Mar 8, 2017 3 min read

The 80th Annual PIAA Wrestling Championships feature 12 wrestlers who have won at least one title, including a three-time champ, a pair of two-time champs, and two champs in the same weight class.

Competition begins Thursday morning at the Giant Center in Hershey with 560 wrestlers vying for 28 titles in two classifications.

Franklin Regional senior Spencer Lee (32-0) has a chance to join the PIAA’s two most elite groups. Lee enters the Class AAA 126-pound weight class as a three-time returning champion who boasts a perfect 141-0 career record.

Only 12 wrestlers have won four PIAA titles in 79 years of competition. And only five of those four-time champions finished their scholastic career unbeaten. Lee needs four more wins to join both groups.

“There have been only five undefeated four-time state champs,” said Lee, who is also a three-time world champion and considered the best high school wrestler in the country. “I want to be the sixth. I set that goal when I was in sixth grade.”

Lee is one of five returning champions in the PIAA Class AAA Tournament. The others are: Cameron Coy, Julian Chlebove, Michael Labriola, and Jake Woodley.

Coy (34-0), a Penn-Trafford senior entered at 152 pounds, is a three-time PIAA finalist and two-time champ. He was the 132-pound champ as a freshman, placed second at 138 as a sophomore, and claimed a second title last year at 145.

“I wasn’t as dominant as I could have been (last week) at the Southwest Regional,” Coy said. “I will have to wrestle better at the state tournament.”

Chlebove (34-1), a Northampton sophomore, has moved up to 120 after winning at 113 last year.

Labriola (39-0), a Bethlehem Catholic senior, is a three-time PIAA medalist who returns at 170 as the defending champion.

Woodley (46-2), a North Allegheny senior, claimed a gold medal at 182 last year and is now competing at 195.

The PIAA Class AA Tournament features seven returning champions, including Jefferson-Morgan junior Gavin Teasdale (36-0), who has won titles at 106 and 113. He returns at 126 with a perfect 118-0 career record.

“I’ve looked up to Cary Kolat since I started wrestling,” Teasdale said. “Cary won four PIAA titles and went undefeated in his career at Jefferson-Morgan. When I made it to the varsity as a freshman, I set my goal to become a four-time state champion.”

The 138-pound weight class features two returning champions: Central Cambria senior Max Murin (36-0) and Reynolds junior Cole Matthews (40-1). Both were champs in 2015.

Murin won at 113 as a sophomore, then placed second at 126 last year. Matthews won at 120 as a freshman, then placed third last year at 126 last year.

“Last year, I was more worried about losing,” Murin said. “This year, I’m more confident. My focus is on scoring points and beating my opponent. It doesn’t matter who I wrestle.”

Murin and Matthews were among three returning champions entered at 126 last year. All three were beaten by Brian Courtney (39-2), an Athens senior who returns at 132 pounds with hopes of claiming a second title.

The other three Class AA returning champs are: Jacob Oliver, Gavin Hoffman, and Cole Nye.

Oliver (40-1), a Huntingdon senior, is a three-time medalist and two-time finalist who placed second at 152 as a sophomore and first at 170 last year. He returns at 170.

Hoffman (38-1), a Montoursville junior, is back to defend the title he won last year at 195.

Nye (41-5), a Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt senior, is the defending champ at 220.