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Best PA District

BigFella235

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2021
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District Four’s post in the Ironbird thread got me thinking: which districts would make up the top 5 in terms of quality in your opinion? I’m not just talking current results either. All time results must be included and considered.

Also, to tie in mcpat’s idea, who are the best wrestlers those districts have put out?
 
Those are the obvious ones, yes. But, what other 3 districts would make it? And in what order?

District 6 includes guys like Wade Schalles, Quentin Wright, and Steve Bosak.

District 10 boasts the Carr brothers, Carter Starocci, Kevin Darkus, and Gus DeAugustino amongst others

District 4 includes guys like Zain Retherford, John Hughes, Paul Keysaw and Bob Crawford
 
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District Four’s post in the Ironbird thread got me thinking: which districts would make up the top 5 in terms of quality in your opinion? I’m not just talking current results either. All time results must be included and considered.

Also, to tie in mcpat’s idea, who are the best wrestlers those districts have put out?
7, move on and if that guy comes in here and starts talking about who should be starting at 125 I give up.
 
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Some District 3 Greats:

Ed Ruth
Mike Evans (who isn’t impressed with this thread)
Chance Marstellar
Phil Davis
Jesse Rawls
Ryan Diehl
Thomas Haines
Marshall Peppelman
Walter Peppelman
Joey Wildasin
Austin DeSanto
Tristan Sponseller
Tyson Dippery
Korbin Myers
 
Here are the most recent NCAA champions by PA District:

District 1 Mock (UNC) -- 1982
District 2 Gavin (Pitt) -- 2008
District 3 Ruth (Penn State) -- 2014 -- He obviously wrestled for Susquehanna Twp & Blair
District 4 Zain (Penn State) -- 2018
District 5
District 6 Wright (Penn State) -- 2013
District 7 Bonaccorsi (Pitt) -- 2023
District 8
District 9 Collins (WVU) -- 1991
District 10 Starocci (Penn State) -- 2023
District 11 Cruz (Lehigh) -- 2017
District 12
 
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District 1 seems the most primed of all the districts mentioned above to take a big step forward thanks to Faith Academy
 
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Some District 3 Greats:

Ed Ruth
Mike Evans (who isn’t impressed with this thread)
Chance Marstellar
Phil Davis
Jesse Rawls
Ryan Diehl
Thomas Haines
Marshall Peppelman
Walter Peppelman
Joey Wildasin
Austin DeSanto
Tristan Sponseller
Tyson Dippery
Korbin Myers
Those are just in the recent years. Here are a few old timers that I remember and there are probably more:

Jesse Rawls Sr - John Harris HS (AA at U of Michigan)
Bill Blacksmith - Cedar Cliff (NCAA Champion)
Chris Black - Susquehanna Twp (2X D2 NCAA champion & OW at EIWA)
Bill Luckenbaugh - West York HS (D2 NCAA champion)
Bob Fehrs - Milton Hershey School (3X 2nd in NCAA)
Eric Mast - Mechanicsburg HS (2X D3 NCAA champion)
Stan Zeamer - Manheim Central HS (D2 NCAA champion)
 
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Not really a fan of this type of debate. Partly because I don't like arguing between PA wrestling fans about who's the best. And partly because it is usually framed in such a simplistic manner. But if you're going to have it, I think you should at least consider the demographics of the districts. For example, sure D7 has had more "high quality" wrestlers than D4, but it also has waaaay more schools and much larger schools. How does one quantify the "wrestling quality per capita"? I'm not sure. But that would be a more accurate way of looking at things.

SCHOOL CLASSIFICATIONS FOR BOYS WRESTLING​

For the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years, there are 475 schools competing in Boys Wrestling.

The grid below displays a breakdown of schools competing in Boys Wrestling, grouped by district and classification. Click on the links within the grid to view a list of schools by classification or district.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
District 1 (67 Schools)--661------
District 2 (27 Schools)--1611------
District 3 (92 Schools)--3458------
District 4 (36 Schools)--315------
District 5 (10 Schools)--10--------
District 6 (32 Schools)--266------
District 7 (86 Schools)--4838------
District 8 (6 Schools)----6------
District 9 (19 Schools)--163------
District 10 (32 Schools)--275------
District 11 (43 Schools)--2320------
District 12 (25 Schools)--619------
All Districts (475 Schools)--243232------
 
District 8 3 used to be great with Central Dauphin, Lower Dauphin, Susquehanna and McDevitt and Harrisburg. But as schools started to recruit, it has dropped. sorry for the mistake. :confused:
 
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I think AA district 4 is up in the top five. The great are too many to list. If you think about Hughesville, Line Mountain, shikalemy, Milton, Benton, Warrior Run, Williamsport, Montoursville, Loyalsock, Muncy, Montgomery, Sayre, Towanda, Wyalusing, Danville to name a few, are all storied programs with long histories of great wrestling teams. When compared to other districts with way more schools the fact we are up there in amount of state champions says it all.

