And five — McGonigal, McClure, Passarelli, McMillen and Yingling — found their way to the podium with McGonigal earning the ultimate prize of PIAA gold.

Several teams also enjoyed some success.

Clearfield (9-7), Philipsburg-Osceola (8-4) and West Branch (18-5) each had winning dual meet records, while Mo Valley was .500 (8-8) and Glendale put together a 10-win season and finished just below .500 (10-11).

A wrestler was eligible at any weight he wrestled at during the season. Postseason performance, regular season results, head-to-head matchups, strength of schedule and coaches comments all factored into the decision for making for the team.

Outstanding Wrestler: Luke McGonigal, senior, Clearfield — Coming off a 36-2 season that culminated with a PIAA silver medal, anything but gold probably would have been a disappointment for the Bison senior.

McGonigal, who took second at 170 at the PIAA Tournament last season, simply ran roughshod over his opponents on the way to gold at 195. He stampeded his way to the finals, winning by technical fall, major decision and pin before decking State College’s Cole Urbas in 1:37 in the gold medal match. That fall avenged McGonigal’s only loss of the season as he fell to Urbas 1-0 in Northwest Regional finals a week before states.

Also a Mountain League all-star, McGonigal won his fourth District 9 crown and picked up regular-season tournament titles at Top Hat, Tool City and the Ultimate Warrior Tournament.

McGonigal was 35-1 with 26 pins and a technical fall. He scored 93 team points in dual meets and finished his stellar career with a record of 135-20. The 135 wins tie him for second on the Bison’s all-time win list with Sean Owen (135-27) and puts him one behind program leader Matt Kyler (136-13).

Coach of the Year: Billy Dubler, Glendale — The fourth-year head coach has the Viking program on the rise and that was no better illustrated in the post season when Glendale picked up a sixth-place finish at the District 6 Class AA Tournament, tying the best finish ever for the program (which was achieved by the 1992 Vikings under head coach Blair Packer).

Glendale didn’t stop there, sending five to regionals and two to states. The last time Glendale had two representatives in the PIAA Tournament was 1994 when Brian McGarvey, who was fourth at 171 and Leroy Ross made the trip.

The Vikings also made just their third appearance in the District 6 Duals where they picked up their first ever win in the opening round against Central.

106 pounds: Nathan Graham, junior, West Branch — Despite a disappointing finish at the District 6 Class AA Tournament, Graham put together a strong junior campaign, going 25-9 and earning the third seed at 106 at districts.

Graham recorded 11 pins, including a pair of fast ones (0:15 and 0:24) at the D-6 Tournament. Eight of his 11 falls came in under 60 seconds. His sixth-place finish at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament was highest among Progressland entrants.

113 pounds: Brock McMillen, freshmen, Glendale — The Viking freshman burst on the scene by dominating the Penn Cambria Tournament in his first varsity action, securing three falls and a major decision on his way to a 6-0 weekend and first-place finish at 113 pounds. And he never looked back.

McMillen ended his season as the Class AA runner-up at 113 points, going 41-4 along the way. All four of his losses (including district, regional and PIAA finals) came to eventual state champion Josh Boozel of Mount Union.

On his way to the PIAA finals, McMillen knocked off returning state champion Beau Bayless (Reynolds) and returning fifth-place finisher Nate Smith (Bishop McDevitt).

McMillen’s 41 wins was tops in Progressland. His five technical falls were also the most in the area, while his 21 pins were second only to McGonigal.

120 pounds: Blake Passarelli, junior, Curwensville — After qualifying for the PIAA Tournament his first two years on varsity, but missing the podium each time, Passarelli made sure the third time was the charm in 2018.

Passarelli fought back from a quarterfinal round loss to make it to the medal rounds at 113 and bring home an eighth-place finish after a tough 3-1 loss to Smith in the placement round.

The Golden Tide junior won a District 9 title with an 11-2 major decision over Port Allegany’s Reese Vollmer and was second at Northwest Regionals after suffering a 5-2 defeat to Bayless.

