Three Centre County wrestlers reach PIAA Class 3A semifinals, as 1 other secures medal
The second day of the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships saw plenty of success for Centre County’s athletes.
Three wrestlers reached the semifinals of their respective weight classes to secure their PIAA medals on Friday.
State College had a pair in the semis as Bellefonte added another. The Little Lions also had another wrestler secure his first PIAA medal.
State College is the highest of the two county teams in the team race at ninth place with 28.5 points. The Raiders have 11 points, which is good for 37th place.
Nazareth leads the team race with 75 points. It is 11 points better than Bethlehem Catholic. Waynesburg sits in third.
Latrobe and Hempfield Area are fourth and fifth, respectively.
Here’s a look at which Centre County wrestlers are going for medals:
State College
Wrestlers alive: Asher Cunningham (120 pounds, consolation quarterfinals), Pierson Manville (138, semifinals), Nick Pavlechko (215, semifinals)
Team score: 28.5 points, ninth place
Recap: All three of the Little Lions wrestlers are in the PIAA Championships for the first time.
Manville and Pavlechko aren’t letting the rookie jitters get to them. The pair reached the semifinals on Friday afternoon to secure their first PIAA medals.
Pavlechko reached the semifinals with bonus points.
He took on Gettysburg’s Samuel Rodriguez, who was an athletic wrestler like Pavlechko. Late in the first period, Pavlechko came out on top of a scramble and put Rodriguez on his back to lead 4-0.
Pavlechko picked up a quick escape to start the second period, and tallied a takedown 15 seconds later to have a 7-0 lead heading to the third period. The sophomore added two more takedowns in the third period to secure a 12-1 major decision.
Pavlechko will take on Belle Vernon’s Cole Weightman for a spot in the finals.
“He had a great match. The kid was dangerous. He had to wrestle a smart match,” Little Lions coach Ryan Cummins said. “He was patient and stuck with the game plan. He did a really nice job, and now moving onto the semis.”
Manville did it with bonus points against Connellsville’s Lonzy Vielma.
Manville, a sophomore, came out scoring at will by amassing three first-period takedowns. He also added some nearfall points late to hold an 8-2 lead.
Manville had an eight-point second period with two takedowns, an escape and more nearfall points. He led 16-3 to start the final frame.
The Little Lions wrestler tacked on two more takedowns to secure a 20-5 technical fall in 5 minutes, 22 seconds. Manville takes on Bethlehem Catholic’s Tyler Kasak for a spot in the finals on Saturday morning.
“Typical Manville fashion, he went out hard and stayed in the kids face the whole time. He pressured him and was aggressive,” Cummins said. “It was a typical match he would have, and the same kind of result.”
Cunningham began his day in the consolations, and had bonus points to kick the day off.
The freshman recorded two takedowns, added two sets of nearfall points and had a reversal to earn an 11-2 major decision over West Chester Henderson’s Carmen Cortese.
The Little Lions wrestler then took on Quakertown’s Mason Ziegler for a shot to secure a PIAA medal. Cunningham got out to the lead first with a takedown right before the first period buzzer rang.
In the second period, Ziegler’s escape was the lone points. Cunningham was given an escape to start the third period. Ziegler recorded a takedown with 12 seconds remaining to force sudden victory at 3-3.
Late in the sudden victory period, Cunningham and Ziegler were scrambling and Ziegler looked like he was going to come out on top. Instead, the Little Lions’ freshman came out the back door for the winning score.
“I’m really proud of him. He had a great effort out there on the mat,” Cummins said. “He is to tough in the scramble. Guys have a hard time keeping up with him. He always seems to come out on top. To battle back after that loss last night and keep rolling here, he’s done a really nice job.”
Bellefonte
Wrestlers alive: Jude Swisher (145, semifinals)
Wrestlers eliminated: Aidan O’Shea (132, 1-2)
Team score: 11 points, Tied for 37th
Recap: Swisher looked rather flat in his first match on Thursday.
On Friday, Swisher looked like himself against Council Rock South’s Sherm Sadriddinov in their quarterfinals match.
The senior rattled off two first-period takedowns roughly one minute apart to hold a 4-1 lead. In the second period, Sadriddinov started from the bottom position, where Swisher made him regret that decision.
The Penn commit cranked his opponent to his back for nearfall points and extended his lead to 7-1. In the final frame, Swisher snatched up a reversal eight seconds in and tacked on a takedown late to secure an 11-2 major decision. With the win, he secured his third PIAA medal, and will take on West Allegheny’s Ty Watters Saturday morning for a spot in the finals.
“When he is moving his hands and his feet, he is hard to beat. He was in a great mindset today,” Raiders coach Mike Maney said. “He got a lot of momentum going there, and kept attacking. When he is attacking, he is hard to beat, so that’s the message going forward. He’s been getting better each week. He’s wrestling really well.”
O’Shea, who was making his second trip to Hershey, was right in his consolation match with Hempfield Area’s Eli Carr. The duo were tied at 0-0 after two periods of wrestling.
However, Carr collected a reversal early in the third period for the eventual winning points. After getting back in control, Carr rode O’Shea out for the rest of the period like he did in the second period for the 2-1 win, which ended O’Shea’s high school wrestling career.
“It’s the highs and lows of this sport. Aidan is a great kid. I know he came up a little short of his goal of medaling, but he has a lot to be proud of,” Maney said. “He’s a 100 match winner. He’s put a lot of work in over the years. He’s accomplished a lot, but most importantly, something he should be proud of is the person he has become. He’ll be disappointed, but when he reflects back, he can be proud of the career he had.”
PIAA Class 3A Championships
Friday 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. Nazareth 75, 2. Bethlehem Catholic 64, 3. Waynesburg 44.5, 4. Latrobe 36, 5. Hempfield Area 35, 6. Williamsport 32.5, 7. Manheim Township 30, 8. Franklin Regional 29, 9. State College 28.5, 10. Clearfield 28, T37. Bellefonte 11
Quarterfinals
138: Pierson Manville, SC, tech. fall Lonzy Vielma, CNV, 20-5 (5:22); 145: Jude Swisher, B, major dec. Sherm Sadriddinov, CRS, 11-2; 215: Nick Pavlechko, SC, major dec. Samuel Rodriguez, G, 12-1
Consolation Third Round
120: Asher Cunningham, SC, dec. Mason Ziegler, Q, 5-3 (SV)
Consolation Second Round
120: Cunningham, SC, major dec. Carmen Cortese, WCH, 11-2; 132: Eli Carr, HA, dec. Aidan O’Shea, B, 2-1
