PREP WRESTLING 'Beast of the East' takes toll on defending champs

Three Pennsylvania state champions were beaten in the finals of the 79-team tournament.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
It was a beast of a tournament, even for some of Pennsylvania's top high school wrestlers.
Thirty-four Pennsylvania wrestlers placed in the rugged Beast of the East tournament last weekend at the University of Delaware, but it was not a pleasant weekend for returning PIAA champions.
Three Pennsylvania state champions were beaten in the finals of the 79-team tournament, while a fourth placed only seventh in his weight class.
Coleman Scott of Waynesburg and Zac Fryling of North Penn, both PIAA champions last year, and Jeff Ecklof of Northampton, a state champion in 2001 and a two-time runner-up, all lost in the finals of one of the nation's best tournaments.
Scott was beaten 4-2 in overtime by Troy Nickerson of Chenango Forks, N.Y., himself a state champion at 112 pounds. Scott was last season's PIAA Class AAA champion at 103.
Outstanding wrestler
Fryling, the defending Class AAA 152-pound champion, was beaten 9-1 by Blair Academy's Mark Perry, a defending national prep school champion. Perry was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler.
Ecklof, who won the 125-pound PIAA championship in 2001, lost 4-2 to Blair Academy's Ryan Davis, also a national prep champion. Blair, ranked No. 1 nationally by the major ranking services, won the team championship.
Another returning PIAA champion, Waynesburg's Drew Headlee, finished seventh at 119 pounds. Headlee was a PIAA 112-pound champion last season.
Only one Pennsylvania wrestler, Oxford's Josh Weitzel, won a championship. Weitzel, a Michigan recruit, defeated Ryan Goodman of Absegami, N.J., 10-6 at 171 pounds.
Ohio wrestlers dominated the finals, winning seven of the 14 weight classes.
Top 50
PIAA Class AAAA champion Parkland was Pennsylvania's top-ranked team in the final Top 50 high school football rankings by Student Sports Inc., whose national rankings date to the 1970s.
Parkland was No. 13, with PIAA Class AAAA runner-up Woodland Hills coming in 24th and St. Joseph's Prep of Philadelphia ranking 48th, one spot ahead of West Virginia champion Morgantown.
Also nationally ranked below the Top 50 were No. 66 Bethlehem Catholic, No. 67 Central Dauphin and No. 91 Hopewell, the unbeaten PIAA Class AAA champion.
Pulls commitment
Jason Evans, a Georgia high school running back star, has changed his mind and committed to Stanford after earlier giving an oral commitment to Penn State.
Penn State, however, still has a commitment from Parkland High School star Austin Scott, who broke the state single-season rushing record for the PIAA Class AAAA champions. Scott was chosen as the Pennsylvania Big School player of the year.
Pitt recruits
Pitt recently got football recruiting commitments from highly recruited linebacker H.B. Blades from Plantation High School in Florida; punter Adam Graessle of Coffman High School in Ohio; defensive back Mike Phillips of Warren Harding High School; Derron Thomas, a linebacker from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Md.; Joe Flacco, a quarterback from Audubon, N.J.; and Small School all-state running back Windell Brown of Duquesne.
Blades is considered a major catch. The son of former NFL defensive back Bennie Blades, he was listed as a Top 10 linebacker by some recruiting services.
Phillips has committed to Pitt but is continuing to visit other schools.