Ronca gets 100th win

The first day of wrestling for the Columbia wrestling team is over at the Hersheypark Arena and the good news is there are still three Tide wrestlers alive, with the possibility of advancing to next weekend's regionals.

The big news came in the first round of the 135 pound weight class where senior Joey Ronca joined a small list of Tide wrestlers to win 100 career matches. Ronca's pin in 4:14 over Bryan Widenhammer of Hamburg was his 100th career win, whic will get his name played on the banner in the gym, following renovations.

The win placed Ronca into the second round where he was pinned by Boiling Springs wrestler Tyler Thumma in 3:44. He kept his chances of moving on alive when he scored a 5-4 win over Robbie Moretz of Halifax. Ronca will wrestle Sean Emerich of Kutztown in the consolation bracket tomorrow. If he wins that, he'll be guaranteed to finish in the top six.

Also a match away from the medal round are John Markley (130) and Jake Sentz (285).

Markley in his first match was a win by pin over Kyle Christianson of Kutztown in 3:36. However in the second round he ran into Joe Spisak of Boiling Springs and was a 16-0 (2:31) loser via a tech fall. In the consolation round, Markley pinned Seth Lehman  of Annville-Cleona in 4:35. Markley will next wrestle Kyle Abbott of York Suburban.

At 285, Sentz won his first round match, via a pin in 3:24 over Wyomissing's Malcolm White, but then lasted just 13 seconds getting pinned by Milton Hershey buzz saw Chris Ramirez. In the consolation round, Sentz stayed alive when he showed Derek Hogland of Hamburg the lights in 1:21.

The result of the results are as follows:

119: Derek Zercher was a was a 13-6 winner over Tim Renninger of Annville-Cleona in the opening roun and then was pinned by Boiling Springs' Pete Renda in the second round in 1:20. In the consolation round, Zercher was a 13-9 win over Cory Rank of Wyomissing.

140: Jordan Halter was a tough luck 6-5 loser to Zeb Sheaman of Tulpehocken and saw his sophomore season end when he was pinned by Sam Rhoads of Boiling Springs in 2:33.

160: Nate Warner was also two and out. He lost by major decision in the first round, 11-2, to Ryan Maurer of Schuylkill Valley. His season ended with a 3-0 loss to Pequea Valley's Mitch Ball.

215: Brandon Felus was a 6-2 first round loser to Dylan Powell of Juniata and then was a loser via a major decision to Sam Matter of Boiling Springs by a 15-2 score.