Bellefonte pair lone Centre County wrestlers to reach PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals
As good as the first day was for Centre County’s Class 2A wrestlers, the same could not be said for the Class 3A wrestlers.
The county sent just two into the quarterfinals, going 2-8 in the second round. Bellefonte has both of those quarterfinalists. State College has three wrestlers as part of a six-man contingent alive in the consolations.
In the team race, Bethlehem Catholic leads the way with 33.5 points. Nazareth, Central Dauphin, Waynesburg and Cathedral Prep round out the top five in that order.
the Red Raiders are in 22nd place with 11 points, while the Little Lions are tied for 41st place with several teams with six points.
Here’s a look how Day 1 ended for each team:
Bellefonte
Quarterfinalists: Lane Aikey (120) and Jude Swisher (126)
Others alive: Aidan O’Shea (113), Ethan Richner (160), Ethan Rossman (182)
Eliminated: Tyler Benner (0-2, 195)
Team score: 22nd, 11 points
Recap: After claiming the school’s first regional team title since 2000, the Red Raiders hoped to carry that momentum into the PIAA Championships.
It didn’t quite go as planned.
Two of their regional champs in Aikey and Swisher were able to get into the quarterfinals, while the other two in Richner and Rossman fell into the consolations.
“It was up and down. It’s definitely not our best performances for sure,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said. “Credit to Aikey and Swisher, both wrestled smart, solid matches, especially Swisher, who had a dominant performance out there. It’s the states; you got to bring your A-game every match, especially in Pennsylvania. If you’re not ready to go, you come up on the short end of the stick. Tomorrow we got to regroup and come back like it’s a whole new day.”
As Maney said, Aikey and Swisher looked like the part of regional champions.
Aikey took on Freedom’s Luis Vargas in the second round of action with neither wrestler scoring until the third period. Aikey used a solid ride game to keep Vargas from escaping in the second period.
In the third period, Aikey escaped 16 seconds into the frame. He tacked on a takedown with 13 seconds remaining for the 3-0 win in his lone match of the day.
“Lane had a real solid match. He controlled the most of it. It was a good smart match,” Maney said.
Swisher trailed 1-0 early in the second period with Father Judge’s Eamonn Logue. However, a takedown and two near-fall points handed the Red Raiders’ wrestler a 4-1 lead heading to the third period.
In the third period, Swisher kept the pace up tallying a reversal, three near-fall points and a stall point from Logue, to collect a 10-1 major decision.
“It will be hard to find someone that has the same engine as he does,” Maney said. “In the middle of the second period, you could see the guy (Logue) starting to break. He (Swisher) turned that close match into a major decision. He’s going to need that same type of effort tomorrow.”
As for Richner and Rossman, the state tournament-opening losses must have been a surprise to them.
Richner was taken down four times in the match with Susquehannock’s Colby Romjue, who finished third in the South Central Regional. Romjue tallied two of those takedowns in the first period alone to top the returning PIAA placewinner, 8-4.
Rossman took on two-time PIAA qualifier in Emmaus’ Caden Wright, who scored the opening and final points of the match. Wright finished third in the Northeast Regional led 4-2 after two periods. He tacked on an escape in the third period to top Rossman 5-2.
“The sun is going to come up tomorrow. They’ve both been here before,” Maney said. “It’s a matter of mentality that everyone is 0-0. Yeah, you can’t be a PIAA Champion, but you can come back and take third. A lot of times that’s what is in consolations, guys that get on a roll, create momentum and string together wins. The toughest one is going to be that first one tomorrow morning. If they can get themselves up and get ready, they can go on a nice run.”
O’Shea remained alive as well in the consolations. After suffering an 8-1 tournament-opening loss, the sophomore put together a dominating 11-2 major decision.
Benner had his senior season come to close after a successful postseason to this point. He suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to Spring Ford’s Louis Carbajal to open his tournament.
Then he was locked in a scoreless affair with Central Bucks East’s Quinn Collins to start the second period. Collins picked up a reversal and caught Benner to pin him in 2:05.
