4 Centre County wrestlers secure PIAA Class 2A medals
Wrestling championships come with a lot of emotion..
Hearts get broken, while joy erupts from wrestlers as they are able to secure their initial spots on the podium.
For four Centre County wrestlers on Friday, that joy came to fruition as they were able to claim a spot on the PIAA podium to come home with medals. Three others had their hearts broken.
When it came to the team race, Faith Christian Academy leads the team race with 127 points. It leads Notre Dame Green Pond by 34 points. Bishop McDevitt rounds out the top three with 62 points.
Here’s a recap of the second day:
Bald Eagle Area
Team score: 29 points, 17th
Finalists: None
Other medalists: Lucas Fye (121 pounds, 2-2), Coen Bainey (127, 4-1), Caleb Close (172, 2-2)
Eliminated: None
Recap: All three of the Eagles wrestlers who made to the PIAA Championships will head back to Wingate with a medal.
Coincidentally, it’s the exact same guys who were here last year and earned a medal. Also, they are all going to the same spots.
Fye was the only BEA wrestler to make the semifinals. He got there by taking care of Saucon Valley’s Aiden Grogg on Friday morning, 6-0.
In the semifinals, the junior ran into a buzz saw in Montgomery’s Brandt Harer. Harer had outscored his opponents 31-1 to that point with technical falls in each win.
Fye was able to limit Harer from a third technical fall, and scored on Harer in a 14-1 loss. The Eagles wrestler dropped into the consolation semifinals, where he got another tough matchup in Montoursville’s Branden Wentzel.
Wentzel, who is a Penn State commit, jumped out to a 9-2 first-period lead on Fye. Fye kept it close in the end as he only suffered a 13-7 loss.
He’ll now wrestle for fifth for the second straight year. This time around he gets Grogg again.
“It feels good. It could feel better, but stuff happens,” Fye said. “I definitely need to work on a lot. I got to get a little stronger and better. I definitely had a little more confidence in myself this year than last year.”
For Bainey, he basically was making the best of a difficult situation. He mentioned on Thursday afternoon that he hasn’t been feeling too well.
He opened his day in the quarterfinals, where he suffered a gut-wrenching 6-4 loss to North East’s Cyrus Hurd. It was a match that Bainey led 4-0 at one point, and he said he hit a brick wall.
He then had to put some work in through the consolation bracket to get to the consolation finals for a third straight season.
The American commit shut out Chestnut Ridge’s Kobi Burkett, 6-0, to secure his podium spot. He then faced Berks Catholic’s Marvin Armistead, who he beat, 6-1, to make the consolation semifinals.
Bainey made the consolation finals by piecing together a 6-2 defeat of Conneaut’s Hunter Gould. He’ll face Bermudian Springs’ Hayden Yacoviello-Andrus for third.
“I wrestled really tough in the wrestlebacks. I actually got to my offense. I’m not upset with it. I know how hard I battled this weekend,” Bainey said. “I know how hard this bracket is. To be able to go out there and do what I’ve done, I’m proud of myself. I’m not done yet though. I still have one more high school match.”
Close kept the common theme rolling for the Eagles, as much as he may not have liked to though.
He opened the day with a tough quarterfinals match against Notre Dame Green Pond’s Holden Garcia. Garcia won the 160 pound PIAA Class 2A title last year.
On Friday, Garcia sent Close to the consolation bracket with a 3-0 loss. The sophomore rebounded to secure his podium spot with a 5-2 defeat of Titusville’s Brock Covell.
Close was then kicked into the seventh-place match with a 3-1 sudden-victory loss to Montgomery’s Caden Finck. He’ll face Bishop McDevitt’s Lucas Lawler.
“He was definitely frustrated. We want to win that match. You got to create your chances and open up a little bit more. He didn’t quite do that,” Eagles coach Ron Guenot said. “The kids are all good down here. You got to be on your game, he’s just got to get more offensive in those situations. But, to be top eight again, we got one more to go, and we’ll try to get that seventh place.”
Penns Valley
Team score: 18 points, tied-39th
Finalists: None
Other medalists: Ty Watson (152, 3-2)
Eliminated: Colten Shunk (133, 1-2), Kollin Brungart (215, 1-2)
Recap: The Rams started the day with three wrestlers in the hunt for a PIAA medal, but in the end only Watson remained.
The junior worked his way through the consolation bracket to make the fifth-place match. He had a different approach to this year’s tournament too.
“Last year, I came into the state tournament undefeated. I thought I was tough stuff, and didn’t lose,” Watson said. “(This year,) I came into states thinking it was just a tournament, but also in the back of my mind I knew I placed sixth last year. I just want to get better than last year. I have an opportunity to do that.”
