HERSHEY — As Penn-Trafford heavyweight Ryan Tomei sat in the stands at the Giant Center on Thursday night, he watched upset after upset in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships. The more he watched, the more nervous he got as he waited for his turn. “I was a nervous wreck before I even stepped out onto the mat,” Tomei said. “I was afraid of making a mistake.” Tomei, however, survived his first-round match on the biggest stage of his young wrestling career. Tomei, a junior, has only been wrestling for 10 months. He needed an escape in the overtime rideout to score a 3-2 victory over Wyoming Valley West’s Trevin Cowman. “He told me he was nervous when he came off the mat,” Penn-Trafford coach Vince Testa said. “I’m sure he’ll be a little better (today).” A crowd of 7,477 attended the evening session after the Class AA drew 6,487. Tomei grabbed a 2-0 lead with a reversal in the second period, before Cowman used a pair of escapes to tie the score. Neither wrestler scored in the first overtime, but because Tomei scored the first points of the bout, he got the choice in the 30-second overtime. He took the bottom position and scored a one-point escape in seven seconds. “I’m glad to get through it,” Tomei said. Tomei was one of 12 district wrestlers to advance. The first round featured numerous upsets. PIAA and WPIAL champion Connellsville advanced all five wrestlers to today’s quarterfinals, and Greensburg Salem, Greensburg Central Catholic and Kiski Area advanced two each. “This was one of the craziest first rounds I’ve seen in years,” Connellsville coach Tommy Dolde said. “We had a good day, but the heat gets turned up (today). We have a lot of tough matches in the quarters.” The five Falcons to advance were Steve Bell (125 pounds), Ashtin Primus (135), Zach Snyder (140), Josh Martin (145) and Buddy Sines (152). Bell, who is in one of the weight classes that saw two of the biggest shockers, said he isn’t concerned about the rest of the guys in the bracket. Easton’s Seth Ciasulli and Northampton’s Steve Mytych were two of the first-round upset victims. “It’s no big deal for me,” said Bell, who rolled to an 18-8 victory over Lower Dauphin’s Jarred Kane. “I still have to beat some good kids, anyway. “It just proves you have to be ready for every match. They went out with a mind-set that all they had to do was show up. I had that mind-set last week at WPIALs.” Greensburg Central Catholic’s Nico Cortese, a freshman, needed a takedown in overtime to defeat Boyertown’s Fred Rodgers, 2-0. Cortese, the WPIAL’s third-place finisher, was the only WPIAL wrestler at 103 to advance. “I was nervous at the beginning of my match,” said Cortese, who wrestles Clearfield’s Matt Kyler in the quarters. Kyler is one of the favorites at 103. “He’s pretty tough,” Cortese said. “He beat me in a tournament earlier this season. He loves to attack.” Travis Uncapher (152) was the other Centurion to post a victory. He defeated Clearfield’s Lucas Aughenbaugh, 6-2. Donnie Jones (152) and Andrew Haile (189) were the Greensburg Salem wrestlers to advance. Jones breezed to a 9-5 victory over Jereme Helsey of Manheim Central, and Haile blanked Great Valley’s Drew Smith, 5-0. Adam Caldwell (103) and Patrick Hutchinson (160) had their seasons come to an end with losses. Caldwell finished his career with 99 victories. “Andrew looked better than he has the past month,” Greensburg Salem coach Randy Parsley said. “He was warmed up and ready to go. He dominated his kid. Donnie just keeps on winning. I feel badly for Adam and Patrick. They had great careers.” Kiski Area’s Tyler Oravec (130) and Quentin Taraszewski (215) advanced to the quarters with easy victories. Oravec toppled Cedar Cliff’s Brian Ortenzio, 9-0, and Taraszewski rallied to edge Quakertown’s Kevin Orr, 5-4. Staying alive in the consolation round following first-round losses were Greensburg Central Catholic’s Rudy Chelednik (112) and Latrobe’s Daniel Thompson (171). Waynesburg has three wrestlers — Chris Neidermeier (112), Nick Graber (119) and Corbin Semple (171) — alive in the quarterfinals. Kittanning’s Josh Serene advanced with a victory at 171.

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