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The Columbia wrestling team is in North Carolina. Here is a link to a live stream of their match tonight: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/uphs-wrestling

Fischer is fourth

Crimson Tide senior Marcus Fischer will be the first Tide grappler to attempt to win a state title in four years starting Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.


Fischer, 33-12, qualified for the state tournament with a fourth-place finish at the Southeast Regional championships Friday and Saturday at Wilson High School in Berks County. The regional tournament featured the top wrestlers from Districts One, Three and 11.

When the state tournament begins Thursday, Fischer, who was ranked 13th in the state last week, will face Brockway senior Joel Yahner (33-0) in his first match. Yahner won the 285-pound title in the Northwest Regional.

For the third straight week, Fischer made it to the semi-finals. This week, he ran into a road block against Ben Ancheff of Williams Valley, who used a weight advantage to pin Fischer in 1:50.

Fischer, who had a first round bye, because of his second place finish the week before at the District Three championships, opened the regional tournament with a pin of Mike Williams of Notre Dame Green Pond.

After losing in the semifinals, Fischer needed one win to qualify for states. He got it with a 4-2 decision over Omni Johnson of Milton Hershey. That put Fischer into the third-fourth place bout against Kirby Mutton of Penn Argyl and he was pinned in 4:02.

Two other Columbia wrestlers, both unerclassmen, also made the trip to Wilson.

At 119 pounds, junior Derek Zercher, lost his first two matches and saw his season end with a 30-11 record. In his first match, Zercher was a tech fall loser to Michael Fleck of Wilson Area, 15-0, and then saw his season end when he wasa 19-5 loser to James Elphick of Penn Argyl.

At 135 pounds, junior Jordan Halter, also lst his only two matches at regionals, to finish his season with a 35-6 record.

Halter was a tough luck 11-10 loser in his opening round bout to Sam Tascone of Delco Christian and then lost to Blake Bowman of Tri-Valley, 14-4.

Off the Mat rankings

Tide's Marcus Fischer ranked 13th in state: http://www.rodfrisco.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/OTM9.pdf

Fischer is second, two others advance

The wrestling season at Columbia High School continues this week as three wrestlers took another step toward a possible state title.
The Tide's Marcus Fischer, Jordon Halter and Derek Zercher all qualified for regionals this weekend at Wilson High School following top five finishes at this weekend's District Three Class AA championships at Hersheypark Arena.
Fischer was second at 285, Halter finished third at 135 and Zercher was a fifth-place finisher at 119.
Fischer, 31-10, advanced easily to the finals at5 285 pounds where he lost to Tylor Unger of Boiling Springs, 6-2. To get to the finals, Fischer, with a first round bye, opened with a 10-1 major decision over Lancaster Catholic's Evan Schnader. Now in the semifinals, Fischer made quick work of Adam Prohaska of Halifax with a pin in 1:28.
Halter, now 35-4, grabbed the bronze medal with a pin of Damon Becker of Bermudan in 2:39.
The Columbia junior opened districts pinning Kyle Dierolf of Oley Valley in 1:34 and followed that with a 10-6 win over Donny Peters of Susquenita. In the semifinals, Halter race into a major obstacle in Peter Renda of Brandywine Heights. Renda scored a 14-4 major decision over Halter.
Needing a win to medal, Halter got it with an 8-7 win over Andrew Mellot of Boiling Springs.
At 119, Zercher settled for fifth place when he scored a 4-2 sudden victory win over Colby Albright of Susquenita.
Zercher won his first won his first bout over Lancaster Catholic's Raul Gonzalez by a 4-3 score. Zercher then went to the consolation round when he lost 15-7 to Bryan Varra of Milton Hershey. He started his comeback toward a medal with a pin in 4:06 of Colby Starner of Bermudian and then beat Zach Huss of Newport, 6-4. That win put him into the medal round where he lost via a tech fall to Trevor Hernandez of Biglerville.
Columbia took seven wrestlers to districts. A fourth grappler, John Markley just missed advancing when he lost at 152 pounds to Bruce Mullen of Newport, 14-8. Had Markley won that bout, he would have advanced as well.
Others competing were Byron Germer, Bryan Flory and Josh Elliot.

