Ohio All-Stars coach Bill Barger thought he had assembled a team that could beat the WPIAL All-Stars, but even he was surprised by the final score.

The Ohio All-Stars broke a 9-9 tie with seven consecutive victories en route to a 33-9 win yesterday in the preliminary match at the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic at Pitt's Fitzgerald Field House.

"I knew I had the best kids in Ohio, but thought the match would be much closer," said Barger, head coach at Walsh Jesuit High School. "I knew we would be a much tighter team since I held six practices the last two weeks, and almost everybody attended all six."

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Ohio's victory ended the WPIAL's six-year win streak in the preliminary. It was the fourth time Ohio has faced the WPIAL, and three have ended with Ohio victories. The other was a tie.

Bo Touris, an Ohio champion from West Chester Lakota, opened the match with a convincing 8-2 victory against Greensburg Salem's Ken Trumbetta at 112 pounds.

McGuffey's Matt Scherich and Hempfield's Rudy Chelednik won the next two bouts, as the WPIAL took a 6-3 lead. Scherich, a two-time WPIAL Class AAA finalist, had a 5-0 decision against Jackson's Dante Rini at 119 pounds. Chelednik scored a 6-3 victory against Brian Dean, an Ohio champion from Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary.

Ohio recorded victories in the next two matches to regain the lead, 9-6.

The 140-pound bout also went to overtime. Keystone Oaks' Jesse Byerly recorded a 2-0 decision against Shawn Harris, an Ohio champion from Cleveland St. Edwards, for the WPIAL. Byerly, a PIAA champion, scored the winning points on a takedown with 16 seconds left in the overtime.

"I didn't want to be the only bout that ended in a tie," said Byerly, who was named the MVP of the WPIAL team. "And I certainly didn't want to lose in overtime."

The Ohio All-Stars took charge from that point, winning the next seven matches. Chris Honeycutt, a two-time state champion from St. Edwards, was named Ohio's MVP. He pinned Kiski Area's Jon Moore at 189 pounds and the fall also clinched the victory for Ohio.