WPIAL Finals: Jake Hart Upsets State Champ McCutcheon

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The 2013 WPIAL Championships may have started out as routine but their ending was anything but. Once again the WPIAL showcased why their District/Region is the toughest Tournament around with a finals that included 19 PIAA State Medalists. The next closest Region/District was District 3/South Central Regional which featured 11 finalists with PIAA medals to their names.

South Central Regional: 11 Finalists with PIAA Medals

North East Regional: 10 Finalists with PIAA Medals

South East Regional: 7 Finalists with PIAA Medals

North West Regional: 4 Finalists with PIAA Medlas

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In the biggest upset of the evening, and possibly of the entire post-season, 2012 State runner-up Jake Hart (Hampton) defeated 2012 State Champion Matt McCutcheon (3-1 in OT) at 195 lbs. For McCutcheon it was his first loss suffered since falling to 2012 PIAA State Champion Perry Hills (3-1) on January 7, 2012. The win earned Hart the Outstanding Wrestler Award of the Tournament and a permanent smile that he wore out the doors of Norwin High School. Wrestling fans who were unable to see the match, your in luck as there is a possibility these two meet again next week in Hershey. I wouldn’t bet the house on it, however, with North West Regional Champion Landon Hanna (DuBois Area) having the capability of taking out either one with his pinning style of wrestling or South East Regional Champion P.J. Steinmetz (Council Rock South) who was a 105 lbs. third place finisher last season at the PIAA State Tournament.

In a battle of two 2012 State runner-ups senior Connor Schram (Canon-McMillan) narrowly defeated sophomore Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional) by a score of (3-2) in the finals of 126 lbs. Kemerer nearly scored a 2-point takedown at the end of regulation and despite cries from the fans the referee waived the takedown stating their was a lack of control. Again, wrestling fans who missed this battle may be in luck as the two WPIAL wrestlers are ranked #1 and #2 in the State and have a strong possibility of meeting again next week at the GIANT Center.

In another battle of State Ranked #1 vs. #2 junior Solomon Chishko (Canon-McMillan) survived his dual with sophomore Josh Shields (Franklin Regional) to earn his third straight WPIAL Championship. The 145 lbs. match came down to the wire as Chishko scored the only takedown of the match winning (3-2) in a match-up that is bound to happen again in Hershey.

Complete results can be found here.

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