State College sends 6 into PIAA Northwest Class 3A Regional wrestling semifinals
State College had eight wrestlers needing to take one more step to make the PIAA Championships in Hershey.
All eight of those Little Lions remained alive with six in the hunt for a PIAA Class 3A Northwest Regional crown after wrestling finished up on Friday.
“The guys wrestled really well. Their offense was on. They were shooting and scoring points,” State College coach Ryan Cummins said. “They were getting falls and those extra team points for us. They did a nice job. We told them, ‘Go home, get some rest and be ready to do it all again tomorrow.’ I’m happy with what I saw.”
Those making the semifinals are Hayden Cunningham (127 pounds), Jacob Campbell (133), Pierson Manville (139), Asher Cunningham (145), Carter Weaverling (172) and Nick Pavlechko (285).
Mason Sanderson (107) and Nick Berrena (114) are still alive in the consolation bracket.
The Little Lions had a total of 11 bouts. They won nine of them with seven of those victories coming by way of pin.
“They’re huge, that’s how we’re going to put up a fight in the team race. We need pins,” Cummins said. “We need those bonus points. The guys know that. They’re doing the best they can to try to bring our score up, get out of here (to Hershey) and make the team race competitive.”
State College’s six semifinalists is the second most of any team behind Central Mountain’s eight. It comes as no surprise that those two are at the top of the team race.
The Wildcats are No. 1 with 78 points. The Little Lions are 17 points behind. Hickory rounds out the top three with 53.5 points.
Of the six semifinalists, Campbell had to put in the most work as the other five received byes into the quarterfinals. He’s also the only one that didn’t claim a district title last weekend, but that hasn’t stopped him from having a Cinderella-type run in this postseason.
“It’s tough, he’s sort of a backup behind really tough kids on the team. A lesser kid might have packed it in,” Cummins said of his junior. “He weathered the storm. We told him, ‘You’re going to get your chance, just be patient.’ He was and worked hard. Now, he’s getting the rewards from that. I think that he’s going to keep wrestling and be fun to watch.”
Campbell, who is now 7-10 on the year, opened his day by sticking Selinsgrove’s Ryan Harpster in 2:39 of their first round match. In the quarterfinals, he took on McDowell’s Javarie Blue, who was the District 10 champion.
Blue was known for his throws, but Campbell did a good job of staying out of those opportunities for his opponent. Yes, Blue tallied two takedowns on Campbell, but the State College wrestler picked up reversals each time.
Campbell had Blue on his back twice for nearfall points late in the first period and third period. Campbell came away with a 9-4 victory.
As for those five district champs for the Little Lions, they all pinned their way to the semifinals.
Hayden Cunningham’s was the fastest as he flattened Selinsgrove’s Landyn Lukens in 21 seconds. Manville had the second quickest as he stuck Meadville’s Jacoby Thompson in 44 seconds.
Weaverling sent another Meadville wrestler, Ty Tidball, to the consolations as well by pinning him in 1:03. Pavlechko capped the night off for State College by taking care of Williamsport’s Brycen Delker in 1:29.
Asher Cunningham built up an 8-1 lead on Shikellamy’s CJ Keener before putting Keener on his back in 4:41.
“Those guys are steady all year long. They’ve been scoring points. They get the tough wins all the time,” Cummins said of those five champs. “I want to see them keep doing that. We’re going to have some better matches tomorrow. They’re going to be ready for it. I’m excited to see what they can do.”
Sanderson and Berrena have a lot of extra work to do in order to make Hershey, as the top three advance. They’ll have to string together their four best matches to get there.
However, they were each able to get the hardest win out of the way, which is the first win, on Friday.
Sanderson opened up his first regional tournament by pinning Obama Academy’s Mikel Jordan in 1:44. The freshman suffered a 10-2 loss to Hickory’s phenomenal freshman Brody Bishop.
Berrena had a tough opener as he was pinned by Punxsutawney’s Dysen Gould in 1:34. The sophomore remained alive by collecting a medical forfeit from Carrick’s Jaidon Jones.
It’s a great feat that the underclassmen can say they’ve been able to make the regional tournament in their first varisty season.
“They’ve done a tremendous job this year. The amount of improvement that we’ve seen since the first match till now is huge,” Cummins said. “They’ve improved all the way around. They fight really hard. We’re excited about them, not only in this season, but in the years to come.”
PIAA Class 3A Northwest Regional
Friday at Altoona
Team key: Altoona (A), Bradford (BF), Brashear (B), Carrick (C), Catherdral Prep (CP), Central Mountain (CM), Columbia Montour Vo-Tech (CMVT), DuBois (D), Hickory (HY), Hollidaysburg (H), Jersey Shore (JS), Johnstown (J), McDowell (M), Meadville (MV), Mifflin County (MC), Obama Academy (O), Perry Tradtional Academy (PTA), Punxsutawney (P), Selinsgrove (SG), Shikellamy (S), State College (SC), Taylor Allderdice (T), Westinghouse (WH), Williamsport (W)
Team scores: 1. Central Mountain 78, 2. State College 61, 3. Hickory 53.5, T4. Shikellamy 53, T4. Williamsport 53, 6. Mifflin County 52.5, 7. McDowell 49.5, 8. Cathedral Prep 49, 9. Selinsgrove 43, T10. Meadville 42, T10. Punxsutawney 42
Quarterfinals
107: Brody Bishop, HY, major dec. Mason Sanderson, SC, 10-2; 127: Hayden Cunningham, SC, pinned Landyn Lukens, SG, :21; 133: Jacob Campbell, dec. Javarie Blue, M, 9-4; 139: Pierson Manville, SC, pinned Jacoby Thompson, MV, :44; 145: Asher Cunningham, SC, pinned CJ Keener, S, 4:41; 172: Carter Weaverling, SC, pinned Ty Tidball, MV, 1:03; 285: Nick Pavlechko, SC, pinned Brycen Delker, W, 1:29
Consolation First Round
114: Nick Berrena, SC, med. forfeit Jaidon Jones, C
First Round
107: Sanderson, SC, pinned Mikel Jordan, O, 1:44; 114: Dysen Gould, P, pinned Berrena, SC, 1:34; 133: Campbell, SC, pinned Ryan Harpster, SG, 2:39