Eatitkingslayer lol
 
As someone who grew up in D4 and still has a soft spot: if the discussion is limited to AA, perhaps there's a case -- though it needs to be backed with data, not just somebody's say-so.

If it includes AAA, that's bat crap crazy.

It was crazy in the 1980s when D4 had at least twice as many AAA schools. It's no less crazy now with the population/income shift and with M2 being the only high-end club within 2 hrs.
 
District 8 used to be great with Central Dauphin, Lower Dauphin, Susquehanna and McDevitt and Harrisburg. But as schools started to recruit, it has dropped.
For clarity: that's D3. D8 is the City of Pittsburgh (minus Central Catholic which is in the suburbam D7).
 
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District 8 used to be great with Central Dauphin, Lower Dauphin, Susquehanna and McDevitt and Harrisburg. But as schools started to recruit, it has dropped.
District 8? Those look District 3 schools.
 
I think AA district 4 is up in the top five. The great are too many to list. If you think about Hughesville, Line Mountain, shikalemy, Milton, Benton, Warrior Run, Williamsport, Montoursville, Loyalsock, Muncy, Montgomery, Sayre, Towanda, Wyalusing, Danville to name a few, are all storied programs with long histories of great wrestling teams. When compared to other districts with way more schools the fact we are up there in amount of state champions says it all.

Eatitkingslayer lol
Well I would have to admit that back when I wrestled (mid 80’s) I recall a few guys in district 4 that could hold there own ( jimmy Martin , the Hughes brothers).
 
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As someone who grew up in D4 and still has a soft spot: if the discussion is limited to AA, perhaps there's a case -- though it needs to be backed with data, not just somebody's say-so.

If it includes AAA, that's bat crap crazy.

It was crazy in the 1980s when D4 had at least twice as many AAA schools. It's no less crazy now with the population/income shift and with M2 being the only high-end club within 2 hrs.
Ok, so this took longer than expected... I took the AA male enrollment for 2023 and compared it to state placewinners. This is only one year...so definitely not something that should be taken as comprehensive data. Also, the Faith Christian factor should cause D1 to be seen as an outlier. But anyway, I thought I'd share. If this type of analysis was performed over a decade or so, then we might be able to make a conclusion of some kind.

DistrictEnrollment (22/23)2023 PlacewinnersPW Per 1000
1111298.09
2332441.20
36824152.20
44864193.91
5118832.53
6377982.12
78480111.30
8000
9179895.01
104335153.46
11428792.10
12115921.73
 
Ok, so this took longer than expected... I took the AA male enrollment for 2023 and compared it to state placewinners. This is only one year...so definitely not something that should be taken as comprehensive data. Also, the Faith Christian factor should cause D1 to be seen as an outlier. But anyway, I thought I'd share. If this type of analysis was performed over a decade or so, then we might be able to make a conclusion of some kind.

DistrictEnrollment (22/23)2023 PlacewinnersPW Per 1000
1111298.09
2332441.20
36824152.20
44864193.91
5118832.53
6377982.12
78480111.30
8000
9179895.01
104335153.46
11428792.10
12115921.73
This is good stuff. Though maybe somebody can pick up the ball from here and segregate AA vs AAA. (Not saddling you with that burden!)

For example: safe to say that not all 19 from D4 would place in a one-class bracket. Some might not even qualify for states in that scenario -- D4 AA gets nearly every qualifier from NE Regionals; that would change in a NE Regional with D11 AAA, or a NW Regional with D6 AAA.

But it's a dynamic not static calculation -- numbers would change across the board.
 
In 1973, the last year of single class wrestling with 4 placewinners per weight class (12), D3 had a full 16 of the 48 placers (and 7 finalists, only two of whom won), which is probably the high water mark.
 
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District 1 has the best cheesesteaks and hoagies (not subs or zeppelins you peasants).
We in PA are blessed with an overabundance of bad-for-you food, and also of good food in general.

True story: my brother attended grad school in SoCal about 20 yrs ago. In his first Fall, the school held an International Food Festival. He was responsible for Philly stuff -- Tastykakes, etc. He asked me to send him 2 cases of Yuengling bottles, because he couldn't get to the nearest distributor (in PHX). Cost was no object.

