By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
WILLIAMSPORT - Athens senior David Galasso won his first PIAA Northeast Regional title here Saturday evening with a 10-3 decision over Line Mountain's Jacob Feese in the 170-pound finale.
Galasso (32-4), who finished third at Regionals last year, scored a five-point move with 43 seconds remaining in the first period to take a 5-2 lead.
After an escape off the second-period whistle, Galasso scored a takedown midway through the second period for an 8-2 lead. He added a takedown with 50 seconds remaining in the third period for a 10-3 lead.
"We hadn't wrestled (Jacob Feese) before, and it gave David a look he hadn't seen in a while," said Athens assistant coach Jay White. "Once he figured out he can't reach with his right hand, after we yelled at him repeatedly, then the pick was there, and he was able to turn him on top, which is something he has to get back to.
"I was a little disappointed that he had to use scrambling to get his takedowns on a couple of his shots," noted White. "We wanted him to keep (Feese) off his legs, but we'll work on that.
"It's was a better performance in the finals than he had last week," added White, referring to Galasso's 4-0 loss to Montoursville's Dylan Bennett in the finals of the District 4 Championships."
White expects Galasso, who was 1-2 at States last year, to handle himself well at States.
"He's beaten kids who have already qualified," he said. "We've been watching the brackets from around the state, and a lot of the kids at States, we've wrestled, and he's beaten a few of them.
"David needs to keep doing what he's been doing, he needs to do it right, and he can't get sloppy," added White. "Every once in a while he gets sloppy, it he cleans that up he'll be fine."
What words of advice does the coaching staff have for Galasso?
"Don't do anything special, just do what you can and be who you are," said White. "You're good enough, if you do what you do right, you're good enough to place.
"If you try to do something that's not you, then you might be in trouble," he noted.
The PIAA Class AA Championships begin Thursday morning at the Giant Center in Hershey.
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IN PHOTOS: Athens senior David Galasso. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
