Cowburn on to 'states'

Coudersport freshman Dirk Cowburn stayed alive in the PIAA State Championship Wrestling Tournament late Thusday with a strategic effort in defeating Clifton Hardison of Milton Hershey, 4-0.

The win came in the first round of the consolation Bracket. Earlier in the t o u r n a m e n t , Cowburn was beaten by Scott Davis of Lake Lehman, 4-2.

He punched his ticket to the state finals in Hershey last Saturday with a second place finish in the PIAA Northwest Regionals in Sharon.

Cowburn once again found himself paired with Ridgway's defending state champion, senior Nikko Leitzel, in Saturday night's title bout at 140 lbs. Although Leitzel couldn't do much against the elusive Falcon, he was able to eke out a 3- 0 decision.

A week earlier, at the District 9 finals, Cowburn lost a 3-1 verdict to Leitzel, the winningest wrestler in D9 history.

There's a chance those two could meet up yet again in Hershey. Regardless of Cowburn's fortunes in the state championships, he has already established himself as a force to be reckoned with for three more years.

Another area wrestler, Cameron County's Chad Schatz, was eliminated in the rugged 285-lb. bracket. Schatz , a senior, had already written his name in the school record books, steamrolling his way to the all-time mark in pins, eclipsing Doug McGraw's

record.

At Sharon, he lost his opener to Greenville's massive Tyler Lanciotti in 1:06.

S c h a t z stayed alive with a exhausting 8-1 decision over another larger grappler, Josh Williams of Fort LeBeouf.

Heavyweight

bouts don't often go the full six minutes, but Schatz stayed on his toes and picked his spots against Williams.

His scholastic career came to a close when Sharpsville's Phil Cantrucco recorded a fall in 1:48. Schatz's final record for the season was 33-5, with 29 pins.

Drake opens strong

Oswayo Valley's Zeke Drake, a senior, returned to Hershey as the Northwest Region champ at 160.

In his opening match on Thursday, Drake was in control as he recorded a 6-2 win over Vance Meyers of Huntingdon.

Port Allegany junior Nick Nichols also earned a berth in the state championships by placing third at 125 in Sharon.

He opened on Thursday with a tough 4-3 loss to Tyler Hain of Warrior Run.

Nichols rebounded with a 7- 1 decision over Zack Sheridan of Mount Pleasant in the first round of the consolations.