State College wrestling duo shines in PIAA Class 3A debuts, as 3 others also alive
The PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships came to an end on Thursday evening, with Centre County having three wrestlers in the running for a gold medal.
There is one other wrestler looking to battle their way back for as high as a third place finish.
State College has a pair of quarterfinalists with Bellefonte having one. Those three wrestlers will need a win Friday afternoon to secure themselves a PIAA medal.
The Little Lions are the highest in the team race at a tie for 15th place with 12 points. The Raiders are in a tie for 48th place with five points.
Bethlehem Catholic leads the team race with 40 points. Nazareth is four points behind in second. Clearfield is in third with 22 points. Waynesburg (19.5 points) and Williamsport (19) round out the top five.
Here’s a look at how Centre County wrestlers did on Day 1:
State College
Wrestlers still alive: Asher Cunningham (120, consolation second round), Pierson Manville (138, quarterfinals), Nick Pavlechko (215, quarterfinals)
Team score: 12 points, Tied for 15th
Recap: Manville looked great in his first PIAA match of his career.
He picked up a takedown seven second in on Emmaus’ Nick Velde. From there, Manville continually put Velde on his back for nearfall points. The sophomore led 10-0 after one period of wrestling.
In the second period, Manville quickly reversed Velde, and pinned him in 2:17 to make the quarterfinals. He’s now one win away from securing his first PIAA medal.
“He wrestled like he always does. He went out there aggressive and stayed on the kid and fought to keep him on his back until he got the fall,” Little Lions coach Ryan Cummins said. “That’s Pierson, I wouldn’t expect him to wrestle any different.”
Pavlechko, like Manville, looked like a veteran in his first PIAA match.
He took on Latrobe’s Corey Boerio, and controlled from the opening whistle. Pavlechko recorded a takedown 11 seconds into the first period for the lone points.
In the second period, the sophomore picked up a quick reversal to help him expand his lead to 4-0 to start the third period. Pavlechko picked up one more takedown and picked up some stall points for the 8-0 major decision.
“It definitely takes some of the pressure off. Now, he can just cruise through. He was calm and wrestled his match,” Cummins said. “He just controlled everything, and did exactly what he wanted to do. Would he like more points? Sure, but he got the job done, now it’s moving onto the next one.”
Cunningham had a tough matchup in his first PIAA bout, when he took on Canon-McMillan’s Jacob Houpt. However, Cunningham came out tallied two first period takedowns on the senior to lead 4-2 after one period.
In the second period, Cunningham’s escape was the lone points to extend his lead. Houpt earned an escape 18 seconds into the final frame.
The pair got into a scramble late, and Houpt caught Cunningham trying to roll through, for a takedown and nearfall points. Houpt topped the freshman, 8-5, to send him to the consolation bracket.
“He made a mistake, and the kid capitalized on it. We can’t do a whole lot,” Cummins said. “All we can do now, is rebound and I know he will. He’s a tough kid, and will come back and wrestle hard.”
Cunningham did rally in his consolation bout, but need extra work. After Bethel Park’s Mason Kernan escaped late in the third period, the pair went to sudden victory tied at 4-4.
With 30 seconds remaining in the sudden victory period, Cunningham locked up a leg cradle for the winning takedown, but also collected nearfall points to survive with a 9-4 win.
Bellefonte
Wrestlers still alive: Aidan O’Shea (132, consolation second round), Jude Swisher (145, quarterfinals)
Team score: 5 points, Tied for 48th
Recap: Swisher got probably a little more than he expected in his first and only match on the day.
The senior came is as one of the favorites to claim the title at his weight class. However, that didn’t matter to his opponent in Hempfield Area’s Lucas Kapusta.
With just over one minute remaining in the first period, Kapusta got a double leg takedown on the edge of the mat, much to the displeasure of Swisher. He wasn’t deterred as he earned an escape before the period ended to trail 2-1.
Swisher rode Kapusta for the entire second period, so the score remained the same to start the third. In the third period, Swisher tallied an escape with 1:38 remaining. Neither wrestler scored the remainder of the period, so it went to sudden victory.
After a scoreless sudden victory period, Swisher was trapped under Kapusta for the first ride out period. In the second, Swisher kept Kapusta trapped under him and turned Kapusta to his back just before the end of period to secure a 4-2 win.
“It was a tough match, that he had to grind out there. He lost a little bit of focus on the edge, which is un-Jude like,” Raiders coach Mike Maney said. “To his credit, he sucked it up when he had to. No loss of confidence. He’ll be all right. It was a good wake-up call. It could go in two different directions. He’s pretty positive about it, so expect nothing less.”
O’Shea made a return trip to Hershey for the first time since his sophomore season. His opener wasn’t too friendly.