“Last year, he was a backup and got in the varsity and only had one win to his credit,” Maney said. “This year, he’s going to finish with 27 (wins), which is impressive. He’s probably going to be a little disappointed in himself right now. As the season ends here and turn the page, the coaching staff and himself will be proud of what he did this year.”
State College
Quarterfinalists: None
Others alive: Hayden Cunningham (106), Clayton Leidy (138) and Lance Urbas (170)
Eliminated: Owen Woolcott (0-2, 132)
Team score: T-41st, 6 points
Recap: Little Lions coach Ryan Cummins described his team’s performance the same as Maney did.
Cummins’ three remaining wrestlers won’t be state champions, but they still have a chance to still get a medal around their necks.
“They are all mentally tough. It doesn’t surprise me. I expect that,” he said. “They’ve showed that all year long. They just have to keep it going. They’ll be catching guys coming off losses, so they just need to capitalize on that and keep going.”
The first win is always the toughest to get in the state tournament. Cunningham was the lone wrestler to open his tournament with a win.
Leidy and Urbas picked up victories when they needed them the most, to keep their seasons alive.
Cunningham did what he’s done all season long in his opener. He used a strong top game to get his opponent to submit to a pin, which came in 4:46 against Stroudsburg’s Josh Jasionowicz.
Cunningham suffered a tough 3-2 loss in the second round to kick him to the consolations.
“Hayden went right out and did a great job of smothering the kid in that pigtail match,” Cummins said.
Leidy came up on both ends of shutouts in his first PIAA tournament. He suffered a 7-0 defeat to Bethlehem Catholic’s Evan Gleason. Leidy bounced back and used a solid ride to hang on for a 1-0 victory over Pottsville’s Bryce Gonzalez in the consolation first round.
“Clayton looked really tough. He rode the guy out to win, that’s not easy,” Cummins said. “You can tell he wants to win and be here.”
Urbas looked like completely different wrestlers in his matches. In his first one, he was unable to get to his offense. He suffered a 7-1 defeat to South Fayette’s Eli Brinsky.
In his consolation match, was firing on all cylinders. He led 4-0 after two periods with Haverford’s Shane McAdams. Urbas had a takedown to start the third period and gave up a reversal, but he had enough for a 6-2 win.
“Lance seemed like a different wrestler this round (consolation first round). He got his shots working right off the start,” Cummins said. “He worked hard to move off the bottom too. He is doing everything right now, and we just want to keep that going for tomorrow.”
Woolcott wasn’t as successful as his teammates, but was competitve in both his losses. A late takedown handed the junior a 2-1 loss in his tournament opener.
In the consolation round, Woolcott got caught for near-fall points and gave up a reversal in a 4-0 loss.
“He’s such a good kid and works really hard. It just didn’t work for him here at the end,” Cummins said. “It’s nothing that he did wrong. A kid just wrestled a little better than he did. I’m sure he’ll continue working, try to get better and come back here next year and get on the medal stand.”
