It's not always about having been here before.

But it sure doesn't hurt if you have.

Hempfield's Austin Miller (103), Solanco's Dan Neff (130) and Warwick's Antonio Giorgio (189) advanced to this afternoon's Class AAA quarterfinals of the PIAA Wrestling Championships, having won their preliminary round bouts Thursday at Hershey's Giant Center.

The quarterfinals begin at 1 p.m. with the second round of consolations immediately following.

All three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League's quarterfinalists are PIAA veterans; Miller and Neff competing in their second state confab, Giorgio making his third appearance.

What may have mattered more than just the experience was the confidence gained from that experience.

"I know I actually have a chance of winning it this year," said Miller, who improved to 37-2. "Last year, I didn't think I really had a shot."

"It's definitely different this year. It's all mental," said Neff, who won his 40th match of the year against two losses. "Last year I was a little nervous. (This year) I put myself up there with every kid in my bracket."

Major decisions were the order of the day for Miller and Neff while Giorgio (25-0) pinned his way one match closer to his ultimate goal.

Miller was all over Billy Rappo (35-15) of Council Rock South, 10-0, getting breathing room with a 5-point reversal in the second period and picking up a stalling point before closing out with his second takedown of the match.

"I just overpowered him," said Miller. "I was definitely bigger than him."

Miller faces Connellsville freshman Ethan Kenney in this afternoon's quarterfinals. Kenney (43-6) defeated Nick Bogacki of Dubois, 14-5.

Neff was equally dominant in a 12-2 major decision over Upper Moreland's Tim Santry (34-7).

Leading 5-1, Neff executed his bread-and-butter hip toss late in the second period, good for a takedown and three nearfall points and a commanding lead. He closed out the scoring with his trademark cross-ankle pick takedown.

"I was stronger, and a little quicker," said Neff, who has Pleasant Valley's Jordan Toledo (38-4) this afternoon. Toledo advanced with a 4-2 win over Greater Latrobe's Ty Lydic.

Giorgio looked every bit the savvy vet as he pinned Tyson Searer in 1:12.

Giorgio scored the initial takedown on a sweet single-to-double leg shot. In a flurry, where Searer (29-11) momentarily had an opportunity to reverse, Giorgio blocked with an armbar then rolled into a tight headlock, fixing Searer to the mat.

He now faces the first crucible of his final state tournament, a quarterfinal matchup with Springfield Delco's returning state bronze medalist, Andre Petroskie (36-2). Petroskie pinned Tarik Haddad of Parkland in 3:08

Meanwhile, the L-L's four tournament rookies — Garden Spot's Kyle Coblentz (119), Penn Manor's Bobby Rehm (125), Manheim Township's Austin Schultz (189) and Conestoga Valley's Cole Dillman (285) — each found themselves detoured off the hard road in their drive for a state medal.

Locating their GPS, Schultz and Dillman got back on track with victories in the first round of wrestlebacks.

Scoring on two doubles and a reversal, Schultz (34-5) opened a 6-1 lead and held off Boyertown's Zach Heffner for a 9-6 victory, the 100th career win for the Bucknell-bound Blue Streak.

In the opener, Schultz never got started in a 10-0 loss to Michael Pollard (43-1) of Corry, who scored three takedowns and turned Schultz for three nearfall points.

Locked in a 1-1 overtime tango with Whitehall's Tony Bourzik, Dillman (38-4) broke the tie when he feinted a bear hug and dropped to a low double leg, dropping Bourzik to the mat with 12 seconds left in sudden victory.

Dillman's preliminary round loss was the most frustrating of the locals as he was 11 seconds away from advancing.

Leading General McLane's Caleb Baker, 4-1, after scoring a 3-point nearfall in the second period on a snapback, things unraveled for Dillman when Baker (38-6) was awarded a puzzling stalling point with 11 seconds left.

It came when Dillman, who had been warned earlier in the third period, declined the open opportunity to take Baker down with 0:11 on the clock, pushing him away instead. The match official saw that as stalling and awarded Baker the penalty.

Reprieved, Baker sent the match to overtime, scoring a takedown with six seconds in regulation.

After a scoreless one minute sudden victory, Dillman escaped at the buzzer of the first 30-second OT and was primed to ride Baker out in the second 30. But Baker rolled Dillman for an escape with 11 ticks left, then covered a single leg shot with two seconds to go for a 7-5 victory.

For Coblentz and Rehm it was a detour from which there was no return as they lost their consolation preliminaries.

Coblentz (34-6) was eliminated by Council Rock North's Shane Longstreth, 10-2, giving up a pair of 2-point tilts and two sucker-drag takedowns.

Earlier, Coblentz led Waynesburg's Derrick Nelson 4-0 after a period, scoring a takedown and, later in the period, cradling him for two back points. But Nelson (31-4) scored two 3-point nearfalls in the final three minutes to claim an 8-4 victory.

Thirty seconds from a 4-3 victory, Rehm (36-6) got taken down into a 5-pointer by Boyertown's Jeremy Minich, who went on to post an 8-4 victory.

Fate tilted away from Rehm in the prelims. He was unable to turn Dylan Mogan (24-1) of Bethel Park with a second-period tilt attempt, then got tilted in the third period, ultimately the difference in a 5-4 loss.

In Class AA, Annville-Cleona's Dylan Killian was eliminated after the first day of competition.

Killian lost an 8-5 decision to Loyalsock's Northeast Region runner-up Alec Eggerton (42-7) in Thursday morning's 140-pound preliminaries.

That dropped Killian (35-10) to the wrestleback consolations and a win-or-go-home match with returning PIAA runner-up Phillip Steinberg, who was upset by Juniata's Seth Beitz, 6-3, in the first round.

Steinberg (34-2) jumped out to a 6-1 lead on Killian with a pair of first-period takedowns and a second-period reversal, yielded two stalling points late and prevailed, 7-3.