It would be hard to imagine a better tournament, short of a team title, than Muncy High School had this year.
The Indians had two state champs, Zach Strickland (152) and Ryan Hembury (189), both of whom beat defending champions in the finals, and Troy Hembury (145), who finished fifth.
Strickland (44-3) was a 4-3 winner in the finals over South Fayette's Nick Carr, a 2010 champ and 2009 fifth-place finisher, and Ryan Hembury (43-3) decisioned 2010 champ Stephen Ceremuga of Commodore
Perry 8-4, almost pinned him with a big move as time ran out in the second period.
Strickland became Muncy's first state champion since former Shamokin Area coach Larry Lauchle in 1956, and the Indians
NO RESPECT: Overall, it was a bad year to be a returning champ in AA.
Of the seven returning champs, only two, Reynolds' Mason Beckman (125) and Richland's John Rizzo (285), who beat Shamokin's Wes Tillett in the final, repeated.
Besides Carr and Cermuga, other champs who did not repeat were Line Mountain's Zain Retherford (112), Charleroi's Cody Wiercoch (160), and Lackawanna Trail's Eric Laytos (215).
AROUND THE DISTRICT: District 4 wrestlers had another solid year in AA. The district had 15 placewinners, seven finalists, four champs and three runnerups.
Benton's Coltin Fought (130) and Lewisburg's Nathaniel Brown (171) won titles after finishing second in 2010, and Towanda's Cody Wheeler (125) and Milton's Ryan Solomon (215) joined Tillett as runners-up.
Other district placewinners included, by place, Montoursville's Luke Frey (140), third; Benton's Colt Cotten (119), fourth; Montoursville's David Batkowski (130) and Mifflinburg's Ty Walter, sixth; and Danville's Dylan Dailey (215), eighth.
Overall, the 36 district wrestlers were a combined 63-63, and only eight failed to win a bout.
FIRST CHAMP: Tamaqua's Garth Lakitsky, who beat Milton's Ryan Solomon 2-1 for the 215 title, became that school's first PIAA state champion.
Overall, six Schuylkill League entrants were a combined 10-10. Williams Valley's Ben Ancheff (285) finished fifth.