Four Centre County Class 2A wrestlers will bring PIAA hardware back home
When the second day of the PIAA Class 2A wrestling championships started, there were four Centre County wrestlers in the hunt for gold.
However, when the day ended, there were none, but those four wrestlers were able to secure themselves some sort of hardware to bring back.
Bald Eagle Area has three of those four wrestlers. Penns Valley has the other wrestler.
When it comes to the team race, the Eagles are the highest with 37.5 points in 14th place. The Rams have 14 points, which is good for a tie for 44th place.
Notre Dame Green Pond is the leading team with 101 points. Saucon Valley, Faith Christian Academy, Bishop McDevitt and Wyoming Area round out the top five in that order.
Here’s a look at which Centre County wrestlers are going for medals:
Bald Eagle Area
Wrestlers alive: Lucas Fye (113 pounds, 5th place match), Coen Bainey (120, consolation finals), Caleb Close (172, 7th place match)
Wrestlers eliminated: Noah Foltz (189, 2-2)
Team score: 37.5 points, 14th
Recap: Bainey was one of only two winners during the opening round of action on Friday.
However, it was an important win as it guaranteed the junior his second PIAA medal by making the semifinals.
Bainey got all of his scoring in early against Brookville’s Cole Householder. Bainey snapped off two first period takedowns about 40 seconds apart to hold a 4-1 lead.
He opened the second period with a reversal, but Householder escaped before the period’s end to make it 6-2. In the third period, Householder escaped and kept pressuring Bainey to secure a stall point, but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles’ wrestler won 6-4 to advance.
In the semifinals, Bainey took on the top seed in Wyoming Area’s Jaden Pepe and was down 6-2 after one period. The junior battled back in the second period to get within 7-5. Pepe, though, closed the bout with a late takedown to secure a 10-5 win.
Bainey rebounded with a 6-1 decisive win over Conneaut’s Hunter Gould. He’ll go for third place for a second straight year. His opponent will be Burrell’s Cooper Hornack.
“His goal was to be a state champion, but he ran into Pepe, the returning state champ. It was a tough match,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said. “He came back. Now, he’s going for third, the next best thing. I’m proud of him for rebounding.”
After dropping into the consolation bracket on Thursday, Fye battled his way into medal contention with a 9-0 major decision over Danville’s Blake Sassaman. The sophomore then made the consolation semifinals with another shutout.
He took care of Quaker Valley’s Jack Kazalas, 5-0. Fye then took on West Perry’s Deven Jackson, who had beaten Fye earlier this year in the Trojan Wars finals. Jackson topped Fye again, 8-4, to send him to the fifth-place match.
Fye will take on fellow District 6 wrestler Landon Bainey of West Branch in that final match of the year.
“I’m proud of him and the improvements that he’s made from last year to now. He told me he wanted to be on the podium. Now he’s on the podium,” Guenot said. “We are just going to try and climb the ladder a few feet. I’m proud of what he’s accomplished.”
Close opened his day in the consolation bracket and needed just one win to secure his first PIAA medal. The freshman took on Johnsonburg’s Kaden Dennis. Close controlled the match from the opening whistle to secure a 5-1 win.
The Eagles wrestler was then kicked into the seventh place match as he suffered a 3-1 loss to Benton’s Nolan Lear. According to Guenot, he believes that Close is only the second freshman ever in BEA’s history to place at the PIAA Championships.
“He’s a quiet kid. Sometimes it’s hard to read what he’s thinking. He gets the job done,” Guenot said. “He’s solid, and keeps himself in good position.”
Foltz had a great start to the day. He bounced back from a loss on Thursday night with a dominant 7-1 win over Wyoming Area’s Connor Wrobleski.
The senior was tied with Tri Valley’s Jacob Scheib late in their consolation third round, but Scheib tallied a takedown for the winning points with one minute remaining. Foltz fell 3-1 to come up one round shy of placing in his only PIAA Championships trip.
“We are going to miss Noah, just everything he brings to the team. He’s a tough kid. He has been a four-year starter for us,” Guenot said. “We could rely on him up top to anchor the upper weights. He helped us win some big dual meets. It’s sad. This place really can be mentally exhausting. There are so many ups and downs. I’m proud of him. He’s going to be successful in life.”
Penns Valley
Wrestlers alive: Ty Watson (145, 5th place match)
Team score: 14 points, Tied for 44th
Recap: Watson didn’t have a good start to his day.
In fact, the sophomore suffered his first defeat on the year, but it was to a standout opponent in Notre Dame Green Pond’s Evan Maag, who is a three-time PIAA qualifier and one-time medalist, in the quarterfinals.
Maag took Watson down in the first period for the lone points. In the second period, Maag opened with a reversal, that he then turned Watson to his back and pinned the Ram in 2:43.
Watson rebounded though by picking up a sudden victory pin of Canton’s Hayden Ward in 5:43 to secure a spot on the PIAA podium.
In the consolation quarterfinals, Watson came out determined to finish no lower than third in the tournament. He tallied a takedown and nearfall points to open with a 5-0 lead after one period.
He kept the scoring spree going in the second with a reversal and two sets of nearfall points. Watson gave up a late reversal but led 12-2. He finished the bout off strong for a 15-4 major decision.
