The Hampton High School wrestling team was a surprise top-five finisher at the Allegheny County tournament this past weekend at Fox Chapel High School.

"Seven of our 13 entries were freshmen and we had only one senior," said coach Joe Bursick, referring to the Talbots fifth-place finish in the 41-team field. "We had six placewinners [by finishing among the top eight in their weight class] and five were freshmen and sophomores.

"To finish among the top five with such a young team is something to be proud of. It's a great confidence booster for a group of kids who have a bright future."

Hampton had two individual -- Jake Hart and Nick Yaroszewski -- advance to the finals but both had to settle for silver medals.

Hart, a freshman, lost, 6-0, in the 189-pound final to North Allegheny's Seb Fischer.

"Jake is doing a great job for a freshman," Bursick said. "It's a lot harder to be successful in the upper weight classes as a freshman because of all the upperclassmen. Jake is eligible to drop to 171, but he might be better off staying at 189. It might be more challenging at 171."

Yaroszewski, a sophomore, lost a 3-2 decision to Plum's Anthony DiLonardo at 215.

"Nick is a 189-pounder who is wrestling up because he lost an overtime wrestle-off to Jake," Bursick said. "He did a great job in the title match, but came up short."

The others freshmen who placed in the tournament for Hampton were Zach Kocak (third at 112) and Kevin Synan (fifth at 140). Hampton's other two placewinners were senior Ryan Craig (fifth at 135) and sophomore Peter Craig (fifth at 125).

Bursick is pleased that junior Jordan Shulman, who has 44 victories the past two seasons, will be returning to the lineup.

"Jordan was cleared last Friday and will be ready to wrestle in a couple weeks," Bursick said. "He's been recovering from a football injury."

Seven of 10 translated to a second-place finish for Shady Side Academy at the Allegheny County tournament.

"We had 10 kids entered and seven placed," Shady Side Academy coach Tim Giel said. "We had four starters out with injuries."

The most noteworthy scratch was junior Phillip Elias, who was the top seed at 125 pounds, but had to withdraw with a minor injury.

"Phillip could have made the difference," said Giel, referring to the 23-point difference between Shady Side Academy and team champion North Allegheny. "He placed fourth at the county tournament last year."

Shady Side Academy had six wrestlers advance to the finals. Geoff Alexander, Anthony Elias, Frank Martellotti and Matt Tadich won titles with Matthew Cunningham and Nick Ciesielski claiming silver medals.

Alexander won at 119 with an 11-4 decision against North Allegheny's Nick Rodgers. Elias placed first at 125 with a 6-1 victory against Bethel Park's Phil Kail. Martellotti won his third county title in four years with a 2-1 overtime victory against Central Catholic's Tyler Zymroz. Tadich came up with a 5-0 decision against Central Catholic's Eric Nutter at 135.

"Geoff and Frankie were both returning champions," Giel said. "Anthony and Matt stepped into the spotlight."

Cunningham dropped a 1-0 decision to Chartiers Valley's Tyler Wilps in the 171-pound final. Ciesielski lost, 3-2, to Bethel Park's Adam Lazenga at 285.

North Allegheny had three wrestlers advance to the finals, including two who were in title matches for a second year.

Rodgers placed second at 103 in 2007 as a freshman, but spent most of the next two seasons on the injured list recovering from a concussion. He made a return trip to the finals at 119 pounds and lost to Alexander.

"Nick battled to get back into the lineup," North Allegheny coach Jamie Kyriazis said. "Making it back to the finals is a big confidence builder for him."

Andy Candiello won at 135 last year, but placed second at 145 this time. He dropped a 3-2 decision to South Fayette's Nick Carr in the final.

"Andy has the option of dropping to 140 for the postseason tournaments, but will probably stay at 145," Kyriazis said.

"He did a nice job in the tournament, but came up short in the finals."

Fischer was the Tigers lone champion, but his 6-1 win against Hart was a lot closer than the score indicated.

"The match was 2-1 until the final 30 seconds," Kyriazis said. "Hart took a bad shot and Seb caught him and put him on his back."

North Allegheny had eight of its 13 wrestlers finish in the top eight in their weight class.

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