Road to Hershey opens for Tide

The first step in the mythical "Road to Hershey" begins tomorrow with sectional tournaments across the area.


For the Columbia wrestling teams that means a trip to Western York/Adams county area for a Class AA sectional tournament involving nine teams from the York-Adams League, one from the Mid-Penn and Columbia, the lone Lancaster-Lebanon League team. The other L-L Class AA teams are headed to Wyomissing.

This week, the top four finishers in each weight class advance to next week's District Three Class AA championships at the old Hersheypark Arena. Teams competing at Bermudian Springs are the hosts, Biglerville, Eastern, Fairfield, Hanover, Delone Catholic, Littlestown and Trinity. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m., with the finals to begin around 3 p.m., according to the District Three web page.

Columbia has two top seeds in junior Jordon Halter at 135 pounds and senior Marcus Fischer at 285.

Halter, who is 30-2, received a first-round bye and will wrestle the winner of the bout between Damon Baker (21-14) of Bermudian Springs and Alex Randt (15-12) of Fairfield. A finals re-match between Halter and Eastern's Donald Minnier looks likely. Halter pinned Minnier last week in a dual meet.

Fischer, 26-9, faces Kasay Snell of Eastern in the first round. Snell is 8-18. Fischer is also ranked second in District Three according to rankings on PennLive.

Two Columbia wrestlers also drew second seeds. At 125, Derek Zercher, 25-6, is seeded second and will face the winner of the bout between Colby Starner (19-13) of Bermudian or Matt Lauer (2-12) of Eastern. Also seeded second is Nate Warner, 27-6, at 160. His first round opponent is David Zinn, 0-6, of Delone
Other Columbia pairings are:
103: Jeff Carroll, 14-16 vs. Dam May, 29-4, Biglerville.
125: Ezar Bush, 2-10 vs. Wayne Wivell, 24-7, Fairfield.
130: Alec Hooper, 6-24 vs. Barry Lewis, Eastern, 14-10.
140: Josh Elliot, 17-15 vs. Nate Post, Delone, 12-8.
145: Todd Lingafelt, 25-8, vs. Tommy Cassella, Delone, 10-6.
152: John Markley, 15-14 vs. Alex Warner,21-10, Littlestown.
171: Johnny Vazquez, 7-7 vs,. Justin Harrison,15-11, Hanover.
189: Cain Warfel, 14-16 vs. Ryan Vaughn 17-6, Littlestown.
215: Byron Germer, 21-10, vs. Joseph Peet, Delone, 13-10.

Wrestlers to hold barbeque

The Columbia wrestling team will hold its fall chicken barbecue ar Scott's Automotive, 12th Street and Lancaster Avenue, Saturday, Sept. 25.

Chickens, chickens and more chickens

The Columbia wrestling team held a fund-raising chicken barbecue on the lot of Scott's Automotive, 12th street and Lancaster Avenue, today.

Wrestlers end season

There will be no Columbia wrestlers in this week's PIAA championships.

Seniors Joey Ronca and Jake Sentz were eliminated from the regional tournaent Friday night at Wilson High School.

Both lost two matches.

Ronca suffered a heartbreaking loss to Lehighton's Anthony Farole in the 135-pound prelims, 6-5, in a match he led until the final second. Ronca led the match 5-4 with 10 seconds left, when Farole shot and scored the takedown with 1 second left on the clock.

Ronca scored a takedown to lead 2-0 in the first period, went up 3-2 in the second period and appeared on his way to advancement scoring an escape with 47econds left and holding a 5-4 lead. But Farole went on an attack and got the takedown to win the match.

That put Ronca into the consolation round against Boiling Springs’ Tylyer Thumma, who had beaten Ronca twice in the district championship the week before. Thumma ended Ronca’s career with a 16-0 tech fall in 3:35.

Sentz also had a cruel end to his wrestling career, especially in his preliminary match at 285.

After several attempts to bring Springfield Township's Dylan Evans to the mat with upper-body holds, Sentz appeared to have gained the upper hand, taking Evans to the mat with Evans' back exposed.

But before Sentz could gain control, and earn points, Evans rolled out of trouble and rolled Sentz onto his back. Gaining the takedown, Evans soon secured the fall, finishing the match in 1:37.

