By Bill Albright

ESPNWilliamsport.com Staff Writer

HERSHEY -- As anticipated, day one of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championship at Hershey’s Giant Center proved to be a good one for wrestlers from the Northeast Region.

Of the 42 regional wrestlers entered in the tournament, 31 came home with a win in the opening round (Round of 16) of the tournament.

Of the total of 31 first-round winners, 28 were from District 4 schools while District 2 claimed the other three. Not only did the region have an outstanding day, they went a perfect 3-0 in six of the 14 weight classes.

District four posted an aggregate record of 28-11, while District 2 (Wlikes-Barre/Scranton area) was a perfect 3-0.

Here is a closer look at how those bouts turned out:

103: Zain Retherford, Line Mountain, maj. Dec. Ryan Wilson, Mount Union, 10-0; David Sheesley, Mifflinburg, dec. Joshua Patrick, Ligonier Valley, 2-1; Matt Welliver, Benton, dec. Nick Hough, Mt. Pleasant 5-4.

112: Cody Wheeler, Towanda, dec. Tyler Roberts, Jamestown, 8-2; Colt Cotton, Benton, pinned Matt Spragale, Mercer, 1:01; David White, Athens, pinned Dylan Long, Northwestern Lehigh, 5:36.

119: Michael Rhone, Benton, pinned Ty Dively, Claysburg-Kimmel, :47; Cory Thomas, Bedford, dec. Ben Carey, Montoursville, 6-4; Tanner Hough, Westmont-Hilltop, pinned Tyler Watts, South Williamsport, 5:20. Carey stayed alive in the wrestle backs with a 4-0 shutout over Kody Rittenbaugh of Pine Grove Area, while Watts finished his tourney at 0-2 when he was majored 11-0 by Adam Weinell of Blairsville.

125: Joe Lescari, North Star, dec. Ben Knecht, Athens, 6-1; Ethan Midkiff, Mifflinburg, dec. Anthony Elias, Shady Side Academy, 9-4; Coltin Fought, Benton, tech. fall Taylor Boyd, Juniata Valley, 16-0, 4:07. Knecht remained alive in the consolation bracket with a 4-2 win over Justin Mazza of Pius X.

130: Adam Kritzer, Line Mountain, dec. Levi Morton, North East, 10-5; Trevor McCauley, Redbank Valley, dec. Ben Emmett, Central Columbia, 8-0 UTB rideout; Brandon Pesarchick, Shamokin, pinned Dakota Davis, Schuylkill Valley, :31. Emmett bowed out of the tournament in his first consi bout when he lost 8-2 to Derek Goodwin of Hamburg.

135: Garth Mahosky, Canton, maj. Dec. Quinton Orourke, Johnsonburg, 15-6; Josh Lahr, Shamokin, dec. Tim Clark, Saegertown, 3-1 OT t.b.; Luke Frey, Montoursville, tech. fall Luciano Burriesci, Pen Argyl, 15-0, 4:16.

140: Alex Stanton, Blue Ridge, dec. Elisha Gaylor, Wyomissing, 6-5; Alec Eggerton, Loyalsock, dec. Dylan Killian, Annville Cleona, 8-5; Derek Shingara, Shamokin, dec. Dalton Anthony, Bermudian Springs, 4-2.

145: Aaron Fry, Muncy, tech. fall Sam Scheib, Tri-Valley, 16-1, 2:53; Garrett Russell, Athens, dec. Noah Horst, Schuylkill Valley, 10-6 OT t.b.; Elias Biddle, Warrior Run, dec. Jackson Stabile, Hamburg, 5-1.

152: Mike Testen, Athens, dec. Jordan Knaub, York Suburban, 7-6; Tyler Hain, Warrior Run, dec. Craemer Hedash, Northern Lehigh, 8-5; Kyle Flohr, Fairfield, dec. Zach Strickland, Muncy, 6-4. Strickland remained in contention for a possible place with a 6-4 nod over Mercer’s Kyle Mariacher in his first consi bout.

160: Eric Hess, Benton, tech. fall Dylan Demain, Bentworth, 15-0, 3:13; Caleb Lomax, Montoursville dec. Nolan Greenwald, Burrell, 5-4; Mike Cobb, Wyalusing maj. Dec. Christopher Gallaher, Forest Hills, 8-0.

171: Nathaniel Brown, Lewisburg, pinned Nick Edmonson, Saucon Valley, 5:44; Shane Stark, Lake Lehman, maj. Dec. Greg Baptiste, Reynolds, 14-4; Zack Zelcs, Ridgway, dec. Mike Clark, Wyalusing, 10-3. Clark fell out of contention at 0-2 with a 14-1 loss to Glenn Miller of Hamburg in the first round of consolations.

189: Zack Glessner, Forest Hills, pinned Ryan Hembury, Muncy, 5:57; Ryan Solomon, Milton, dec. Kyle Dudley, Valley, 3-2; Travis Chesla, Towanda, pinned Gary Kiefer, Fort Cherry, 3:41. Hembury stayed alive with a narrow 8-7 decision over Pen Argyl’s Tyler Horn in the wrestlebacks.

215: Eric Laytos, Lackawanna Trail, dec. Joseph Kreiner, Delone Catholic, 6-3; Matt Mongera, Seneca, dec. Todd Hall, Athens, 6-0; Jared Burger, Union City, dec. Nick Dawson, Montoursville, 11-6. Hall won his first consolation bout with a 10-8 overtime decision over Jeff Meier of Forest Hills to stay alive, while Dawson also bounced back from the championship bracket loss with a fall in just 19 seconds over Dylan Ferguson of Fairfield.

285: Cris Ramirez, Milton Hershey, pinned West Tillett, Shamokin, 3:27; Tylor Unger, Boiling Springs, dec. Pete Champluvier, Wyalusing, 3-2; Tyler DeMott, Benton, maj. Dec. Dan Fultz, Juniata, 10-2. Champluvier won his first consolation bracket bout with a fall in 1:47 over Briar Stern of Lehighton and Tillet also bounced back with a win in the consis when he was a pair better than Dillon Sarcinella of Greenville for a 6-4 win.

Wrestling will continue Friday with the championship quarterfinals beginning at 8 a.m. followed by the second round of consolations tentatively set for 9:45. Later in the day, the AA championship semifinals are set to go at 6:30 p.m. with the third and fourth rounds of consolations also on the docket at 6:30 and 9:00 p.m. respectively.