Garrett Peppelman of Central Dauphin and TC Warner of Cumberland Valley are part of a six-man contingent from District 3 that will compete in Sunday’s Dapper Dan Classic at Pitt’s Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.
A team of all-stars from Pennsylvania will face a similar team from around the United States at 6 p.m. The Classic will be preceded at 4 p.m. by a match between the best seniors from the WPIAL and a team of all-stars from Oklahoma.
Peppelman (160 pounds) is fresh off winning his second PIAA Class AAA title and Warner (152) his first. They’ll be joined by District 3 counterparts Ian Brown (132) of Hanover, Stephen Loiseau (170) of Lancaster Catholic, Tristan Sponseller (195) of Bermudian Springs and Thomas Haines (285) of Solanco.
Haines, of course, became the 12th four-time state champion in Pennsylvania history on Saturday. He followed Kennard-Dale’s Chance Marsteller, who also won his fourth on Saturday.
Marsteller has been replaced in the Dapper Dan lineup by Class AA champion Loiseau because of a stress fracture in his back that has plagued him throughout the postseason.
The Classic began in 1975 and Jay Hockenbroch of East Juniata and Bob Bickelman of Lebanon were District 3’s first representatives. Never before has six wrestlers from District 3 competed in one Classic.
Pennsylvania’s stars opened a commanding lead early in the series but the U.S. stars have won 10 of the matches since 2000 and lead the series 22-16-1.
It’s typically a virtual mecca of future college wrestlers and this year is no different. Twenty-five of the 26 have committed to Division I schools, including three to Penn State and Northwestern and two each to Stanford, Virginia Tech and Ohio State.
The nation’s top-ranked wrestler, Kyle Snyder of Maryland, will face Michael Boykin of Coatesville at 220 pounds. Snyder is headed for Ohio State but has been training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Another bout to watch is heavyweight, where Ohio State-bound Haines will face Penn State recruit Nick Nevills of Clovis, Calif.
Penn State recruit Bo Nickal of Allen, Texas, would have wrestled against Marsteller but instead will face Loiseau. Penn State recruit Jason Nolf of Kittanning is paired with three-time Oregon champ Tyler Berger, who is headed to Nebraska.
NOTES: Garrett Peppelman is the third of his family to compete; brothers Walter and Marshall preceded him. … Penn State coach Cael Sanderson competed in the Classic, as did brothers Cody (his assistant coach at Penn State), Cole and Cyler. … Jon Fausey of Line Mountain, now wrestling for Virginia, defeated Chris Perry, the Oklahoma State star at 174 pounds, in 2009. Penn State’s David Taylor also wrestled for the U.S. team that year.
Here are the matchups with records and college choices; Pennsylvania wrestlers are listed first:
113: Ethan Lizak, Parkland, 164-18 (Minnesota) vs. Brian Rossi, Lockport, Ill., 110-16 (Stanford).
120: Dalton Macri, Canon-McMillan,133-15 (Cornell) vs. Nathan Boston, Woodford County, Ky., 153-1 (Iowa State).
126: Zeke Moisey, Bethlehem Catholic, 141-14 (West Virginia) vs. Stevan Micic, Hanover, Ind., 136-5 (Northwestern).
132: Ian Brown, Hanover, 159-12 (Lehigh) vs. Josh Aber, Dakota, Ill., 134-0 (Northern Iowa).
138: Solomon Chishko, Canon-McMillan, 132-8 (Virginia Tech) vs. Joe McKenna, Blair Academy, N.J., 115-7 (Stanford).
145: Jason Nolf, Kittanning, 176-1 (Penn State) vs. Tyler Berger, Crook County, Ore., 152-3 (Nebraska).
152: TC Warner, Cumberland Valley, 146-18 (Old Dominion) vs. Bryce Brill, Mt. Carmel, Ill., 136-5 (Northwestern).
160: Garrett Peppelman, Central Dauphin, 185-15 (Virginia) vs. Ryan Blees, Bismarck, N.D., 141-5 (Oklahoma State).
170: Stephen Loiseau, Lancaster Catholic, 154-26 (Drexel) vs. Bo Nickal, Allen, Texas, 140-7 (Penn State).
182: Zack Zavatsky, Latrobe, 166-18 (Virginia Tech) vs. Johnny Sebastian, Bergen, N.J., 110-16 (Northwestern).
195: Tristan Sponseller, Bermudian Springs, 183-12 (North Carolina State) vs. Chip Ness, Buford, Ga., 138-1 (North Carolina).
220: Michael Boykin, Coatesville, 142-14 (undecided) vs. Kyle Snyder., Good Counsel, Md. (Ohio State).
285: Thomas Haines, Solanco, 174-5 (Ohio State) vs. Nick Nevills, Clovis, Calif., 150-5 (Penn State).