Team wrestling postseason changes

We all know that District 3 has implemented a new power rating system to determine which 24 teams (16 in AAA and 8 in AA) qualify for the team postseason.

To go along with that, there's also a few changes to the schedule.

The tournament begins Tuesday night with Class AAA first-round matches only. The Class AA quarterfinals are set for Wednesday and the AAA quarterfinals Thursday.

All first-round and quarterfinal duals are scheduled for 7 p.m.

The semifinalists will converge on Milton Hershey's Spartan Center on Saturday. The times for the day-long event are the same: AAA semifinals at 9:30, AA semifinals at 11:30, consolations at 4 and finals at 6.

There is also a change in the PIAA Team Championships schedule. Instead of it being a two-day event at Giant Center, action will begin Thursday and run through Saturday this season. Preliminary duals will be held at district sites Tuesday, Feb. 8.

Gay resigns at Red Land

Under head coach Frank Gay, the Red Land football program went places it had never been before.

Now, after back-to-back losing seasons, Gay is turning the keys over to someone else.

Red Land athletic director Robert Ackell confirmed to The Sentinel on Wednesday via e-mail that Gay handed in his resignation Monday afternoon.

Gay coached the Patriots for eight seasons and compiled a record of 45-43.

In 2006, he led Red Land its first postseason football victory and won the District 3 Class AAA championship.

The Patriots ended that season with a 17-7 loss to Pottsville in the PIAA semifinals. Red Land went 13-2 that year.

Red Land returned to postseason play the next two years but never came close to another district championship. Then, in 2009, the program began to slide.

The Patriots went 5-15 over the last two seasons and, playing arguably the most difficult schedule in the district, finished 2-8 this fall.

Before the season started, Gay expressed frustration with his team.

"(The 2009 season) killed me because we pride ourselves, and we always have, on being physical and when people played Red Land, they realized we came after them," Gay said in August. "It was tough to take."

In terms of wins and losses, this season was worse than 2009 but Gay saw some bright spots. The Patriots played hard and were in the game against eventual 3-AAAA champion Cumberland Valley until the fourth quarter.

In all, Red Land played eight games against eventual district qualifiers and Gay also made the difficult decision to move his son, Spencer, from quarterback to wide receiver after the younger Gay, who his father admitted was the team's best receiver, got off to a slow start.

Still, the Patriots never quit this year and battled through all the adversity they faced.

"Our kids fought hard," Gay said after the loss to CV. "And they're going to continue to fight hard."

The mentality Gay instilled in his team: tough, resilient and physical to the end.

In all, Gay had a decent career in Lewisberry. He had as many winning seasons (four) as losing seasons and led Red Land to the district playoffs three times. Gay went 5-2 in district playoff games and 5-3 overall in the playoffs.

What defined his career more than anything else was the success he had against West Shore School District rival Cedar Cliff. Gay won his first six games against the Colts but hadn't beaten them since 2008.

PFN All-State Football

Last week, the Pennsylvania Football News released its all-state teams. The area was represented fairly well. Here's a list of area players who made the cut.

Class AAAA
Cumberland Valley
Kyle Brubaker, senior, fourth-team defensive back
Jeremy DiPietro, junior, first-team defensive athlete
Andrew Consevage, senior, second-team offensive lineman
Lance Geesey, junior, fourth-team punter
Kevin Snyder, senior, first-team linebacker

Cedar Cliff
Tim Kelly, senior, second-team punter

Class AAA
Mechanicsburg
Bryton Barr, junior, second-team linebacker
TedRoy Lynch, senior, fourth-team defensive line

Shippensburg
Todde` Statum (above), senior, fourth-team running back

Class AA
Boiling Springs
Sam Dell, senior, second-team placekicker
Tylor Unger, senior, third-team defensive line

Trinity
Alex Cramer, sophomore, fourth-tam placekicker
Patrick Dill, junior, fourth-team quarterback
Cameron Lipnicky, senior, third-team defensive line
Jack Miller, junior, third-team defensive athlete
Garrett McNally, senior, second-team offensive line
Nick Slonac, junior, second-team defensive line