How 5 Centre County wrestlers did in Nittany Lion Wrestling Club’s ‘King of the Keystone’ event
There has long been debate among Pennsylvania wrestling fans about which classification is tougher.
On Sunday evening, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club set out to answer that question with its “King of the Keystone” event, which pit some of the top PIAA Class 2A wrestlers against some of the top PIAA Class 3A wrestlers in 11 bouts. There were a pair of co-main events, too.
Five Centre County wrestlers took part in the event, going a combined 3-2. The county winners were all Class 3A wrestlers, as Class 3A won the dual, 19-15.
Those winners were Bellefonte’s Jude Swisher and Ethan Rossman and State College’s Lance Urbas. Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy’s Zack Witmer and Amonn Ohl represented the Class 2A squad.
Witmer, the third-place Class 2A finisher at 132 pounds, was the first county wrestler to hit the mat. He took on the PIAA Class 3A 132-pound champ in Hempfield’s Briar Priest at 140 pounds.
Priest tallied the first points of the match with a takedown 30 seconds into the first period. Witmer escaped with with 30 seconds remaining to trail 2-1.
Neither wrestler scored in the second period as Priest put together a full-period ride on the Columbia commit. In the third period, Priest picked up a reversal and tacked on a takedown to top Witmer, 6-2.
Swisher followed Witmer in a 141-pound bout, where he took on Class 2A 138-pound runner up in Burrell’s Ian Oswalt. Swisher placed third at 132 pounds in Class 3A in Hershey.
Both wrestlers felt each other out during the first period, but flashed great defense. The score was 0-0 to start the second period.
Swisher had choice and started on the bottom. He escaped 14 seconds into the period for the lone points of the frame.
The junior then rode Oswalt out for the entire third period for a 2-1 win.
Ohl — the third-place finisher at 138 pounds in Class 2A — followed Swisher in a 142-pound bout against Chartiers Valley’s Dylan Evans, who finished fourth at 138 pounds in Class 3A. Evans scored first with a dump of Ohl with 55 seconds remaining in the first period.
Ohl was able to escape to trail 2-1 to start the second period. Ohl used a full-period ride of Evans in the second period to keep the score the same.
In the third period, Ohl escaped early to tie it 2-2. However, Evans hit another dump on Ohl and collected near-fall points to jump out to a 6-2 lead. Ohl escaped again, but Evans tacked on one more takedown for an 8-3 win.
Three bouts after Ohl, came Urbas, who took on Saucon Valley’s Jake Jones at 176 pounds. Jones finished fourth at 172 pounds in Class 2A action. Urbas was fourth at 172 pounds in Class 3A.
Urbas went to work right away, scoring a takedown 22 seconds into the bout. He would ride Jones out for the remainder of the period.
In the second period, Urbas had an escape nine seconds in, and picked up a takedown with seven seconds remaining to hold a commanding 5-0 lead.
Jones kept battling in the third period. He picked up two takedowns on Urbas, but the Urbas escaped both times to hang on for a 7-4 win.
The final county wrestler for the night was Class 3A fourth-place finisher Rossman at 189 pounds. He took on Southern Columbia’s Wesley Barnes, who finished fourth at 189 pounds in Class 2A.
Neither wrestler scored in the first two periods. Rossman rode Barnes out the entire second period to keep it scoreless.
In the third period, Rossman earned an escape four seconds in. He added a takedown 30 seconds later for a 3-1 win.
The first of the co-main events put Mount Pleasant’s Dayton Pitzer against three-time Utah state champion Lucas Cochran in a 200-pounds match.
The two-time PIAA champion Pitzer dominated the Utah wrestler to the tune of a 7-0 shutout.
In the other main event, Bishop McCort’s Erik Gibson took on PIAA Class 2A 160-pound champion AJ Corrado, of Burrell. The pair could’ve matched up in the PIAA finals this year, but Gibson was ruled ineligible after transferring to Bishop McCort.
Gibson, who is committed to wrestle at Cornell and will be a senior next year, beat the state champ 11-5 to finish the event.
NLWC’s King of the Keystone
Class 3A 19, Class 2A 15
Sunday at State College
113: Cooper Hornack, 2A, dec. Tyler Chappell, 3-1
130: Mason Gibson, 2A, dec. Aiden Lewis, 3-2
136: Scott Johnson, 2A, dec. Chad Ozias, 5-2
140: Briar Priest, 3A, dec. Zack Witmer, 6-2
141: Jude Swisher, 3A, dec. Ian Oswalt, 1-0
142: Dylan Evans, 3A, dec. Amonn Ohl, 8-3
150: Levi Haines, 2A, dec. John Altieri, 8-1
158: Paniro Johnson, 3A major dec. Michael Duggan, 15-6
176: Lance Urbas, 3A, dec. Jake Jones, 7-4
189: Ethan Rossman, 3A, dec. Wesley Barnes, 3-1
285: Nathan Taylor, 2A, dec. Billy McChesney, 3-1
Co-main events
200: Dayton Pitzer, PA, dec. Lucas Cochran, UT, 7-0
165: Erik Gibson, Bishop McCort, dec. AJ Corrado, Burrell, 11-5
This story was originally published March 28, 2021 at 10:11 PM.
