Mount Pleasant High School wrestling coach Mark Mears has found that a wrestler who has experienced success at the Powerade Christmas Tournament will also be successful in postseason events.

		RANKINGS PG High School Wrestling Team Rankings: 12/26/05

"Every placewinner I've had at the Powerade Christmas Tournament has gone on to qualify for the PIAA championships," Mears said. "We had two placewinners last year and both qualified for a trip to Hershey."

Mount Pleasant is one of four WPIAL Class AA teams entered in the 39-team Powerade field, which is considered the strongest tournament in Pennsylvania. The other three WPIAL Class AA entries are Burrell, Derry Area and West Greene.

"We've been going to the Powerade Christmas Tournament since 2001," Burrell coach Chris Como said. "You can't find a better tournament in the state. The competition we will face at Powerade will no doubt help prepare us for the postseason tournaments."

A total of 20 WPIAL teams are entered in the Powerade tournament, which is Thursday and Friday at Canon-McMillan High School.

Other WPIAL schools entered are Albert Gallatin, Avonworth, Canon-McMillan, Chartiers-Houston, Chartiers Valley, Connellsville, Fox Chapel, Gateway, Greensburg Central Catholic, Greensburg Salem, McGuffey, Penn-Trafford, Pine-Richland, Shaler, Trinity and Waynesburg.

"The interest in the tournament has been so overwhelming that I decided to increase the number of teams," tournament director Frank Vulcano Jr. said. "Our previous high was 33 teams."

Maryland's Mount Saint Joseph, the defending team champion, is one of 11 out of state teams. The others are Canandaiqua (N.Y.), Christiansburg (Va.), Colonial Forge (Va.), Cox (Va.), Lake Stevens (Wash.), Moeller (Ohio), Parkersburg (W.Va.), Shaker Heights (Ohio), Solon (Ohio) and Walsh Jesuit (Ohio).

The other seven Pennsylvania teams entered at Powerade are Cedar Cliff, Central Dauphin, DuBois, Fort LeBoeuf, North Star, Pius X and State College.

Mount Pleasant's Donnie Ament, who captured the 145-pound title last year as a junior, is one of seven returning champions. The others are Canon-McMillan's Colin Johnston (103), Christiansburg's Andrew Pilla (119), Mount Saint Joseph's Mark Tsikerdanos (130), Walsh Jesuit's David Rella (152), Mount Saint Joseph's Mack Lewnes (160) and Penn-Trafford's Ryan Tomei (275).

"If you have any aspirations of doing well at the [PIAA] tournament, this tournament will help you reach those goals," West Greene coach Allen Hughes said.

Southmoreland Classic

Eighteen WPIAL teams will make an appearance at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday.

"This is the second time in the six-year history of the tournament that we've had 30 teams," Southmoreland coach Jon Banko said.

Some the WPIAL teams in the field are Ambridge, Apollo-Ridge, Baldwin, Bentworth, Blackhawk, Burgettstown, Butler, Charleroi, Jeannette, Jefferson-Morgan, Southmoreland, South Side Beaver and Uniontown.

Defending team champion West Branch is one of 12 teams from outside the WPIAL. The other 11 are Blairsville, Cambria Heights, DeSales (Ohio), Forest Hills, Greenville, Ligonier Valley, Meyersdale, Mount Union, Musselman (W.Va.), Perry and Southern Garrett (Md.).

"It's nice having West Branch, Blairsville, Cambria Heights, Forest Hills, Ligonier Valley and Mount Union because it gives us a look at District 6 [teams] before the Southwest Regional," Burgettstown coach Terry Havelka said.

Returning individual champions at the Southmoreland Classic are Hempfield's Josh Testa (112), Musselman's Billy Barrett (125), West Branch's Donny Clark (130), Norwin's Dennis Fix (135), Blairsville's Matt Moore (140) and Uniontown's Jason King (152).

DeAugustino Classic

The 34th annual Steve DeAugustino Holiday Classic Thursday and Friday at West Mifflin has 15 WPIAL teams in the 17-team field. Bethel Park returns with hopes of defending its title, while Washington hopes to improve on last year's second-place finish.

"We have a lot of solid teams, but none is heads and shoulders above everybody else," West Mifflin coach Tony Salopek said when asked if the tournament has a favorite. "There's no clear-cut favorite."

With four returning finalists, Washington has to be considered one of the favorites. The Little Prexies have three returning champions -- Patrick Gouin (103), Ryan Nowlin (112) and Gary Smith (119) -- and one returning runner-up in Alex Evans (145).

"It would be great to have all four win this year," Washington coach Rich Burgdolt said.

Also entered in the DeAugustino Holiday Classic are Franklin Regional, Hampton, Keystone Oaks, Langley, Laurel Highlands, McKeesport, Moon, Mt. Lebanon, North Hills, Seneca Valley, South Allegheny, Steel Valley, Thomas Jefferson, West Mifflin and Wheeling Central Catholic.

Bethel Park and Thomas Jefferson each have two returning champions. The Black Hawks have Dom Bonaccorsi (140) and Joe Consolmagno (189) returning, while Thomas Jefferson has Mark Generalovich (152) and Tom Russo (160).

The other returning champions are Wheeling Central Catholic's Zach Basich (130) and Moon's George Hingson (275).

Other tournaments

Avella is one of four teams from Pennsylvania that will be traveling to North Carolina this week to compete in the Tiger Holiday Classic. The 46-team tournament, which will be held tomorrow and Wednesday, is ranked as the third-toughest scholastic tournament in the country by Wrestling USA Magazine. Also representing Pennsylvania are Southern Lehigh, Penn Manor and Bellefonte.

Kiski Area returns to the 14-team Manheim Lions Holiday Tournament, which will be held Thursday and Friday. The Cavaliers finished second behind Easton in last year's team standings. Kiski Area's lineup features three individuals who placed second last year -- Mike Spisak, Zack McKendree and Scott Joseph -- who placed second last year.

Peters Township, Mars, Central Catholic and Ringgold are entered in the 28-team Wheeling Park Duals, which will be held tomorrow and Wednesday.

Shady Side Academy and Belle Vernon are entered in Brockway's Big Dog Tournament, which is also tomorrow and Wednesday.

Laurel is entered in the Pymatuming Valley Christmas Tournament, which is tomorrow and Wednesday.

Indiana is entered in the Conestoga Valley Christmas Tournament, which will be held Thursday and Friday.

Century club

Three WPIAL coaches have joined the Century Club in the first month of the season.

Albert Gallatin's Duane Dupont is the most recent, as he recorded his 100th win last week against Thomas Jefferson. South Side Beaver's Ron Ledbetter and Waynesburg's John Yates joined the Century Club earlier in the season.

Connellsville, the No. 1 team in Class AAA, held on to its top ranking with a 30-25 win against No. 2 Connellsville Friday.