Watson started his day in the quarterfinals, where he suffered a 3-1 sudden-victory loss to Lackawanna Trail’s Max Bluhm. He rebounded nicely in his consolation third-round match.
Watson controlled from the opening whistle against Girard’s Story Buchanan. Watson nearly pinned Buchanan in the first period with a cradle. Then, he had Buchanan on his back again in the second period with a double arm. In the end, Watson came away with a 12-0 major decision to secure his second straight PIAA medal.
The Ram followed up the win over Buchanan with a pin of North East’s Steffan Lynch in 2 minutes, 19 seconds. In the consolation semifinals, Watson was in a battle with Faith Christian Academy’s Cael Weidemoyer.
The pair traded takedowns over the first and second periods. In the third period, Weidemoyer opened with an escape. Watson picked up a takedown.
Weidemoyer hooked up a cradle for a reversal and put the Ram to his back for nearfall points. Watson tallied a reversal with 17 seconds left, but fell 8-6. He’ll wrestle for fifth place for the second year in a row.
“I felt good for the most part. The first match I lost a tough one in overtime, but I had to overcome that,” Watson said of his day. “I battled back and beat a kid I lost to earlier in the year, pounded him pretty good. I beat another kid that I lost to again this year, which is good, I got better. At the end of the day, I’m standing on the Pennsylvania state podium. I didn’t get my goal again, but hopefully still do better than last year.”
Shunk and Brungart had work to do if they wanted to claim their first PIAA medals.
They each started their days in the consolation bracket. However, their work was cut short.
Shunk suffered a 7-2 loss to Camp Hill’s Noah Doi. Brungart was pinned by Cranberry’s Brayden McFetridge in 2:06.
“Kollin, for him being here, like I said, he’s top 20 in the state. ... Colten took a step this year getting to here. We saw a lot of growth in him from last year to this year,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “Now, it’s another step we need to walk out of here with a medal next year. He got to see it, experience it and give him a taste. Hopefully, it fuels him to take that next step, and I think it will.”
Philipsburg-Osceola
Team score: 3 points, tied-80th
Finalists: None
Other medalists: None
Eliminated: Caleb Hummel (107, 1-2)
Recap: Hummel had all eyes on his opening-day match as he faced Northwestern’s Sierra Chiesa.
Chiesa became the first female wrestler to make it to the PIAA Championships. She suffered a tough 6-5 loss in her preliminary-round match on Thursday, but stayed alive by becoming the first female to win a PIAA Championships match, 8-5, Thursday afternoon.
“It was just going in and wrestling just like any other match you’re wrestling. You’re two matches away from possibly getting on the podium and placing. We scouted her just like everybody else,” Mounties coach Justin Fye said of his message to Hummel. “We had a game plan, and it just didn’t come to fruition. I know there’s a lot of spotlight on her because she’s making history here this weekend. It’s a lot of pressure on the kids knowing that you’re wrestling that person that has that big spotlight on them. I don’t know if that was as big of an issue. We didn’t wrestle the match from where we wanted to wrestle at.”
Hummel recorded the first points of the bout with a takedown at 10 seconds left on the first period clock. He choose neutral to start the second period, but Chiesa earned a takedown during a scramble situation.
It was 2-2 entering the third period. Chiesa choose bottom and got a quick reversal on Hummel. From there, Chiesa put on a master display with a tough top game, not allowing Hummel to escape.
“We watched tape going into it. We knew we were going to be able to control the match from our feet. Unfortunately, we didn’t wrestle on our feet a long time,” Fye said. “We started rolling around on the mat, and that’s where she likes to wrestle at. We weren’t able to get back into positions where we felt comfortable wrestling at.”
Even though his season came to an end, Hummel still has a lot to be proud of. He made the state championships as a freshman.
Hummel led the Mounties with 37 wins. He suffered just 11 losses — two of which came in the PIAA Championships.
“You know to get to Hershey for anybody is a tough task. To do it with some of the quality kids within our district and our region, it’s a great accomplishment. It’s something to build upon,” Fye said. “You don’t like that taste in your mouth at the end of the year when you don’t get a medal. I know he’s already talked about moving on and wrestling some other things throughout the summer. We’ve seen a lot of growth in Caleb this year, especially as his wrestling ability wise. He’s been more aggressive on his feet throughout the year, and more confident when he’s out on the mat.”