PIAA 3A Championships
Thursday at Hershey
Team key: Abington (AB), Abington Heights (AH), Altoona (A), Archbishop Ryan (AR), Armstrong (AS), Belle Vernon (BV), Bellefonte (B), Bensalem (BS), Bethlehem Catholic (BC), Bethel Park (BP), Blue Mountain (BM), Boyertown (BT), Canon-McMillan (CM), Carlisle (C), Cathedral Prep (CP), Cedar Cliff (CCF), Cedar Crest (CC), Central Bucks East (CBE), Central Bucks West (CBW), Central Dauphin (CD), Central Mountain (CM), Central York (CY), Chambersburg (CB), Chartiers Valley (CV), Clearfield (CF), Coatesville (CTV), Conestoga (CG), Connellsville (CNV), Conrad Weiser (CW), Council Rock North (CRN), Council Rock South (CRS), Cumberland Valley (CBV), Dallas (D), Dallastown (DT), Daniel Boone (DB), Delaware Valley (DV), Dieruff (DF), Dover (DV), Downingtown East (DE), Downingtown West (DW), DuBois (DBS), Easton (E), Emmaus (EM), Exeter Township (ET), Father Judge (FJ), Franklin Regional (FR), Freedom (F), Garden Spot (GS), Garnet Valley (GV), Gettysburg (G), Greater Latrobe (GL), Greesnburg Salem (GS), Hampton (H), Hatboro Horsham (HH), Haverford (HF), Hazleton (HT), Hempfield Area (HFA), Hollidaysburg (HA), Interboro (I), JP McCaskey (J), Kennett (K), Kiski Area (KA), Knoch (KN), Lampeter-Strasburg (LS), Liberty (L), Lower Dauphin (LD), Lower Merion (LM), Manheim Central (MC), Manheim Township (MT), Mariana Bracetti (MB), Meadville (MV), Methacton (M), Mifflin County (MCY), Mt. Lebanon (ML), Nazareth (N), Neshaminy (NSY), New Oxford (NO), North Allegheny (NA), North Hills (NH), North Penn (NP), Northampton (NT), Northeastern (NE), Northern York (NY), Norwin (NW), Overbrook (O), Owen J. Roberts (OJR), Oxford Area (OA), Penn Manor (PM), Penn Trafford (PT), Pennridge (PR), Peters Township (PTP), Pine Richland (PRD), Plymouth Whitemarsh (PW), PM East (PME), Pottsville (PV), Quakertown (Q), Red Land (RL), Selinsgrove (SG), Seneca Valley (SV), Shikellamy (SY), Shippensburg (SB), Solanco (SO), South Fayette (SF), South Western (SW), Spring Ford (SFD), Spring Grove (SPG), State College (SC), Strath Haven (SH), Stroudsburg (STB), Sun Valley (SVY), Susquehannock (SQ), Thomas Jefferson (T), Upper Darby (UD), Upper Perkiomen (UP), Waynesburg (WB), WC Henderson (WH), West Allegheny (WA), West Chester Rustin (WCR), William Tennant (WT), Williamsport (WT), Wilson (W), Wissahickon (WC), Wyoming Valley West (WVW), York Suburban (YS)
Team scores: 1. Bethlehem Catholic 33.5, 2. Nazareth 30, T3. Central Dauphin 23, T3. Waynesburg 23, 5. Cathedral Prep 20, 6. Easton 19, 7. Seneca Valley 18, 8. Council Rock North 17, 9. Connellsville 15.5, T10. Hampton 15, T10. Hempfield Area 15, T10. Kiski Area 15, 22. Bellefonte 11, T41. State College 6
Second Round
106: Keanu Manuel, DE, dec. Hayden Cunningham, SC, 3-2; 113: Dominic Findora, DW, dec. Aidan O’Shea, B, 8-1; 120: Lane Aikey, B, dec. Luis Vargas, F, 3-0; 126: Jude Swisher, B, major dec. Eamonn Logue, FJ, 10-1; 132: Zachary Martin, NSY, dec. Owen Woolcott, SC, 2-1; 138: Evan Gleason, BC, dec. Clayton Leidy, SC, 7-0; 160: Colby Romjue, SQ, dec. Ethan Richner, B, 8-4; 170: Eli Brinsky, SF, dec. Lance Urbas, SC, 7-1; 182: Caden Wright, EM, dec. Ethan Rossman, B, 5-2; 195: Louis Carbajal, SFD, dec. Tyler Benner, B, 3-2
Consolation First Round
113: O’Shea, B, major dec. Ryan Loraw, DE, 11-2; 132: Dylan Ramsey, SB, dec. Woolcott, SC, 4-0; 138: Leidy, SC, dec. Bryce Gonzalez, PV, 1-0; 170: Urbas, SC, dec. Shane McAdams, HF, 6-2; 195: Quinn Collins, CBE, pinned Tyler Benner, B, 2:05
First Round
106: Cunningham, SC, pinned Josh Jasionowicz, STB, 4:49
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 12:13 AM.
