Jim Covert has reached his goal of becoming a head wrestling coach; he just wishes his promotion at Freedom Area High School was for a different reason.

"Ed Driscoll stepped down right before the season began due to personal reasons," said Covert, who was Driscoll's assistant last season and had planned to reprise that role this season.

Driscoll took over at Freedom last season after retiring as athletic director and head wrestling coach at Quigley Catholic in Baden. The Bulldogs had a disappointing 1-11 record last season, which capped his 35-year coaching career with a 258-255-4 record.

"I wrestled for coach Driscoll when I was in high school," said Covert, a 1999 graduate of Ambridge Area High School. "Ambridge had a co-op with Quigley at the time. After I graduated, I helped him with the youth programs at Quigley and Ambridge.

"I love working with kids. I want to make an influence in their lives."

Covert, the nephew of former Pitt football player Jimbo Covert, is looking forward to the challenge of heading up a varsity program, but also realizes that he's fighting an uphill battle.

"We have 12 kids on the varsity, so we can't fill our lineup," said Covert. "My goal is to rebuild the program to the level it was when John Rosa was coaching."

Freedom opened its season at the 20-team Chartiers-Houston Invitational. The Bulldogs placed last in the competition and did not have a place-winner.

South Side Beaver, Chartiers Valley and West Allegheny placed among the top six finishers at the Chartiers-Houston Invitational.

Shady Side Academy won the team title with three champions and 182 total points.

Chartiers Valley placed third with 126 points. The Colts had two wrestlers in the finals, but only one champion. Eric Kush won the 285-pound weight class with a 5-1 win over Albert Gallatin's Jeremiah Karpency, while teammate Dan Utchel dropped a narrow 3-2 decision in the 215-pound final.

South Side Beaver finished fourth with 121.5 points and had four finalists. John Prezzia, Colin Checkan and Dominick Demor won titles for the Rams, while David Demor finished second.

"I'm happy with our performance," said South Side Beaver coach Ron Ledbetter. "Especially since we didn't have an entry at 215 pounds."

Prezzia captured the 119-pound title with a 7-4 win over Shady Side's Frank Martellotti, who won the PIAA Class AA title last season. Checkan posted a 7-1 win over Jefferson-Morgan's Craig Johnson in the 140-pound final. Dominick Demor recorded an 8-1 win over Albert Gallatin's Dan Karpency in the 145-pound final.

"John is wrestling like he did as a freshman," said Ledbetter. "He recorded three first-period pins to earn his spot in the finals."

Prezzia missed most of last season with a knee injury.

David Demor lost to Shady Side's Dane Johnson, a defending state champion, in the title match.

West Alleghey had two wrestlers advance to the finals. Aaron McKenney won the 130-pound weight class with a 7-1 win over Chartiers-Houston's Michael Innes, while teammate Troy Reaghard lost, 3-1, in the 160-pound final to Albert Gallatin's Jeff Dulaney.