Passarelli was 30-8 with 11 pins and four major decisions. He was third at 126 in the season-opening Mountaineer Tournament and third at 126 in the Fred Bell Tournament before placing first at 120 at the Garrett Scott Invitational at Juniata Valley. Passarelli takes an 88-26 career record into his senior season.

126 pounds: Matt Ryan, senior, Clearfield — A consistent performer for the Bison throughout his varsity career, Ryan had a strong senior season that fell one win short of a trip to states.

Ryan was 27-9 on the season with eight pins, three technical falls and three major decisions. He won his first District 9 title in style with a 19-9 major decision over Shikellamy’s Frank Quinones before going 3-2 at the Northwest Regional tournament where he fell 3-2 in the third-place bout with a trip to states on the line.

Ryan led the Bison in takedowns with 80 and earned 60 team points in dual meets. He finished his Clearfield career with 87 wins.

132 pounds: Alex Richner, sophomore, Moshannon Valley — After making the trip to states as a freshman, Richner had his return trip to Hershey derailed at the Southwest Regional Tournament in a loaded 126-pound weight class that saw no District 6 wrestler make it out.

But Richner still put together a season to be proud of. He went 26-8 with nine pins and four major decisions and placed fifth in the District 6 Class AA Tournament. Two of Richner’s wins during the season came against Philipsburg-Osceola’s Hunter Weitoish, who was the D-6 Class AAA champ.

Also a first-team selection last season, Richner added a second-place finish at 126 at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament and was third at 132 at the Sheetz Holiday Classic.

138 pounds: Tristan Rutter, sophomore, Glendale — The Viking sophomore had a solid second season on varsity and came up big when it mattered most, placing second at the District 6 AA Tournament after coming into the weekend as the sixth seed. He also won a match at Southwest Regionals and was 25-10 with seven pins, four major decisions and three technical falls.

Rutter had a big 7-6 win over District 9 runner-up Hunter Martz of Redbank Valley in the Fred Bell Tournament and went 4-2 in the rugged Panther Holiday Classic.

145 pounds: Caleb Freeland, junior, Clearfield — Midway through his junior campaign, Freeland found himself with just a 6-6 record. But he put together a solid second half for the Bison, winning 14 of his next 20 bouts to go 20-12 and fall just two wins shy of going to states.

Freeland finished second at districts before putting together a 3-2 weekend at regionals, advancing farther in the tournament than D-4/9 champ Noah Supsic of Shikellamy. Freeland reached the consolation semifinals before losing 7-1 to Philipsburg-Osceola senior Johnson, who went on to finish third to qualify for states.

152 pounds: Matt Johnson, senior, Philipsburg-Osceola — After suffering a season-ending injury as a junior, Johnson overcame another one in his senior year and made it all the way to the state tournament, where he went 1-2.  To get there, Johnson needed to rebound from a regional semifinal loss and win two matches in the consolation rounds. He topped Freeland 7-1 in the consy semis before dominating Meadville’s Nick Rinella 11-2 to earn his trip to states.Johnson, who finished his senior season with a record of 21-6 with a Progressland-best five major decisions, also picked up a third-place finish in the District 6 Tournament, was fifth in the Conestoga Valley Holiday Classic and won the title at the season-opening Mountaineer Tournament.

160 pounds: Derek Yingling, junior, West Branch — It was a memorable season for the Warrior junior, who collected his 100th career win on the grandest of stages when he beat Mifflinburg’s Tyler Stoltzfus, 9-4, in the quarterfinals before going on to a sixth-place finish at PIAAs, bettering his eighth-place medal from the season before.

Yingling gave eventual state champ Caleb Clymer of Northwestern Lehigh all he wanted in a 1-0 semifinal round loss and dropped his fifth-place bout by an identical 1-0 score in a rematch with Stoltzfus.

Also an Ultimate Warrior Tournament and District 6 champ, Yingling did not suffer a loss until the finals of the Southwest Regional Tournament where he fell to 2017 PIAA champ Jared McGill of Chestnu