Watson then suffered his second loss of the season to Lewisburg’s Kaiden Wagner, 11-3, and was sent to the fifth-place match. Watson is currently tied for the all-time wins mark in a season at 41, which is held by current Penn State wrestler Baylor Shunk.
He’ll get Maag again for fifth place. With the placing, Watson becomes just the third Penns Valley sophomore to medal in the PIAA Championships. The others are Shunk and Malachi DuVall.
“He has had a very good season. He still has another match to go. I know it stings for him. Every loss stings,” Rams coach Joel Brinker said. “He had high goals for himself. He has reached them, but I know he’d like to get this next win. The previous two guys are very solid wrestlers, and wrestling in college. He’s following a good line of guys.”
PIAA Class 2A Championships
Friday at Giant Center, Hershey
Team key: Archbishop Ryan (AR), Athens (A), Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bedford (BF), Benton (B), Bentworth (BW), Berks Catholic (BC), Beth-Center (B-C), Bishop McDevitt (BM), Boiling Springs (BS), Brandywine Heights (BH), Brockway (BY), Brookville (BV), Burgettstown (BT), Burrell (BR), Cambridge Springs (CS), Camp Hill (CH), Canton (C), Catasauqua (CQ), Central Cambria (CC), Central Valley (CV), Chestnut Ridge (CR), Cochranton (CT), Commodore Perry (CP), Conneaut (CN), Conwell-Egan (CE), Corry (CY), Cranberry (CB), Curwensville (CW), Danville (D), Derry (DY), Eisenhower (E), Elizabeth Forward (EF), Faith Christian Academy (FCA), Forest Hills (FH), Fort Cherry (FC), Fort LeBeouf (FL), Franklin (F), Frazier (FZ), Girard (GR), Glendale (G), Greenville (GV), Grove City (GC), Hamburg (HB), Harbor Creek (HC), Hickory (HY), Hopewell (HW), Hughesville (HV), Huntingdon (H), Jefferson Morgan (JM), Jersey Shore (JS), Johnsonburg (J), Kane (K), Lackawanna Trail (LT), Lancaster Catholic (LC), Laurel (L), Lehighton (LH), Lewisburg (LB), Line Mountain (LM), Littlestown (LTW), Marion Center (MC), Meadowbrook Christian (MDC), Meyersdale (MY), Midd-West (MW), Mifflinburg (MB), Montgomery (MT), Montour (M), Montoursville (MTV), Mount Carmel (MTC), Mount Pleasant (MP), Mount Union (MU), Muncy (MN), Newport (N), North Penn-Liberty (NPL), Northern Lebanon (NL), Northern Lehigh (NLH), Northwestern (NW), Notre Dame-Green Pond (NDGP), Palisades (P), Penn Cambria (PC), Penns Valley (PV), Pope John Paul II (PJP), Port Allegany (PA), Quaker Valley (QV), Reynolds (R), Sagertown (ST), Saucon Valley (SV), Sharon (SH), Somerset (S), South Side Beaver (SSB), South Williamsport (SW), Southern Columbia (SC), Southmoreland (SML), Sullivan County (SCY), Susquenita (SQ), Titusville (TV), Towanda (TW), Tri Valley (TVY), Trinity (TY), Tussey Mountain (TM), Tyrone (T), United (U), Warrior Run (WR), Washington (W), West Branch (WB), West Perry (WP), Williamson (WS), Wyalusing (WY), Wyoming Area (WA), Wyomissing (WM)
Team scores: 1. Notre Dame Green Pond 101, 2. Saucon Valley 95, 3. Faith Christian Academy 62, 4. Bishop McDevitt 54, 5. Wyoming Area 53, 6. Muncy 51.5, 7. Hickory 47.5, 8. Montoursville 45.5, 9. Brookville 44.5, T10. Jersey Shore 42, T10. West Perry 42, 14. Bald Eagle Area 37.5, T44. Penns Valley 14
Semifinals
120: Jaden Pepe, WA, dec. Coen Bainey, BEA, 10-5
Consolation Semifinals
113: Deven Jackson, WP, dec. Lucas Fye, BEA, 8-4; 120: Bainey, BEA, dec. Hunter Gould, CN, 6-1; 145: Kaiden Wagner, LB, major dec. Ty Watson, PV, 11-3
Consolation Quarterfinals
113: Fye, BEA, dec. Jack Kazalas, QV, 5-0; 145: Watson, PV, major dec. Cael Markle, SV, 15-4; 172: Nolan Lear, B, dec. Caleb Close, BEA, 3-1
Consolation Third Round
113: Fye, BEA, major dec. Blake Sassaman, D, 9-0; 145: Watson, PV, pinned Hayden Ward, C, 5:43; 172: Close, BEA, dec. Kaden Dennis, J, 5-1; 189: Jacob Scheib, TVY, dec. Noah Foltz, BEA, 3-1
Quarterfinals
113: Gauge Botero, FCA, pinned Fye, BEA, 2:51; 120: Bainey, BEA, dec. Cole Householder, BV, 6-4; 145: Evan Maag, NDGP, pinned Watson, PV, 2:43; 172: Riley Parker, C, dec. Close, BEA, 10-4
Consolation Second Round
189: Foltz, BEA, dec. Connor Wrobleski, WA, 7-1
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 10:44 PM.
