Don Hosterman - Tournament
Adviser
Bill Reimer - AAA
Tony Yaniello - AA
District
6 Wrestling Site - Brian Carson
Tom Elling's Pennsylvania Wrestling
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Central Mountain Wins 2008 D6 Class AAA Team Championship |
Mount Union Wins 2008 D6 Class AA Team Championship |
photos by Tony Yaniello
Six new members of the District 6 Hall of Fame will be inducted before the District 6 Class AA and AAA Tournament finals in February at the Altoona Fieldhouse. The Class AA finals are set for Feb. 16, while the Class AAA finals are set for Feb. 23.
Lewis Craig, Henry Green, Nathan Galloway, Paul Packer, Paul Powell and Jody Strittmatter will be inducted in February. Five of the six won state titles, including Galloway, who won three PIAA titles, and two won NCAA titles.
They were
selected by Hall of Fame committee members Dave Caslow, Mark Dugan, J.R.
Holenchik, Todd Irwin, Blair Packer, Skip Pighetti and Tony Yaniello.
2008 Hall of Fame inductees
Lewis Craig: In 1968, Craig captured an all-class District 6 title, a
Central Northwest Regional title
and became Bald Eagle Area's first state champion with an 8-4 win over Mt.
Lebanon's Jim Fleming in the
165-pound finals.
Henry Green: In 1972, Green won an all-class District 6 title, a Central
Northwest Regional title
by earning a 6-5 overtime win over Erie East's Jimmy Carr, who would wrestle in
the Olympics that year, and
became Huntingdon's first state champion with a 5-1 win over Saucon Valley's
Rocky Chunko in the 120
pounds in 1972.
Nathan Galloway: Galloway was a three-time Class AAA state champion,
three-time Northwest Regional
champion and a three-time District 6 champion in 2000, 2001 and 2002 for State
College at 140, 145 and 152,
and he was voted the PIAA Championships Class AAA Outstanding Wrestler in 2002
after pinning
Selinsgrove's previously unbeaten Seth Martin in the finals. He went 136-10 in
high school and went 90-54
at Penn State. Galloway qualified for the NCAA Championships twice at Penn State
and once at Rider
University.
Paul Packer: Packer won an all-class Central Northwest Regional title and
state title in 1972 at 95
pounds for Bald Eagle Area. He was a referee for many years before suffering a
back injury.
Paul Powell: Powell was a District 6 champion at 112 pounds for Lock
Haven High School in 1956, and he
was a national champion at Pitt in 1958.
Jody Strittmatter: Strittmatter won District 6 and Northwest Regional title and earned the 112-pound Class AA state title in 1996 by beating Lake Lehman's Matt Raczkowski, 11-4, in the finals. He went 114-17 at Cambria Heights. He was a two-time Division II national champion in 1998 and 1999 at UPJ, where he went 87-3 in two years, and he was voted the 1999 Division II Outstanding Wrestler. Strittmatter transferred to Iowa, where he won Big Ten titles in 2000 and 2001, was voted the Big Ten Outstanding Wrestler in 2000, placed third at NCAA Championships in 2000 and second in 2001 and was a team captain his senior year.