5 area wrestlers earn a trip to the PIAA state tournament
Just last week, Bald Eagle Area’s Gage McClenahan wrestled Mifflin County’s Trey Kibe for the District 6 championship. McClenahan came up on the short end. He was determined not to let the rematch at the 3A Northwest Regionals get away from him as well.
Moments after teammate Seth Koleno stood on the podium to receive his gold medal for a win at 138, McClenahan pulled a reversal approaching the boundary line to take a 2-1 lead and went on to claim a 5-1 decision for the 152 regional championship.
“I’ve been thinking about it all week,” McClenahan said. “When I swam out with my arm, I didn’t realize where we were then I just started dragging my toes. I’m 5’7” so it usually doesn’t work, but it did that time.”
State College’s Cole Urbas turned in a big win as well, knocking off Clearfield’s Luke McGonigal, the number-one ranked wrestler in the state at 195. Urbas, who’s ranked number two, made an escape early in the third period hold on for a 1-0 win.
“I knew he was going for a wrist on me. I wanted to keep my wrist clear, stay tough and keep a strong base. Whenever he let the pressure off, I was able to get on my feet,” Urbas said of the escape. “It went as I planned. I wanted to wrestle a smart match, and wrestle to my advantage. It was how I envisioned it.”
BEA’s Garret Rigg and Philipsburg-Osceola’s Matt Johnson will join the three regional champs at the state tournament, which begins Thursday in Hershey.
Rigg finished second at 145, dropping a 7-4 decision to Dubois’s Kolby Ho. Trailing in the match, Rigg went down hard in the second period and looked like he may not be able to continue. He recovered but couldn’t manage to catch Ho on the scoreboard.
“Ho crotch-lifted him, took him way up in the air, and Garrett came down with his head and back bent the wrong way. It was a scary moment,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said. “A kid like Garrett, this being his senior year, worked pretty hard for something, and it’s disappointing. Next week’s another week. He’ll move on from that and get his head right. Anything can happen down in Hershey.”
Johnson won the 152 consolation bracket with an 11-2 major decision over Meadville’s Nick Rinella to finish third.
“We got one qualifier with Matt. We’re extremely proud of him. We’ll get ready this week, and fine-tune some things for states,” P-O coach Brad Pataky said.
Koleno won at regionals for the second straight year with a 5-2 decision over McDowell’s Leno Ciotti to remain undefeated on the season at 34-0.
“It’s one of the toughest regions. There are so many guys who are ranked at the top of the state,” Koleno said. “I’ve been working all week and all year at keeping a strong pace because if I wrestle hard for six minutes, no one can stick with me. If I’m tired, in my mind they must be really tired.”
The trio of BEA wrestlers and Urbas all wrestled at states last year. It will be the third year in a row for Koleno.
“Those three have been doing the job all year long. They obviously deserve to be in Hershey. They put the time in. Their work ethic is second to none,” Guenot said.
Koleno finished seventh and fifth, respectively, the past two years but has his sights higher this year.
“I set a couple goals at the start season. I want to be undefeated and finish first at states. I have the experience and won’t have a lot of nerves. I’ve been working so hard. It just has to happen.”
BEA nearly had a fourth wrestler qualify for states, but Dylan Bisel lost a 5-3 overtime decision to Hollidaysburg’s Mason McCready in the 182 consy final. McCready managed an escape in the third period to tie the score before winning it with a takedown near the boundary in overtime.
“In my opinion, four feet were out of bounds. They were out of bounds, but the referees didn’t see it that way,” Guenot said. “My heart goes out to him, being so close. It’s tough. You win, or you go home.”
P-O had three other wrestlers lose in the consolation finals, ending their seasons. Hunter Weitoish (126), Ian Klinger (170) and Brandon Anderson (195) all lost by decision.
“Win or lose, we’re proud of these guys. It’s hard to see kids who work so hard not get the results they wanted, but this is the character-building aspect of the sport,” Pataky said. “Every single one of these guys gave every ounce of effort that they could. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Weitoish’s match went to overtime. His reversal against Cathedral Prep’s Tyler McKinney with 20 seconds tied the score 7-7, but McKinney scored a takedown 39 seconds into overtime for the win.
“Hunter’s still learning the next level. He’s going to continue to get better and make gains. He doesn’t wrestle like a freshman. He’s made a lot of progress this year. The exciting thing is he’s going to continue to get better,” Pataky said.
State College’s Ian Barr advanced to the 160 consolation finals but was pinned by Clearfield’s Hunter Wright in 3:08.
Cathedral Prep took home the team title with 189 points. BEA was fourth with 107.5 points, and P-O fifth with 80.
Here are the consolation-round and finals results for area wrestlers.
CONSOLATION FINALS
106: Vincent Rinella (Meadville) dec. Cooper Gilham (BEA) 7-1.
126: Tyler McKinney (Cathedral Prep) dec. Hunter Weitoish (P-O) 9-7 SV
152: Matt Johnson (P-O) maj. dec. Nick Rinella (Meadville) 11-2.
160: Hunter Wright (Clearfield) pinned Ian Barr (SC) 3:08.
170: Tanner Weaver (Central Mountain) dec. Ian Klinger (P-O) 10-5.
182: Mason McCready (Hollidaysburg) dec. Dylan Bisel (BEA) 5-3 SV
195: Dorian Crosby (Cathedral Prep) dec. Brandon Anderson (P-O) 7-2.
FINALS
138: Seth Koleno (BEA) dec. Leno Ciotti (McDowell) 5-2.
145: Kolby Ho (DuBois) dec. Garrett Rigg (BEA) 9-4.
152: Gage McClenahan (BEA) dec. Trey Kibe (Mifflin County) 5-1.
195: Cole Urbas (SC) dec. Luke McGonigal (Clearfield) 1-0.
This story was originally published March 3, 2018 at 8:54 PM with the headline "5 area wrestlers earn a trip to the PIAA state tournament."