'99-00 SCHEDULE

Dec. 16 -- at Slippery Rock    21 -- Kennedy Christian    29-30 -- at Redbank Valley Tournament Jan. 4 -- Greenville    6 -- at Sharpsville    11 -- Jamestown    18 -- Grove City    20 -- at Commodore Perry    21-22 -- at North East Tournament    25 -- at Reynolds    27 -- at Mercer    29 -- Sharon Quad Feb. 1 -- Hickory    5 -- at Freedom Tournament

By The Herald Sports Staff

Coach Dave Ciafre is looking for someone to fill some big shoes with the loss of Jared Moss, the state's third-place finisher at 140 last season. But he also welcomes back a lot of experienced matmen.

"Jared is really all we lost to graduation," said Ciafre, now in his eighth season. "I think we'll be OK, but we don't have our big guys at practice yet."

As usual, when the Tigers football team makes the playoffs, the wrestling and basketball teams are hampered as they await some of the players. For that reason, Ciafre hasn't scheduled any matches before Dec. 16.

"I think we'll be young," said Ciafre, "but we'll be better than last year. We're much more experienced throughout and we have a lot more bodies. If we stay healthy we should be pretty scrappy."

District qualifiers returning from last season are Matt Raiti, Rich McDonald, Eric Squatrito, Brian Bodien and Jim Connelly.

At present, the Tigers have no 103-pounder. Sophomore Ryan Martell will be at 112, with McDonald, junior letterman, and Robbie Van Tassell, sophomore, at 119 and 125. Bodien, a senior letterman who came on strong at the season's end, will be at 130, backed by sophomore Josh Young.

Squatrito, sophomore letterman, will be at 135 or 140, with competition from freshman Chrystan Bedell and sophomore Adam Leishman. Freshman Marc Zamora will be at 145, with senior letterman Raiti at 152, backed by Shawn O'Toole, a junior. Senior Russ Porterfield will fill the 160 slot, backed by sophomore John Raey, while junior letterman Connelly will be at 171. Competing for the 189 and 275 slots are freshman Ron Samora, sophomores Jim Morocco and Sean Murray, senior letterman Brandon Burwell and senior Sal Langston.

"We should have a nice squad this year," said Ciafre. "Raiti had a good year last year and we have nice nucleus of seniors. The kids worked hard all summer and went to camp. A lot of the kids were in the weight room and that ought to pay off."

Connelly, who didn't play football this season after late-summer surgery, has been gearing for wrestling. He won the state Greco-Roman championship at the Cadet level (under 16) in the summer. "He's working hard," said Ciafre. "He has taken the lead from (state runner-up) Eric Mausser a few years ago."

Assisting Ciafre with the varsity are Barry Anderson, Gary Bedell, Jim Schwalm and Justin Fischer. Jeff Krecek and Jim Connelly coach the junior high, while the elementary coaches are Gary Gula, Jerry Mausser, Bill Scheuermann, Bill Dorfi, Joe Moss and others.