In all the artistic depictions of the mythological character Atlas with the world perched on his shoulders, nowhere is he presented wearing a Warwick wrestling singlet.

And while the Warriors Antonio Giorgio is no Atlas — close to it, maybe — he has carried the expectations of the Lititz community, as well as that of the larger Lancaster County wrestling community, on his shoulders for better than three years.

That burden, that he would surely win one — at least one — PIAA State wrestling championship before his scholastic career ended, became ever heavier as his career grew shorter.

And the goal remained unrealized.

And whatever pressure came from outside sources, nothing compared to the high expectations Giorgio placed on himself.

Giorgio is a dichotomy. Effervescent and outgoing, as well as introspective to a fault, he is his own biggest critic.

Never more so than when he failed to replicate that magical March Saturday of 2008, when he reached the state finals at 189 pounds as a sophomore.

The state title at 215 pounds was a sure thing his junior year. But he lost in the semifinals, and again in the consolation semifinals, ultimately finishing fifth.

Taking an honest accounting of his effort, Giorgio realized he had not as prepared as he should have.

He rededicated himself to working hard and not even an early-season ankle injury this year could deter him from his goal.

 But Springfield's Andre Pertoski — his future teammate at the University of North Carolina — could, and did, defeating Giorgio in the quarterfinals on Friday in Hershey's Giant Center.

"I thought, with the way I was working up to this, I was going to get different results than before," he dejectedly observed in the wake of this disappointment.

"I don't know if it's selfish, or a poor sport to think this way, but I've been working to be the best in the state. Not the third-best."

But when third best is the only option on the table, you go for it and Giorgio went for it big-time, laying waste to all that stood between him and the bronze medal he ultimately claimed Saturday night.

Along the way, he learned something about himself.

"There's so much that I didn't accomplish that I wish I would have," he said Saturday night.

"Looking back, you can't kick yourself in the butt. I wanted to be able to be a state champion.

"It didn't work out that way. Life's not fair, you know what I mean?"

Hempfield's Austin Miller certainly knows what he means.

If life was fair, Miller would be the toast of Landisville, the Black Knights' first-ever state wrestling champion.

If life was fair, if sport was fair, Miller, who rode Canon-McMillan's Conner Schram for 29 seconds of the second period of their 103-pound championship bout, and for all 30 seconds of the first 30-second overtime period, would've held Schram down in the 30-second Ultimate Tiebreaker.

Ultimately, Schram broke free of Miller's hold after just five seconds had elapsed.

Good as gold, for the gold, 2-1.

The Canon-Mac freshman had lost to Central Dauphin's Tyson Dippery in the finals of the Powerade Tournament, and split with Connellsville's Ethan Kenney in the finals of the Charleroi and Southwest Regional tournaments.

Miller had handled Dippery in the District Three semifinals and Kenney in the state quarters.

Which meant nothing in the end.

"I know he's disappointed," said Knights coach Jude Bervinchak. "(But) he had a great tournament."

A sentiment echoed by Schram's coach, Chris Mary. "Austin's got nothing to be ashamed of," Mary said Saturday night. "He's a solid wrestler."

With a solid future.

A future he will share with district contemporaries Jordan Conaway of New Oxford and Chris Vassar of Cedar Cliff, who finished third and fourth respectively this weekend.

The three of them should be right back in the thick of it next year.

Schram, however, looks like he will grow right past 112 and into 119 next season.

While Miller grew from a two-and-through appearance in last year's state tournament to going 3-and-1 and making the finals, Solanco's Dan Neff improved his 1-and-2-did-not-place showing from 2009.

Shaking off a quarterfinal loss on Friday, Neff won three straight matches to make the consolation finals at 130.

His 9-4 loss there to Blue Mountain's Tyler Rauenzahn — a state runner-up at 119 in 2009, who lost in the first round to eventual 130-pound champion Steve Spearman of McDowell — is a measuring stick of how far Neff has come in one year.

And where he wants to be.

Don't be surprised if, this time next year, we're toasting two champions.

There are those pesky expectations again.

dbyrne@lnpnews.com