State College has nearly perfect day as 1st day of PIAA 3A wrestling championships end
State College’s five state qualifiers had a perfect run to the PIAA Class 3A Championships.
All five wrestlers earned district and regional crowns. When wrestling was finished on Thursday evening, only four remained in the hunt for a PIAA title.
Hayden Cunningham (127 pounds), Pierson Manville (139), Asher Cunningham (145) and Nick Pavlechko (285) are those four wrestlers still looking for gold. Carter Weaverling (172) is the other Little Lions wrestler still alive in the consolation bracket.
Pavlechko had the scariest first round match of the four quarterfinalists.
The junior took on St. Joseph’s Prep’s Maxwell Roy, who tossed the State College wrestler to his back midway through the first period. Pavlechko fought off his back and collected a reversal with just over one minute to go.
He trailed 5-2 to open the second period. Pavlechko got another about 30 seconds in, and put Roy to his back for nearfall points.
Pavlechko rode Roy for the remainder of the period to hold a 6-5 lead to start the third period. Roy used a reversal to open the final frame, but Pavlechko reversed him back and hung on for an 8-7 win. He seemed a little upset in the win as we raced off the mat.
“I think nerves were probably a factor. It just kind of was a little not wrestling with purpose at that point,” State College coach Ryan Cummins said. “He got that out of his system and now I think he’ll be ready and tuned in for for tomorrow. I think we’ll see a different wrestler tomorrow.”
Pavlechko takes on Penn Trafford’s Joe Enick for a spot in the semifinals.
Asher Cunningham was the only other match to go the full distance for the winners. He took on West Chester East’s Max Parnis and jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a takedown midway through the first period.
In the second period, Cunningham had an escape and a takedown to extend his lead to 5-0. He picked up one more takedown in the third period to secure a 7-0 shutout of Parnis.
Cunningham faces Nazareth’s Jake Doone to start his day on Friday.
Hayden Cunningham and Manville combined to wrestle just about one period of wrestling in their two matches.
Cunningham picked up a takedown 17 seconds into the first period. He then locked up a crossface cradle on Spring-Ford’s Quinn Smith, and rocked him back for a fall in 50 seconds.
Cunningham will get Seneca Valley’s Tyler Chappell on Friday.
Manville just like Cunningham needed just 12 seconds to takedown Central Buck South’s Jake Neill. The defending PIAA champion then worked his way to a stack of Neill for a fall in 1:01.
Manville tangles with Latrobe’s Nate Roth in the quarterfinals.
“He felt a little sick. It was probably a combination of nerves and maybe not eating at the right time before (his match). Still without feeling good, and getting a 7-0 win, I’m okay with that,” Cummins said of Asher and the other two quarterfinalists. “The other two, they did everything we could ask of them and looked great doing it. We’ll definitely come back tomorrow and keep it rolling.”
Weaverling took on Wilson’s Blaise Eidle, who was 50-8 entering the tournament. He got the lead first with an escape in the second period, but Eidle secured a takedown late to hold a 2-1 lead.
In the third period, Eidle did all the scoring with an escape and takedown to send Weaverling to the consolation bracket with a 5-1 defeat.
Weaverling rebounded to top Jersey Shore’s Tyler Bauder, 4-1, with a late reversal and nearfall points in the third period.
“Carter had a tough first match, but bounced back,” Cummins said, “so I’m looking forward to him coming back tomorrow, continuing to win and coming back through.”
PIAA Class 3A Championships
Thursday at Hershey
Team key: Abington Heights (AH), Altoona (A), Armstrong (AG), Baldwin (BW), Bethlehem Catholic (BC), Boiling Springs (BS), Boyertown (BT), Butler (B), Canon-McMillan (C-M), Carlisle (C), Cathedral Prep (CP), Central Bucks East (CBE), Central Bucks South (CBS), Central Bucks West (CBW), Central Dauphin (CD), Central Mountain (CM), Central York (CY), Chambersburg (CB), Chartiers Valley (CTV), Chichester (CC), Coatesville (CT), Cocalico (CL), Conestoga (CG), Connellsville (CNV), Council Rock North (CRN), Council Rock South (CRS), Crestwood (CW), Cumberland Valley (CV), Daniel Boone (DB), Delaware Valley (DV), Donegal (DG), DuBois (D), Easton (E), Elco (EC), Ephrata (ET), Franklin Regional (FR), Freedom (F), Garnet Valley (GV), Gettysburg (GB), Greater Latrobe (GL), Harriton (HT), Haverford (HV), Hazelton (H), Hempfield (HF), Hempfield Area (HA), Hickory (HY), J.P. McCaskey (J), Jersey Shore (JS), Kennett (K), Kiski Area (KA), LaSalle (LS), Lebanon (LB), Liberty (L), Manheim Central (MCT), Manheim Township (MT), McDowell (MD), Meadville (MV), Mifflin County (MC), Mt. Lebanon (ML), Nazareth (N), Neshaminy (NY), North Allegheny (NA), Northampton (NH), Northeastern (NE), Northern (NN), Owen J Robert (O), Oxford Area (OA), Parkland (P), Penn Trafford (PT), Pennridge (PRG), Pennsbury (PB), Perkiomen Valley (PV), Peters Township (PTP), Pine Richland (PR), Pittston Area (PA), Pocono Mountain East (PME), Pocono Mountain West (PMW), Pottsgrove (PG), Pottsville (PTV), Punxsutawney (PTY), Quakertown (Q), Ridley (R), Ringgold (RG), Selinsgrove (SG), Seneca Valley (SV), Shikellamy (SKY), Shippensburg (SB), Solanco (S), Souderton (ST), Spring Grove (SPG), Spring-Ford (SF), St. Joseph’s Prep (SJP), State College (SC), Strath Haven (SH), Sun Valley (SVY), Thomas Jefferson (TJ), Trinity Area (TA), Unionville (U), Upper Perkiomen (UP), Wallenpaupack (WPP), Warwick (WW), Waynesburg (WB), West Chester East (WCE), West Chester Henderson (WCH), West Allegheny (WA), West Scranton (WS), Whitehall (WH), Williamsport (WPT), Wilson (W), Wyoming Valley West (WVW), York Suburban (YS)
Team scores: 1. Bethlehem Catholic 36.5, 2. Nazareth 26.5, T3. Easton 21, T3. State College 21, 5. Waynesburg 20, 6. Quakertown 19, 7. West Allegheny 17.5, T8. Central Dauphin 17, T8. Central Mountain 18, T10. Canon-McMillan 16, T10. Latrobe 16
Consolation First Round
172: Carter Weaverling, SC, dec. Tyler Bauder, JS, 4-1
First Round
127: Hayden Cunningham, SC, pinned Quinn Smith, SF, :50; 139: Pierson Manville, SC, pinned Jake Neill, CBS, 1:01; 145: Asher Cunningham, SC, dec. Max Parnis, WCE, 7-0; 172: Blaise Eidle, W, dec. Weaverling, SC, 5-1; 285: Nick Pavlechko, SC, dec. Maxwell Roy, SJP, 8-7