PIAA Class 2A Championships
Friday at Hershey
Team key: Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bedford (BD), Bellefonte (B), Belmont Charter (BLC), Benton (BT), Bentworth (BW), Berks Catholic (BC), Berlin Brothersvalley (BB), Bermudian Springs (BS), Berwick (BWC), Beth-Center (B-C), Biglerville (BV), Bishop McDevitt (BM), Brockway (BY), Brookville (BKV), Burgettstown (BTT), Burrell (BR), Cambridge Springs (CS), Camp Hill (CH), Canton (CT), Carlynton (CYT), Catasauqua (CQ), Central Valley (CV), Chartiers-Houston (C-H), Chestnut Ridge (CR), Clearfield (CF), Commodore Perry (CP), Conneaut (CN), Conwell-Egan (CE), Corry (CY), Cranberry (CBY), Curwensville (CW), Faith Christian Academy (FC), Fort Cherry (FCY), Fort LeBoeuf (FLB), Frazier (F), General McLane (GM), Girard (GR), Glendale (G), Greensburg Salem (GS), Grove City (GC), Hamburg (HB), Honesdale (HD), Hopewell (HW), Hughesville (HV), Huntingdon (H), Indiana (I), Jefferson Morgan (JM), Juniata (J), Kane (K), Keystone Oaks (KO), Lackawanna Trail (LWT), Laurel (L), Lewisburg (LB), Line Mountain (LM), Littlestown (LT), Loyalsock (LS), Marion Center (MC), McGuffey (MG), Meadowbrook Christian (MBC), Mid Valley (MV), Midd-West (MW), Mifflinburg (MB), Milton (M), Montgomey (MGY), Montour (MT), Montoursville (MTV), Mount Union (MU), Mt. Carmel (MTC), Mt. Pleasant (MP), Muncy (MY), Newport (NP), North East (NE), North Star (NS), Northern Lebanon (NL), Northwestern (NW), Notre Dame Green Pond (NDGP), Northwestern Lehigh (NWL), Oswayo Valley (O), Palisades (P), Pen Argyl (PA), Penn Cambria (PC), Penns Valley (PV), Philipsburg-Osceola (P-O), Port Allegany (PAY), Quaker Valley (Q), Reynolds (R), River Valley (RV), Saegertown (ST), Salisbury (SY), Saucon Valley (SV), Schuylkill Valley (SYV), Sharon (S), Sharpsville (SPV), Somerset (SMT), Southern Columbia (SC), Southern Huntingdon (SH), St. Marys (SM), Sullivan County (SCY), Susquenita (SQ), Titusville (TV), Towanda (TW), Tri-Valley (T-V), Trinity (TY), Tussey Mountain (TM), Tyrone (T), United (U), Upper Dauphin (UD), Warrior Run (WR), West Branch (WB), West Perry (WP), Wyalusing (W), Wyoming Area (WA)
Team scores: 1. Faith Christian Academy 46, 2. Notre Dame Green Pond 27, T3. Berks Catholic 20, T3. Saucon Valley 20, 5. Bishop McDevitt 19, 6. Lackawanna Trail 18, 7. Chestnut Ridge 17, T8. Fort LeBoeuf 16.5 T8. Muncy 16.5, T10. Burrell 16, T10. Warrior Run 16, T17. Bald Eagle Area 12, T23. Penns Valley 10, T69. Philipsburg-Osceola 3, T99. Bellefonte 0
Semifinals
121: Brandt Harer, MGY, major dec. Lucas Fye, BEA, 14-1
Consolation Semifinals
121: Branden Wentzel, MTV, dec. Fye, BEA, 13-7; 127: Coen Bainey, BEA, dec. Hunter Gould, CN, 6-2; 152: Cael Weidemoyer, FCA, dec. Ty Watson, PV, 8-6
Consolation Quarterfinals
127: Bainey, BEA, dec. Marvin Armistead, BC, 6-1; 152: Watson, PV, pinned Steffan Lynch, NE, 2:19; 172: Caden Finck, MGY, dec. Caleb Close, BEA, 3-1 (SV)
Consolation Third Round
127: Bainey, BEA, dec. Kobi Burkett, CR, 6-0; 152: Watson, PV, major dec. Story Buchanan, GR, 12-0; 172: Close, BEA, dec. Brock Covell, TV, 5-2
Quarterfinals
121: Fye, BEA, dec. Aiden Grogg, SV, 6-0; 127: Cyrus Hurd, NE, dec. Bainey, BEA, 6-4; 152: Max Bluhm, LT, dec. Watson, PV, 3-1 (SV); 172: Holden Garcia, NDGP, dec. Close, BEA, 3-0
Consolation Second Round
107: Sierra Chiesa, NW, dec. Caleb Hummel, P-O, 4-2; 133: Noah Doi, CH, dec. Colten Shunk, PV, 7-2; 215: Brayden McFetridge, CBY, pinned Kollin Brungart, PV, 2:06
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 11:32 PM.
