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Going into the championship finals, UPJ sits in 4th place, i believe, behind Neb.-Omaha, Minn. St.-Ma., and Neb.-Kearny. Individually, Mike Corcetti and Albert Miles both face familiar foes in the finals, as corcetti wrestles the boy from Limestone and Miles wrestles the boy from Neb.-Omaha. Senior Brandon Reasy brought his stellar wrestling career to an end with a 4th place finish and becoming a 3-time all-american. Shane Valko had a great tournament, also finishing 4th place while wrestling light in the 141lbs. weight class. Kyle Keane also wrestled extremely well finishing 4th place. And Zac Majocha finished 6th at the Hwt. class. All in all a good showing by the boys from Johnstown in an extremely tough tournament. Let's hope they bring home 2 champs also.

Albert Miles won the national title at 174 and Mike Corcetti ended his career at UPJ with a National Runner-up finish. UPJ finished in 4th place and had 6 All Americans.

This team greatly exceeded what I expected from them. I was nearly as ecstatic for these guys as I was for Gary Pfahler. Albert Miles has always been a dangerous wrestler, but he came out of nowhere to win this national title. It is a shame to see Corcetti not capture that elusive national title with his second runner-up finish, but this is the third time he lost to Scanlan this year. I was, of course, really pulling for Reasy to win a national title as well, so it was extra heartbreaking to see him lose in the semifinals to the wrestler that he beat to earn the number 1 ranking. Kyle Keane put together an amazing season. He was an unexpected force for UPJ this season. His father died shortly before the post-season, but he went on to win a regional title and place 4th at nationals. I was also really pulling for him to win a national title to cap off a beautiful story. Unfortunately, he lost in the semifinals to someone he had beat earlier in the year and had he won he would have wrestled Harrison from Mercyhurst who he also beat earlier in the season (just a few weeks ago). Zack Majocha was granted one additional semester of eligibility by the NCAA and make great use of it. He came back two years after his first exit weighing 40 pounds less and prepared to wrestle 197. However, he remained at HWT and after his fourth national tournament appearance, obtained All-American status.

Though UPJ loses four of this years all-americans, they should be looking at another great year next year. The remaining two all-americans, along with national qualifier Pat Walsh are just sophomores. 2007 Natinoal Qualifier, Chris Dempsey will return after red-shirting to make room for Majocha. Many wrestlers appear prepared to step right in including this year's redshirts who were Pecora's best recruiting class since 2003 that gave him 10 all-american honors, a national title, and three national finals. Many of the young freshman could see significant mat time in the 2008-2009 season. I predict a national title for the Mountain Cats by 2012. The 2008 season was a story-book year.