2024 Schalles PA Pinner Award-Sponsored by Pittsburgh Trophy Company and Presented by the Pennsylvania Wrestling Newsmagazine
The Schalles Pennsylvania Pinner Award is presented each year to the high school wrestler with the highest pin percentage. If you would like to submit a wrestler for consideration, please email the wrestler’s name, school, grade, weight, record, number of pins and number of forfeits to news@pawrestling.net.
2023-24 Leaderboard # of PINS
Dillon Bechtold, Owen Roberts HS 90% 36 pins out of 40 bouts wrestled (Forfeits don’t count)
Rune Lawrence, Frazier HS 88% 29 pins out of 33 bouts wrestled
Sean Kinney, Nazareth Area HS 84% 32 pins out of 38 bouts wrestled
Violette Lasure of Chestnut Ridge becomes the first girl to win the Schalles PA Pinner
Award. Lasure (33-0), only a freshman, pinned 31 foes out of 32 bouts for a 97% pin percentage! She
becomes Ridge’s first ever girls State Champion, and she did it without a loss. “It feels great accomplishing my goal of becoming the first-ever girls 142 lb. PA State champion,” She told PWN women’s columnist Deborah Lynch. “I’m hoping my win inspires young girls to come out for the sport to continue the growth.”
Violette has been wrestling for five years, mostly with the boys. She is very quiet, so her coaches jokingly call her “Silent Assassin.” She said she pins most of her opponents from the top position by using the “bundle” where you take the opposite wrist and rap their own arm around their head and collect both elbows for the fall. Her Coach, Josh Deputy, coaches the boys and girls team at Chestnut Ridge.
Lasure is an honor student and a member of the FAA, and she likes to fly fish for bass and trout.
Top 3 Schalles PA Pinners for Girl Wrestlers
Violette Lasure, Chestnut Ridge: 31 pins for 32 bouts (97%)
Jael Miller, Punxsutawney: 26 pins for 27 bouts(96%)
Aubree Krazer, Easton: 22 pins for 23 bouts(95.6%)
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Wondrous Wade Schalles The Pennsylvania Pinner Award is named after “Wondrous Wade Schalles” who pinned 21 of 23 opponents his senior year at Hollidaysburg including returning state champ John “Bimbo” Chatman of Trinity in the 1969 PIAA State finals. Wade kept the Pinning machine rolling at Clarion University where he pinned 106 foes becoming the first collegiate wrestler to ever exceed the century mark for career falls. He was a 2X NCAA Champion and voted the outstanding wrestler at the NCAA Tournament. He completed his career at Clarion with a 154-2-1 record, while both losses coming his freshman year. One loss was to Stan Dziedzic of Slippery Rock (Allentown Allen HS), an NCAA champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist in 1976, and the other to Bruce Trammel of Ohio University, an NCAA runner-up.
Schalles was named “America’s Greatest Pinner” by the Guinness Book of World Records!The Schalles PA Pinner Award is sponsored |
Past Winners:
2023- Rune Lawrence (Frazier)
2022- Dayton Pitzer (Mount Pleasant)
2021-
2019-
2018- Nick Chapman (Hatboro Horsham) 35 pins in 40 matches wrestled
2017- Jaret Lane (Southern Columbia) 32 pins in 45 matches wrestled
2016- Jordan Wood (Boyertown) 33 pins in 41 matches wrestled
2015- Seth Janney (South Western) 34 pins in 43 matches wrestled
2014- Garret Spiewak (Mechanichsburg) 27 pins in 31 bouts
2013- Brad Emrick (Coughlin) 30 pins in 36 bouts
2012- Cody Copeland (Greenville) 36 falls in 42 bouts
2011- Garth Lakitsky (Tamaqua) 33 falls in 38 bouts
2010-Evan Craig (Abington Heights) 39 falls in 42 bouts
2009-Sean Owen (Clearfield) 34 falls in 42 bouts
2008-Ziad Haddad (Bethlehem Catholic) 31 falls in 37 bouts
2007-Matt Yocco (Brandywine Heights) 32 falls in 46 bouts
2006-Matt Yocco (Brandywine Heights) 38 falls in 47 bouts
2005-Pat Flynn (Quakertown) 36 falls in 44 bouts
2004-Scott McKillop (Kiski) 27 falls in 34 bouts and Mike Spaid (Boyertown) 31 falls in 37 bouts
2003-Chris Snyder (Milton) 30 falls in 34 bouts
2002-Kyle Cathcart (Clarion) 23 falls in 29 bouts
2001-Troy Letters (Shaler) 29 falls in 38 bouts
2000-Shain Legget (Biglerville)
1999-Mike Pirozzola (Neshaminy) 30 falls in 38 bouts
1998-Christian Luciano (Northampton)
1997-Mike Shingara (Line Mountain) 32 falls in 37 bouts
1. State qualifier AA/AAA in Pennsylvania
2. Ranking and Award determined by pinning percentage
3. Minimum of twenty matches, excluding forfeits
4. All bouts count including post-season, except forfeits
5. Tie decided by total number of falls and aggregate time
Pin % = #pins/#bouts
Forfeits are NOT counted