Members of the Harbor Creek wrestling program were honored prior to Saturday’s finals of the District 10 Class AA tournament at Sharon.
His peers voted Mark Sallot Section 1 and District 10 coach of the year. Sallot, in his sixth season, guided the Huskies to the Region 3 title and their first berth in the PIAA AA team tournament.
Harbor Creek’s Adam Trimble and Jeff Sanford also received Kevin Kubalic Memorial Scholarships from the District 10 Wrestling Association. Trimble, a district finalist at 135 pounds, and Sanford (152) each received $1,000 scholarships for their academic and athletic accomplishments.
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Harbor Creek assistant coach Derek Chew also was cited for helping organize the inaugural Hamot Sports Medicine Senior Showdown in 2007. The exhibition event, which pitted the region’s elite Class AAA and AA wrestlers, generated more than $2,200 for District 10’s wrestling scholarship program.
The Showdown returns to Harbor Creek Junior High School on Wednesday, March 19, at 7 p.m. Brian Hills of Reynolds will coach the AA team and Corry’s Skip Laird the AAA corner.
Tickets will be $5 per person.Chew hopes to announce this season's Showdown match-ups during the Northwest Region Class AA tournament.
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Greenville’s Luke Marshall and Kody McInturf were on the same team, but their district results were radically diverse.
As the fourth seed from Section 2, Marshall was the only wrestler who reached a final from the preliminary round. The Trojans’ 112-pound sophomore opened with a pin of Fairview’s Joe Gennaro, then upset Section 1 champion Levi Morton of North East 10-7 in the quarterfinals.
Marshall decisioned Commodore Perry’s Nate Dias 9-6 in the semifinals before Shane Rankin, Union City’s freshman phenom, ended Marshall’s title bid with a 15-2 major decision in the 112 final.
Marshall (31-13) still qualified for Friday’s Northwest Region Class AA tournament despite the loss.
McInturf was nowhere as fortunate. The Section 2 champ at 215 was tournament favorite, but the senior’s career ended when Hickory’s John Apa pinned him in the fifth-place final.
Commodore Perry’s Brian Hooks pinned McInturf in the quarterfinals. He received a bye in the first round of consolations and beat Harbor Creek’s Mike Paradise 7-1 in the second round.
But that would be the last scholastic win for McInturf (34-7).
Union City’s Jared Burger pinned the Trojan in the consolation semis and Apa followed with his fall in the 215-elimination match.
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Cambridge Springs middleweight Carl Parkin is the first Blue Devil in the AA regionals since Keith Smith qualified in 2000.
Parkin (160) began the district tournament as the second seed from Section 1. The senior decisioned Reynolds’ Gregg Baptiste 5-3 in overtime before he lost to eventual champion Caleb Kolb of Grove City 4-2 in the semifinals.
Parkin (29-6) qualified for regionals with his 8-3 win over Sharon’s Lewendo Teague in the consolation semis, then claimed third seed with a 6-1 decision over Eisenhower’s Mick Johnson.
“We’ve waited for someone to step up in this program,” Blue Devils coach Dana Mason said, “and Carl is that spark. He can lead the march to prove that Cambridge Springs is no longer a wrestling doormat.”

— Mike Copper