A goal of just about every high school wrestler in Pennsylvania is to become a PIAA place-winner, if not a champion.

Seventy-one wrestlers from the WPIAL will have a chance to earn PIAA medals at the PIAA wrestling championships that got underway Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.

Twenty-one already have medals they earned by finishing among the top eight in their weight class in previous PIAA tournaments. Four are two-time returning place-winners.

And one has a chance to place his name among the most successful wrestlers in WPIAL history.

Shady Side Academy senior Frank Martellotti is a three-time PIAA place-winner who has a chance to become the 16th four-time PIAA place-winner in WPIAL history.

"I'm a little surprised to hear that there's only been 15 four-time PIAA place-winners in the history of the WPIAL," Martellotti said. "I thought the list would be longer."

Martellotti was the PIAA Class AA 103-pound champion as a freshman in 2007. Since then he has had to settle for a pair of bronze medals. He was third at 112 as a sophomore and at 130 last year. He returns in the 130 weight class.

"Becoming a four-time place-winner would be an honor, but my only concern is to get back to the top of the winners platform," Martellotti said. "That's been my goal since I won as a freshman. I have to prove that my freshman year was no fluke. Becoming a two-time champion is more important to me than becoming a four-time place-winner."

Martellotti started this year's quest by earning a 9-7 decision against Tamaqua's Kolby Mashack on Thursday. He will face Austin Matthews of Reynolds in the quarterfinals this morning.

The WPIAL conducted its inaugural wrestling championship tournament in 1936. The PIAA followed suit in 1938 and held a state-wide tournament that included four wrestlers in each weight class. The top two finishers were recognized as PIAA place-winners.

With only four wrestlers in each weight class, becoming a four-time PIAA place-winner was almost impossible for 35 years. Waynesburg High School's James Conklin, who graduated in 1943, was the only wrestler to achieve the feat during that period. Conklin is one of nine wrestlers in PIAA history to win four titles.

Eight WPIAL wrestlers were three-time PIAA place-winners during that stretch, but none placed as a freshman.

In 1973, the PIAA expanded to eight-man brackets and decided to recognize four individuals in each weight as place-winners. The following year, the PIAA went to two classifications for wrestling -- Class AAA and AA -- and that doubled the number of participants and place-winners.

The PIAA used that format for seven years, then expanded in 1981 to a 16-man bracket. At the same time, six-place finishers were recognized in each weight class.

Even with the expanded brackets, it took another 15 years for a WPIAL wrestler to become a four-time PIAA place-winner. Penn Hills' John Dasta became the second member of this exclusive club in 1988. Dasta benefitted from the expanded field, finishing fifth in his weight class as a freshman.

North Allegheny's dynamic duo of Ty Moore and Ray Brinzer were the next two members.

"It's incredibly tough to make this list. There are only 15 guys on it," Moore said. "Just look at the list. Everyone on that list is a stud."

Moore won four PIAA titles during his career at North Allegheny, but he did it the hard way. A knee injury as a sophomore nearly sidelined him for the postseason.

"I blew out my knee the week before sections," Moore said. "Two doctors told me that I was done. I told my dad that I couldn't reach my goal [of winning four PIAA titles] if I pulled out. Fortunately, the Lord blessed me, and everything worked out."

Brinzer, a three-time PIAA champion who placed fifth as a freshman, was surprised and disappointed there were only 15 members in the four-time place-winner club.

"There is the potential for a lot more kids to [become four-time place-winners]," Brinzer said. "To hear that we've only had 15 is unacceptable. We have to do better. These kids need to be hitting their freshman year ready to go.

"These kids have to be taught the mind-set that they can win. They have to realize that with a lot of hard work they can be successful as freshmen, and not to be intimidated by upperclassmen."

Brinzer didn't have that mind-set as a freshman at North Allegheny.

"I was happy to make the starting lineup as a freshman," Brinzer said. "I had to beat out a kid who I never beat in all the years I had been wrestling. My goal was to make the team. I was fortunate that our practice room was so tough that making the starting lineup was a big stepping stone to going to states."

West Mifflin graduate James Fleming is the most recent individual to enter the four-time place-winner club.

"The toughest part is qualifying for the [PIAA] tournament," said Fleming, who is starting at Clarion University as a freshman. "Any wrestler who places [among the top three in each weight class] in the WPIAL, has a shot of placing at Hershey."

Martellotti is one of 73 WPIAL wrestlers who have placed three times at the PIAA tournament. Twelve of the three-timers placed as freshmen, but fell short of place-winner status in another year.

Hempfield coach Vince DeAugustine came within one victory of becoming a four-time PIAA place-winner in his career. DeAugustine placed second in the PIAA as a freshman, but fell one win short of placing as a sophomore.

"I obviously surprised a lot of people when I took second as a freshman," he said. "Coming back the second year, I had a bull's-eye on my back. It made things a lot tougher because you're always getting somebody's 'A' game."

DeAugustine had a 2-2 record in the PIAA tournament as a sophomore, which left him one win short of place-winner status.

"It's such an honor to place at Hershey," said DeAugustine, who capped his scholastic career with a pair of PIAA titles. "Winning a state title is an even bigger honor. But the toughest thing is getting to Hershey. It's so tough to get out of the WPIAL tournament with only three berths available."

In 1999 the PIAA decided to recognize wrestlers who finished seventh and eighth in each weight class. That means eight of the 16 qualifiers in each class are designated as place-winners.

The additional place-winners have made it easier to become a four-time place-winner. Nine of the 15 four-time place-winners have been added to the list in the past seven years.

"It's become easier to become a PIAA place-winner," DeAugustine said. "But it's still very hard to become a four-time place-winner."

Three juniors will have a chance to join the four-time place-winner club next year, assuming they earn medals this year. The three who have already placed twice are: Franklin Regional's Nico Megaludis, Derry Area's Travis Shaffer and Shady Side Academy's Geoff Alexander.

The Class of 15: Four-timers WPIAL wrestlers who have placed at the PIAA championships each of their four years in high school:

James Conklin (Waynesburg) 1940-1943

John Dasta (Penn Hills) 1985-1988

Ty Moore (North Allegheny) 1987-1990

Ray Brinzer (North Allegheny) 1987-1990

Cary Kolat (Jefferson-Morgan) 1989-1992

Jeremy Hunter (McGuffey) 1993-1996

Jake Herbert (North Allegheny) 2000-2003

Joe Makara (Burrell) 2000-2003

Coleman Scott (Waynesburg) 2001-2004

Sean Clair (Plum) 2002-2005

Ashtin Primus (Connellsville) 2003-2006

Nick Nelson (Shaler) 2004-2007

Nico Cortese (GCC-Hempfield) 2005-2008

Dane Johnson (Shady Side Acad.) 2006-2009

James Fleming (West Mifflin) 2006-2009

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