Bigger and better are two words that apply to Warwick's Antonio Giorgio this year.
Giorgio, a sophomore 189-pounder, is definitely bigger than he was last year, having put on a good thirty pounds from March until now.
He hopes that translates to a better year this year, after placing fourth in the District Three/Southcentral Region tournament as a freshman, just missing a spot in the state tournament.
So far, so good.
Giorgio improved to 10-0 on this young season, winning the 189 pound championship at the 10th Golden Mule Classic, Saturday at Solanco High School.
Giorgio, the 2006 champion at 160 pounds, crushed Wilkes-Barre Coughlin's Craig Kittrick, 17-4 in the finals.
Kittrick, the '06 bronze medalist at 152, fell behind 11-1 after two periods.
He made a brief rally at the start of the third, catching Giorgio for three backpoints with a tilt, but soon found himself on his back — for the third time in the match — at the conclusion of a six-point spurt by Giorgio.
It would appear very few of Giorgio's added pounds came from useless carbs.
His definition belies the hours spent in Tim's Gym, slapping the heavy iron.
Giorgio handles the new weight well. "It's different, he said, noting he had to get better on his feet.
One bonus, "I'm quicker than most '89-pounders," he said.
Giorgio's title was the only one claimed by local wrestlers. Teammate Bryan Pearsall lost in the finals at 125 pounds.
Pearsall, the returning 119-pound champion, met Downingtown West's Pat May, the returning runnerup from 112.
May broke on top 5-1 after a period on the strength of a 3-point tilt.
Down 5-3 after two, Persall was caught trying to post to a hip-over in the third period. May put Pearsall on his back, held him there, and pinned him in 5:13.
Warwick placed eleven wrestlers overall to finish fifth in the team scoring with 142½points.
Eric Resch was the next highest placefinsher, taking third at 160.
The Warriors got a fifth from Aaron Leeking at 215, Richie Reinoehl's sixth at 103, sevenths from Jamie Mellinger (140) and Reid Garner (171) and eighths from Ian Stoeckl (112), Travis Quinn (119) and Chris Sites (285).
Ephrata placed four wrestlers to finish ahead of host Solanco in 14th place, 82½ to 75½.
Blake Crowther took fourth at 171 for the Mountaineers, followed by Jared Becker, fifth at 135, Jordan Becker, sixth at 189 and Joey Kline, eighth at 130.
Alex Fisher's fourth at 130 was the highest finish for the Mules. Freshman Dan Neff was fifth at 119 and Kyle Beane (130) and Tyler Arkatin (215) placed sixth.
Under the Classic's format of wrestling the championship finals and consolation finals concurrently, the team-title race went down to the wire.
Lower Dauphin had led for most of the tournament, but Council Rock North nudged in front on the strength of Jamie Callender's championship pin at 171.
There were two more head-to-head matchups between LD and North, the 7th-place match at 215 and the 3rd-place match at 285.
When CR North's John Kaschak escaped at the final horn, denying LD's Matt Wallace at major decision at 215, North held a slim, 1-point lead.
Then Andrew Duschesneau stopped Tyler Watts 4-2 at 285 for the bronze medal and North took the title by 3½ points — 200-196½.
Lower Dauphin got titles from Taylor Stuart (112), Nick Kristich (130) and Jason Kane (140).
Kane turned the tables on Downingtown West's Jake Miller, scoring a major decision, 10-2. Miller had pinned Kane last year for the 135-pound title.
In addition to Callender, Oliver Hertzel (135) won a title for CR North.
South Western freshman Cameron Throckmorton pinned his way through the tournament, taking the championship at 103 with a 17-second fall.
His four falls in 3:23 won him the trophy for most falls in the least time, and his overall performance earned him the coaches' vote as the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
Dave Byrne is a Sunday News sports writer. You can e-mail him at dbyrne@lnpnews.com.