The senior took on Quakertown’s Collin Gaj and was nearly pinned in the first period as Gaj locked up a cradle. However, O’Shea fought to stay alive.
Gaj added a takedown in the second period to hold a 4-0 lead to open the third period. He then opened with a reversal to put O’Shea down 6-0 early in the third period.
O’Shea attempted to rally with an escape, and added a takedown with 12 seconds remaining, but his deficit was too large in a 6-3 defeat.
O’Shea rebounded to make day two with a decisive 5-0 shutout of Interboro’s Nate Shippey.
“It takes some mental fortitude to bounce back from a loss. He’s been here before,” Maney said. “It was a tough first opponent for sure. He gave up that early takedown. I think maybe if the takedown is not scored there, maybe it’s a different match. It’s water under the bridge. He accomplished the day one goal, which is to make it to the second day.”
PIAA Class 3A Championships
Thursday at Giant Center, Hershey
Team key: Abington (AB), Abington Heights (AH), Altoona (A), Armstrong (AS), Belle Vernon (BV), Bellefonte (B), Bethlehem Catholic (BC), Bethel Park (BP), Boyertown (BYT), Bradford (BF), Butler (BT), Canon-McMillan (C-M), Carlisle (C), Cathedral Prep (CP), Central Bucks East (CBE), Central Bucks West (CBW), Central Dauphin (CD), Central Dauphin East (CDE), Central Mountain (CM), Central York (CY), Chambersburg (CB), Chartiers Valley (CV), Clearfield (CF), Cocalico (C), Conestoga (CT), Conestoga Valley (CTV), Connellsville (CNV), Council Rock North (CRN), Council Rock South (CRS), Crestwood (CW), Dallastown (DT), Daniel Boone (DB), Delaware Valley (DV), Dover (D), Downington West (DW), Easton (E), Emmaus (EM), Ephrata (EP), ES North (ESN), Exeter (EX), Father Judge (FJ), Franklin Regional (FR), Freedom (F), Garden Spot (GST), Garnet Valley (GV), General McLane (GM), Gettysburg (G), Greensburg Salem (GS), Haverford (HF), Hempfield (H), Hempfield Area (HA), Highlands (HL), Indiana (I), Interboro (IB), JP McCaskey (JPM), Juniata (J), Kennett (K), Kiski Area (KA), Latrobe (L), Lebanon (LB), Liberty (LY), Lower Merion (LM), Manheim Central (MHC), Manheim Township (MT), McDowell (M), Meadville (MV), Mifflin County (MC), Mt. Lebanon (ML), Nazareth (NZ), Neshaminy (NY), North Penn (NP), Northampton (NH), Northern (N), Norwin (NW), Octorara (O), Overbrook (OB), Owen J Roberts (OJR), Oxford Area (OA), Parkland (P), Penn Manor (PM), Penn Trafford (PT), Pennridge (PR), Perkiomen Valley (PV), Peters Township (PTT), Phoenixville (PX), Pine Richland (PRD), Pittston Area (PA), Quakertown (Q), Ridley (R), Saint Marys (SM), Selinsgrove (SGV), Seneca Valley (SCV), Shippensburg (SB), Solanco (S), Souderton (ST), Spring Grove (SG), Spring-Ford (SF), State College (SC), Strath Haven (SH), Sun Valley (SV), Thomas Jefferson (TJ), Trinty (T), Upper Darby (UD), Upper Perkiomen (UP), Wallenpaupack (WPP), Warwick (WW), Waynesburg (WB), West Allegheny (WA), West Chester East (WCE), West Chester Henderson (WCH), West Chester Rustin (WCR), West Scranton (WS), Whitehall (WH), Williamsport (W), Wilson (WN)
Team scores: 1. Bethlehem Catholic 40, 2. Nazareth 36, 3. Clearfield 22, 4. Waynesburg 19.5, 5. Williamsport 19, 6. Council Rock South 18.5, 7. Quakertown 17, T8. Hempfield Area 16, T8. Manheim Township 16, T10. Franklin Regional 14, T10. Latrobe 14, T10. Mifflin County 14, T15. State College 12
Consolation first round
120: Asher Cunningham, SC, dec. Mason Kernan, BP, 9-4 (SV); 132: Aidan O’Shea, B, dec. Nate Shippey, IB, 5-0
Second Round
120: Jacob Houpt, C-M, dec. Cunningham, SC, 8-5; 132: Collin Gaj, Q, dec. O’Shea, B, 6-3; 138: Pierson Manville, SC, pinned Nick Velde, EM, 2:17; 145: Jude Swisher, B, dec. Lucas Kapusta, HA, 4-2 (UTB2); 215: Nick Pavlechko, SC, major dec. Corey Boerio, L, 8-0
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 9:38 PM.
