State College’s Manville, Pavlechko come up short in PIAA Class 3A wrestling finals
State College had a shot at making history on Saturday night.
The Little Lions had a pair of wrestlers — Pierson Manville (139 pounds) and Nick Pavlechko (285) — reach the finals. It was the first time since 2002 they had two wrestlers in the finals.
Current Northwestern coach Matt Storniolo and Nathan Galloway were those 2002 wrestlers for State College. Both came away with titles.
The current Little Lions didn’t fare as well, as they each suffered losses.
Manville made the finals for the second straight year as Pavlechko made his first after finishing third last year. The juniors will get one more shot next season to get the gold.
Manville took on a familiar foe in Bethlehem Catholic’s Kollin Rath.
The pair squared off in the Escape the Rock finals in the middle of January. Rath came away with a 3-1 win, which was Manville’s second loss of the year.
On Saturday evening, Rath used a takedown and reversal in the second period to pick up the 4-2 win. The loss dethroned Manville, who was the defending champion at the 139-pound weight class.
“I’m really happy how far I made it this tournament. I could have asked for a little bit better, one podium step higher, but I still like this a lot. Second place is really good,” Manville said. “I lost to a really good kid. We both have mutual respect (for each other). I raised his hand because how much I deeply respect him. He showed a lot of heart. He’s only a sophomore, so I give a lot of credit to him.”
Pavlechko took on a monster of a young man in Nazareth’s Sean Kinney in their 285-pound finals tilt.
The Little Lion nearly held his own in the first period, but Kinney had the right leg of Pavlechko pretty high, keeping him bouncing around on one foot. Kinney was able to turn it into a takedown with four seconds left on the first period clock.
In the second period, Kinney escaped with ease, and again closed the period out with a takedown to hold a 5-0 lead. The third period saw the guys start on their feet, Kinney capitalized with a final takedown of a 7-0 win over Pavlechko.
“I just tried to move my feet, clear his ties and try to get to mine, and just move him around. It’s hard, he’s huge,” Pavlechko said. “I think I could have done a better job of getting angles. My attacks just weren’t quite there. When I get more angles, that might actually open up a little more.”
Asher and Hayden Cunningham also secured medals for State College.
Asher was the next highest finisher behind the finalists, coming away with a fourth-place finish. The sophomore took on Central Dauphin’s Matt Repos in the 145-pound consolation finals.
Neither wrestler scored in the first period, and Asher’s choice to start the second period was the bottom. Repos made him pay as he had a full period ride out.
In the third period, Asher gave Repos an optional start to give himself a better chance of winning. Repos escaped and was up 1-0 two seconds in the final period.
The pair got into a scramble late that Asher appeared to have a takedown, but the official felt differently, and he dropped a tough loss.
“I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do there. I had the leg hooked and my arm around his body. The ref didn’t give it to me, so nothing I can do about it,” Asher said. “Last year, I took eighth. I don’t really care about eighth place. I obviously did better, but I don’t really care about fourth place either. It’s not really what I wanted, but I guess (it’s) improvement.”
Hayden meanwhile was the lone Little Lions wrestler to secure a win in the final session of the championships. He took on Hempfield’s Seamus Mack for fifth-place at 127 pounds.
The senior controlled from start to finish. He opened the scoring with a takedown in the first period.
In the second period, Hayden opened with a reversal, and tacked on a takedown late to hold a 5-1 lead.
Mack took down Hayden just over 20 seconds into the final period, but he escaped to come away with a 7-4 win. It was Hayden’s only medal as he didn’t place as a freshman at the championships and missed the previous two years due to injuries.
“It’s kind of bittersweet. I’m glad I made the podium. I’m glad I finished with a win,” Hayden said. “Ultimately, I came here to win a state title and it didn’t really play out that way, but I’m so grateful that I got to wrestle and thankful that I got a spot on the podium. I think the best part was the (semifinals) I felt good because I was top six.
“I fell the last two matches. It felt good to end on a win. I’ve been in this situation before, but it’s been a while. I really haven’t wrestled in a state tournament in three years, it’s fun.”
Notes: Bethlehem Catholic won the team race with 139 points. It outpaced Nazareth by 36.5 points. ... State College finished fourth with 75 points. ... PSU commit Cael Nasdeo of Williamsport claimed the 121-pound title. Fellow commit Dalton Perry of Central Mountain, who won a PIAA title last year, finished third at 139 pounds.
PIAA Class 3A Championships
Saturday 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 139, 2. Nazareth 102.5, 3. Waynesburg 84, 4. State College 75, 5. West Allegheny 64, T6. Central Mountain 60, T6. Quakertown 60, 8. Greater Latrobe 53, 9. Canon-McMillan 50, 10. Central Dauphin 49
Finals
107: Keanu Dillard, BC, dec. Luke Sirianni, AH, 7-1; 114: Nathan Desmond, BC, major dec. Carson Wagner, NH, 12-1; 121: Cael Nasdeo, WPT, dec. Mason Ziegler, Q, 4-0; 127: Vinny Kilkeary, GL, dec. Andrew Binni, C-M, 8-5; 133: Luke Simcox, CM, dec. Maddox Shaw, TJ, 1-0; 139: Kollin Rath, BC, dec. Pierson Manville, SC, 4-2; 145: Collin Gaj, Q, dec. Mac Church, WB, 7-1; 152: Ty Watters, WA, major dec. Ryan Garvick, CD, 11-3; 160: Dylan Evans, CTV, dec. Shawn Taylor, WA, 3-2 (UTB2); 172: Rocco Welsh, WB, dec. Matthew Furman, C-M, 9-2; 189: Tucker Hogan, DB, dec. Cole Bartram, NN, 4-0; 215: Sonny Sasso, N, dec. Dillon Bechtold, O, 7-5; 285: Sean Kinney, N, dec. Nick Pavlechko, SC, 7-0
Consolation Finals
145: Matt Repos, CD, dec. Asher Cunningham, SC, 1-0
5th Place Match
127: Hayden Cunningham, SC, dec. Seamus Mack, HF, 7-4
Semifinals
127: Kilkeary, GL, dec. H. Cunningham, SC, 3-1; 139: Manville, SC, dec. Blake Reihner, TA, 9-2; 145: Church, WB, dec. A. Cunningham, SC, 6-0; 285: Pavlechko, SC, major dec. Layton Schmick, C, 10-2
Consolation Semifinals
127: Tahir Parkins, N, dec. H. Cunningham, SC, 5-1 (SV); 145: A. Cunningham, SC, dec. Griffin Walizer, CM, 1-0