Next up was a District Three rematch with Milton Hershey's Cris Ramirez won with a pin in 27 seconds, 14 seconds longer than their district match,

Wrestlers at Regionals

The final step in the “Road to Hershey” begins tomorrow night at Wilson High School in Berks County when Columbia wrestlers Joey Ronca and Jake Sentz participate in the Class AA South Central Regional Tournament.


The two-day event runs through Saturday and those who place in the top five at their respective weight class qualify for the PIAA championships, which begin next Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Sentz, wrestling at 285, brings a 27-16 record into his first round match against Dylan Evans of Springfield Township in District 1. He is 25-8. Evans placed third at the District 1 championships.

Ronca, a fourth place finisher at last week’s District Three championships, is 36-8 and will wrestle Anthony Farole (23-13) of Leighton in the first round. Farole is a sophomore. Leighton is from District 11.

One step closer

Two Columbia wrestlers have moved one step closer to the ultimate prize in high school wrestling -- the chance to wrestle for a state championship.

One has been a career wrestler, the other has been wrestling for just two years. Meet Columbia's two regional qualifiers -- seniors Joey Ronca and Jake Sentz. They medaled at the two-day District Three Class AA championships at the old Hersheypark Arena. Sentz, the second year grappler placed third at 285 pounds to continue his season. Ronca, the career wrestler, settled for fourth place at 135 pounds.

There were seven Columbia wrestlers who made the trek to Chocolatetown and only one other wrestler, John Markley (130) made it to the second day of competition.

Sentz brings home the bronze medal following a pin in 2:28 over Tyler Unger of Boiling Springs in the third place bout. Sentz (27-16) started off  the championships on a positive note Friday morning, showing Malcolm White of Wyomissing the lights in 3:24, putting him into the quarter-finals against Milton Hershey's Chris Ramirez. It was a quick ending for the Columbia wrestler, who was pinned by the Spartan wrestler in just 13 seconds.
To keep his goal of reaching the regionals alive, Sentz had to work his way back through the consolation bracket. He started that remarkable run off by pinning Dakota Hoagland of Halifax in just 81 seconds. His next victim was Nic Aguliar of Biglerville and Sentz moved on with another fall in 2:58.
He was now in a position to medal and moved into the third place bout with a 9-6 win over Raul Leyva of Littlestown. The two had split their previous meetings at the Hanover Duals back in December and at last week's sectional tournament. The third time was a charm for Sentz.

Ronca settled for fourth place at 135 after falling for the second time in the championships to Tyler Thumma of Boiling Springs in the third place bout. Thumma scored a 14-3 major decision over Ronca.
While placing at districts was a highlight for the Tide senior, he also recorded a personal milestone in the opening round of the championships against Hamburg's Bryan Weidenhammer. A pin in 4:14 over the Hamburg wrestler was Ronca's 100th career win. It was also the third time this season that Ronca (36-8) had beaten Weidenhammer.
That put Ronca, the newest member of Columbia's century club, into his first match with Thumma. The Bubbler wrestler was at his best, scoring a pin in 3:44.
Now in the consolation bracket, Ronca had a tough first match against Robbie Moretz of Halifax, scoring a 5-4 win. Ronca continued his march toward the medal stand with a dominating 14-2 major decision over Sean Emerich of Kutztown and followed that with another major decision by a 12-2 score over Noah Blascone of Bermudian Springs.
That win set the stage for a rematch with Thumma, with third place on the line.

At 130 pounds, Markley fell short in his bid to get in the medal round when he lost to York Suburban's Kyle Arnold in the third round of consolations.
Markley opened the championships with a a second period pin over Kyle Christianson of Kutztown in 3:36, but was the victim of a tech fall in the quarter-finals to Joe Spisak of Boiling Springs, 16-0, in 2:41. Now in the consi round, Markley stayed alive for a match by pinning Annville-Cleona's Seth Lehman in 4:35.

The other Columbia wrestlers never made it to the second day.

At 119, Derek Zercher easily won his first round bout with Annville Cleona's Tim Renninger by a 13-6 score to advance to the quarter-finals. Zercher lasted 70 seconds in his next match in which he was pinned by Pete Renda of Boiling Springs and then was eliminated from the tournament when he lost a 13-9 decision to Wyomissing's Cody Rank.

