Mars' Adam Smetana, and Slippery Rock's Jeff Becker and Trevor Gallo each lost in the championship matches of their respective weight divisions Saturday, but will advance to the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships beginning Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

In Class AAA, Butler and Seneca Valley did not have any wrestlers qualify for the state championships.

Smetana, in the 103-pound division, lost to Burrell's Devon Maloney 9-8 in an overtime rideout Friday at the Southwest Regional at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown.

Smetana, who entered the match with a 32-0 record, was leading 7-4, but was into a cradle and was put on his back, which tied the score. With no score in overtime, the match went to a rideout. Smetana took the bottom position and could not escape in the 30-second time frame, so Maloney earned the win.

"The first thing out of his mouth was 'I needed that'," said Mars coach Tom Dorsch. "He put it in perspective. I thought that was very mature for a junior."

Smetana had defeated Ryan Jacoby of Moshannon Valley on Thursday, then followed up with a 7-4 semi-final victory over Blairsville's Bill Moore in the early session.

In the Class AA Northwest Regionals at Sharon High School, Becker (135) and Gallo (171) won their first two matches before losing in the championship round.

Becker (38-1) decisioned Jason Brown of Reynolds 5-1 and D.J. Greenman of Port Allegany 4-3 in overtime before dropping a 5-0 decision to Jamestown's Alex Byler.

The Planets' Steve Perri (135) also took part, losing to Brett Gephart of Penns Valley 4-3 before coming back Friday to defeat Nathan Owens of West Branch in a 16-2 major decision. He then lost to Dominic Inzana of Cambria Heights 7-5.

Gallo pinned Beau Iorfido of Ridgway in 1:19, then defeated Denton Sauers of Fort LeBeouf 8-2 before losing to Chris Hogue of Cochranton, 10-3.

"Jeff wasn't himself the whole tournament," said Slippery Rock coach Fred Powell. "He's sort of in a rut right now and we hope in the next couple of days to work it out.

"Trevor had a good tournament. He lost to (Hogue) in the (District 10) finals. He's had Trevor's number. He's tough."

At the Class AAA Southwest Regional at Canon-McMillan High School, Butler's Adam Pritts and Seneca Valley's Dustin Layton each dropped their third-place consolation final, thereby preventing the two from advancing to the state tournament.

Pritts (275) had lost to eventual champion Adam McKnight of Chartiers Valley 4-2 before bouncing back with a pin against Moon's George Hingson. Pritts had pinned Hingson in the preliminary round on Thursday.

Pritts then lost to Kiski Area's Andrew Joseph, 2-1 in overtime as Joseph garnered the third and final qualifying spot.

"With McKnight in the semis, I don't think he's a better wrestler than Adam," said Butler coach Scott Stoner. "He was just better that night.

"I think a lot came down to fighting for those. With wrestlers from Kiski, Connellsville, North Allegheny, it's tough."

Pritts still earned his 21st pin of the season, breaking his own school record and his 49th career pin, breaking T.J. McCance's mark.

Layton missed a chance to qualify for states when he was pinned by Connellsville's Ashtin Primus in 2:34.

Butler's Jon Miller defeated Albert Gallatin's Rob Blosser 8-5 in the consolation rounds before losing to Franklin Regional's Chris Devola 5-3.

"I've got to hand it to Jon," said Stoner. "He's got skill and athleticism, but his brute strength takes away from his flexibility. He was a three-time WPIAL qualifier and has had a nice wrestling career."

Seneca Valley's Blake Rice (160) and Pat Coyne (103) also lost their second matches in the consolation brackets Saturday, eliminating them from competition.

PIAA Class AA Championships

First-Round Matchups

103

-Adam Smetana (Mars, 32-1) vs. Brad Kummerer (Hamburg, 35-5)

135-Jeff Becker, Slippery Rock, 40-1) vs. Brett Gephart (Penns Valley, 32-8)

171-Trevor Gallo (Slippery Rock, 35-4) vs. David Mendoza (Wyomissing, 34-8)

A-C Valley held DuBois Central Catholic to five points in the fourth quarter and broke open a close game late for a 58-45 boys basketball victory Saturday at Clarion University.The District 9 Class A consolation win sends the Falcons (21-5) to the PIAA Tournament.A.C. Valley will play Commodore Perry (13-14) Friday at a site and time to be determined.Sean Foust scored 19 points Saturday - including four 3-pointers - while Jesse Morrison added 13 points and John Piecenski 12. Piecenski sank three treys.Matt Varacallo paced DuBois Central (18-9) with 18 points while Mark Spilman added 11.The game was tied at halftime and A-C Valley took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.DUBOIS CENTRAL 45Jason Booher 0 0-0 0, Mark Spilman 4 0-0 11, Corey Adamson 1 0-0 2, Jordan Hoover 1 1-2 3, Tim Suplizio 0 2-2 2, Justin Yount 0 0-0 0, Andy Rice 0 0-0 0, Ben Gasbarre 3 0-0 6. Albert Varacallo 1 0-0 3, Matt Varacallo 6 4-5 18. Totals: 16 7-9 45A-C VALLEY 58Jake Mechling 4 0-3 8, Andy Smith 1 0-0 3, John Piecenski 4 1-2 12, Sean Foust 6 3-6 19, Justin Casey 1 1-1 3, Ted Marron 0 0-0 0, Jesse Morrison 6 1-1 13. Totals: 22 6-13 583-point goals:Spilman 3, A.Varacallo, M.Varacallo 2; Smith, Piecenski 3, Foust 4Friday:A-C Valley vs. Commodore Perry, PIAA Class A playoffs, site and time TBAPIAA Tournament -Ten local teams will compete in the PIAA Tournament this weekend.Friday's boys games feature Moon vs. Slippery Rock, Knoch vs. Central Cambria and Grove City vs. Thomas Jefferson in Class AAA, A-C Valley vs. Commodore Perry in Class A.Friday's girls games include New Castle vs. Butler in Class AAAA, Karns City vs. Maplewood and Freeport vs. Tussey Mountain in Class AA.Saturday's boys game pits Freeport vs. North Star in Class AA. Saturday's girls games are Mars vs. Johnstown in Class AAA and Union vs. Saegertown in Class A.

North Allegheny Gold 7, Butler 6 -Darren Wagman had two goals and an assist, but the Tornado fell to the Tigers on Sunday.Tony Green and Kevin Geibel each tallied a goal and an assist while Jim Eppinger and Ben McDonald each had a goal.