So I drove into Delaware, bought 2 cases at a liquor store, and took the cart directly to Mail Boxes Etc. Everybody in MBE looked at me like I had 3 eyes. Asked to bubble wrap the hell out of them, ship ground transportation, and my brother would pickup at the UPS center -- cannot leave 2 cases of beer in his college apartment lobby while he's at class!

The total was over $300 for 2 cases (beer + shipment). No problem. My brother sold the beer for $7/bottle, plus the sponsor picked up the cost, so he made full profit.

The sponsor? Labatts.
 
This is good stuff. Though maybe somebody can pick up the ball from here and segregate AA vs AAA. (Not saddling you with that burden!)

For example: safe to say that not all 19 from D4 would place in a one-class bracket. Some might not even qualify for states in that scenario -- D4 AA gets nearly every qualifier from NE Regionals; that would change in a NE Regional with D11 AAA, or a NW Regional with D6 AAA.

But it's a dynamic not static calculation -- numbers would change across the board.
The analysis I did was AA only. I could do it for AAA as well, but only for 2023. If someone can find the enrollment numbers for previous years, then it can be expanded to those years. I didn't check for any data beyond 2023.

But yes, I think to your broader point, I'm not sure how you would even start to compare AA and AAA, and different regional/district qualifying impacts, and such. Ultimately, I think it's a fool's errand and we should all just say PA is the best and leave it at that.

:)
 
The analysis I did was AA only. I could do it for AAA as well, but only for 2023. If someone can find the enrollment numbers for previous years, then it can be expanded to those years. I didn't check for any data beyond 2023.

But yes, I think to your broader point, I'm not sure how you would even start to compare AA and AAA, and different regional/district qualifying impacts, and such. Ultimately, I think it's a fool's errand and we should all just say PA is the best and leave it at that.

:)
Project Literacy wants a refund for my scholarship.
 
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As someone who grew up in D4 and still has a soft spot: if the discussion is limited to AA, perhaps there's a case -- though it needs to be backed with data, not just somebody's say-so.

If it includes AAA, that's bat crap crazy.

It was crazy in the 1980s when D4 had at least twice as many AAA schools. It's no less crazy now with the population/income shift and with M2 being the only high-end club within 2 hrs.
I agree not a whole lot of AAA. When I was in high school the only AAA schools then were Selinsgrove, Shik that I can remember I think Williamsport was quad A back then. They had some good wrestlers just didn't dominate like the AA schools
 
The analysis I did was AA only. I could do it for AAA as well, but only for 2023. If someone can find the enrollment numbers for previous years, then it can be expanded to those years. I didn't check for any data beyond 2023.

But yes, I think to your broader point, I'm not sure how you would even start to compare AA and AAA, and different regional/district qualifying impacts, and such. Ultimately, I think it's a fool's errand and we should all just say PA is the best and leave it at that.

:)
I remember back in the mid 90s district four had a going tally of at least two state champions in AA for a certain amount of years can't remember the exact amount but it was higher than I thought it would be.
 
Some District 3 Greats:

Ed Ruth
Mike Evans (who isn’t impressed with this thread)
Chance Marstellar
Phil Davis
Jesse Rawls
Ryan Diehl
Thomas Haines
Marshall Peppelman
Walter Peppelman
Joey Wildasin
Austin DeSanto
Tristan Sponseller
Tyson Dippery
Korbin Myers
you left out Kenny Courts (my daughter's good friend) and the Shovlin's.
 
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I remember back in the mid 90s district four had a going tally of at least two state champions in AA for a certain amount of years can't remember the exact amount but it was higher than I thought it would be.
So I double checked the dates. From 1976-2000 there were at least two state champions in AA from district 4. In 1990 district 4 had seven state champions in one year so 24 years with at least two state champions. Had to double check if Athens was in district 4 and it is
 
District 1 seems the most primed of all the districts mentioned above to take a big step forward thanks to Faith Academy
Along with CR South, Pennridge, and Quakertown, all with great lineups, and are I think, ranked in the top 10. Throw in Malvern Prep and there are at least 5 pretty good teams hanging around D1.
 
Central Dauphin has produced a lot of good wrestlers over the past 15-20 years. Apologies for leaving off Courts.
 
Kenny Courts is a good friend of my nephrology nurse. Funny coincidence.
He was a much better person then a wrestler and thats saying something. I wish he went to PSU but Ohio State was his choice. I rooted for him even against Penn State!
 
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