As the medals rolled out of McDowell Intermediate High School’s gym on Saturday night, one thing was clear.
A lot of the best talent in Class AAA wrestling in this neck of the woods still has a lot of growing up to do.
Of the 42 wrestlers who earned District 10 AAA top-three finishes, 27 were underclassmen, including 15 freshmen and sophomores.
If D-10 accepted a fourth AAA regional qualifier -- as many coaches and observers have argued for years that it should -- another 10 underclassmen would be headed to Altoona this weekend as fourth-place finishers.
One of the freshmen who will make the trip, Dennis Diodati of Conneaut Lake, put on one of the best performances of the night in the 171-pound consolation final against General McLane freshman Doug Myers.
With the bout tied at 3, Diodati slipped into a cradle after Myers attempted a roll. The three near-fall points gave Diodati (27-8) a 6-3 win.
Diodati has heard the theory that underclassmen can’t win at the upperweights, but his emergence this season, along with that of the talented Myers (24-17), Corry freshman Dustin Taubert (21-19) and Cathedral Prep sophomore Jermaine Easter (22-9) -- all just in the 171-pound class -- has helped fuel the youth movement in D-10 AAA.
“I thought I had a chance (to get to regionals) at the beginning of the season,” Diodati said. “It actually took some of the pressure off knowing that I had three more years to get there if it didn’t work out this year.”
Diodati was far from alone. Corry freshman Austin Gillihan won the 112-pound title, marking the second straight year the tournament crowned a freshman champ.
Sophomores Shelton Mack of Meadville (103) and Jake Kondrlik of Corry (140) and juniors Rocco Wellek of Cathedral Prep (125), Matt Laird of Conneaut Lake (135), Brian Greenlee of Franklin (145) and Nick Milano of Cathedral Prep (160) also won titles, and Warren freshman Amani Bosko (125) was second.
Corry -- the banner-carrier for D-10 AAA’s youth movement -- advanced five, one freshman and four sophomores, to Altoona.
“We thought we could prove something this weekend even though we’re young,” Kondrlik said of Corry’s underclassmen dominated lineup. “Most of us have been wrestling together for a long time and we expect to see each other win. So it doesn’t really matter that much that we’re freshmen and sophomores.”
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Credit Pennsylvania Wrestling News editor Jon Connole for this weekend observation: In what had to be at least a rarity, if not unprecedented, the D-10 AAA tournament brought under one roof the grandson of an Olympian and the son of an Olympian.
Cathedral Prep sophomore 145-pounder Jamal Lyons’ grandfather is former Olympic qualifier Jimmy Carr. Four-time Olympic heavyweight medalist Bruce Baumgartner’s son Zac is a freshman 135-pounder for General McLane.
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D-10 honored three longtime contributors before Saturday’s AAA finals: Former Maplewood wrestler and sports writer Craig Phillips, former Corry wrestler and coach Scott Crowell, and coach and referee Jack Sinnott.

-- John Dudley