At 140, Jordon Halter, who will probably be the next Columbia wrestler to reach the 100 win plateau lost a tough 6-5 decision in the opening round to Zeb Sheaman of Tulpehocken by a 6-5 score and then saw his sophomore season end when he was pinned by Sam Rhoads of Boiling Springs in 2:33.

At 160, sophomore Nate Warner lost a 3-0 decision in his opening match to Pequea Valley's Mitch Ball and then was eliminated following an 11-2 major decision loss to Schuylkill Valley's Ryan Maurer.

At 215, senior Brandon Felus saw his wrestling career end after losing to Dylan  Powell of Juniata in the opening round by a 6-2 score and then suffered a 13-2 major decision loss to Sam Matter of Boiling Springs in the consolation round.

The regional championships, featuring wrestlers from Districts 1, 3 and 11 begins Friday night at Wilson High School. The top five finishers in each weight class advance to the state tournament.

District 3 wrestling pairings

Here are the first round pairings, schools and record of the opponents of the Columbia seven, who will compete for a district title, starting Friday at the old Hersheypark Arena.

119: Derek Zercher (16-20) vs. Tim Renninger, Annville-Cleona (23-11).
130: John Markley (27-11) vs. Kyle Christianson, Kutztown (10-11).
135: Joe Ronca (32-6) vs. Bryan Wiedenhammere, Hamburg (17-21).
140: Jordon Halter (29-10) vs. Zeb Sheman, Tulpehocken (11-11).
160: Nathan Warner (28-9) vs Mitch Ball, Pequea Vallley (26-10).
215: Brandon Felus (25-6) vs. Dylan Powell, Juniata (14-8).
285: Jacob Sentz (22-15) vs. Malcolm White, Wyomissing (7-15).

Wrestlers advance 7

The first step in the mythical “Road to Hershey” was a successful one for the Columbia Crimson Tide wrestling team on Saturday.


Coach Scott Rupp and his staff took 14 wrestlers to the Class AA sectional tournament at Bermudian Springs High School and seven of those 14 advanced to this week’s District Three championships at the old Hersheypark Arena.

Leading the way for the Tide wrestlers were Joe Ronca and Nate Warner, who placed second at their respective weight classes, 135 and 160 pounds. Both lost in the finals.

Ronca, who moved down a weight class for the post-season, entered the sectional tournament needing three wins for 100 for his career. He fell one short when he lost in the finals 10-7 to Noah Blascone of Bermudian Springs.

At 160, Warner, a sophomore, was also a top seed. He lost in the finals to Tyler Fitzkee of Bermudian Springs, 10-0.

Placing third for the Tide were Jake Sentz (285), Jordon Halter (140) and John Markley (130).

Placing fourth for the Tide were Derek Zercher (119) and Brandon Felus (215).

Others participating from Columbia and not advancing were Tony Barton (103), Phil Stark (112), Alan Foehlinger (125), Todd Lingafelt (145), Derrick Brooks (171) and Marcus Fischer (189).

Wrestling update

Just got a phone call from coach Scott Rupp at Bermudian Springs High School -- site of the Section 1 sectional.
Columbia has two wrestlers -- Joe Ronca (135) and Nate Warner (160) going for sectional titles tonight.
Five others -- Derek Zercher (119), John Markley (130, Jordan Halter (140), Brandon Felus (215) and Jake Sentz (285) going for third and fourth.
All seven advance to the District Three championships next Friday and Saturday at the ancient Hersheypark Arena.

As a side note, if Ronca wins his championship bout tonight, it should give him 100 wins for his CHS career.

Schedule update

Tomorrow's Gettysburg Invitational that the Columbia wrestling team was to compete in was postponed.

Wrestlers get easy "W"

The Columbia wrestling team scored an easy 78-6 win over York High tonight.

On Parent's and Senior Night, the Tide won all of its bouts by either pin or forfeit.

Weather permitting, the Tide is scheduled to participate in the Gettysburg Invitational on Saturday.

Columbia's final home meet will be Tuesday, Feb. 9 against Penn Manor.

They will also wrestle McCaskey next week and have sectionals at Bermudian Springs on Saturday, Feb. 20.