament team," Mount said. "Every dual match we would give up 18 points (forfeits) so our record was a little deceiving. We have some outstanding individuals. I've really happy with the light weights, they did a nice job."

Today's semifinals and consolations were to begin at 10 a.m. The consolation finals will start at 6 p.m., followed by the finals.

Here's how the weight classes shape up as of this morning:

• 103 -- Top-seed Jeff King of Lakeview and second-seed Jerry Kendall of Reynolds continued on a collision course for the finals, although King will take on Mercer's female phenom Micah Kelly while Kendall faces Fairview's Nate Gennaro.

• 112 -- A Lakeview-Reynolds final is also shaping up here as No. 1 seed Drew Rose of Lakeview and Reynolds' Justin Hollobaugh are expected to roll to the finals. Rose takes on Sharpsville's Terry Balensky, while Hollobaugh faces Rich McDonald of Sharon this morning.

• 119 -- Reynolds' Steve Popovitch, who faces Jeremy Fry of Lakeview in the semis, is heavily favored to win his third straight section crown. He should meet either Mercer's Rick Trowbridge or Cranberry's Jason Rice in the finals.

• 125 -- Top-seeded Rocky Habel takes on Sharon's Brian Bodien today and should advance to meet the winner of Cranberry's Ben Rizzo and Lakeview's Evan Hoobler.

• 130 -- Jason Nestor, who came into the tournament with 126 victories, didn't get to add to that number as he picked up a quarterfinals bye. He'll take on Tim Rowland of Cranberry in the semis and should meet either Jim Funk of Sharpsville or Eric McCurdy of Mercer in the evening.

• 135 -- Top-seed Justin Nestor is expected to meet Sharpsville's Ron Haywood in the finals, barring a major upset, as Nestor meets Mercer's Rob Scheuermann and Haywood takes on Josh Bickel of Cranberry in the semis.

• 140 -- Moss is apparently headed for win No. 101 against Cranberry's Tarvis Dittman this morning and will probably face second-seed Luke Varner of Kennedy Christian in the finals if Varner defeats Jeremy Asafaylo.

• 145 -- Raider Doug Woods should be on course to meet Sharon's Matt Raiti in the finals if Woods downs Kennedy's Derek Rogan and Raiti gets by Lakeview's Steve Fulton as expected.

• 152 -- Macko, who escaped with the close win over Tumpak, could get a challenge in the semis from Mercer's Chris Dunn. Jason Zacheral of Cranberry and Scott Kossman of Rocky Grove will meet in the other semi.

• 160 -- Top-seed Jason Cecil, who will take on Jeremy Weirick of Mercer this morning, is on track to win his second straight section title. If he advances as expected, he should see Fairview's Jason Oros or Sharpsville's Bill Thompson tonight.

• 171 -- This is one of the more balanced classes and should have close semifinal matches as top-seed Luke Slater takes on Sharon's Jim Connelly and second-seed Cary Kulka of Sharpsville goes against Steve Kahle of Cranberry.

• 189 -- Top-seeded Travis Shirley of Kennedy is heavily favored against Brian Frawley of Cranberry this morning and will face either Lakeview's Brad Bell or Mercer's Chris White in the finals. Bell, the No. 2 seed, edged Reynolds' Mike Jones, 3-2, in one of the better quarterfinal bouts.

• 275 -- This should be a finals meeting between Cranberry's Jeromy Ritchey and Reynolds' Jon Hollobaugh. Ritchey takes on Lakeview's Alex Barbour, while Hollobaugh faces Josh Murzynski of Fairview in the semis.

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Updated Feb. 20, 1999
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