‘Good stepping stone’: Penns Valley wrestling comes up short in PIAA 2A dual championships
Tuesday was a historic day for Penns Valley’s wrestling program, as it traveled to Burrell High School in Lower Burrell for its first-ever trip to the PIAA Class 2A dual championships.
The Rams didn’t come away with any hardware and watched the team portion of their postseason end, but their coach still expressed pride.
“It was obviously something we strive for. It was nice to get in. We’ve been knocking on the door, it seems like, for 20 years,” Rams coach Joel Brinker said. “It was good experience and a good stepping stone for the program.”
Penns Valley had a preliminary round match with Quaker Valley, who was the fourth-place team out of the WPIAL. The Rams (14-4) cruised past the Quakers, 47-27, but then faced Burrell in the first round.
The Buccaneers came away with a 39-27 win, which ended Penns Valley’s run in the dual championships.
The Rams started out well against Burrell with Zach Rummel collecting a 4-2 victory at 139 pounds to kick things off. However, the Buccaneers won the next seven bouts to turn a three-point deficit into a 33-point lead.
During that run, Burrell got an 11-4 win from Julian Bertucci at 145, then Calio Zanella got a fall early in the second period. At 160 pounds, the Buccaneers’ Ben Catullo needed a takedown in sudden victory to edge the Rams’ Brayden Lisowski, 12-9.
Burrell next got four straight wins with bonus points — three pins and a forfeit — to make the dual, 36-3. At 285, Penns Valley’s Landon Hess was in cruise control, but got caught and pinned by the Buccaneers’ Ayden Kun.
The Rams’ lightweights tried to dig them out of the hole, but they were just too far behind.
“They’ve been our constant. I think people know we are pretty tough down low. They’ve been producing,” Brinker said. “We just had a couple of matches that we had leads and could’ve closed out, but they turned against us. It was kind of the momentum of the match, but it’s a team effort, so we all share it.”
Evan Lisowski got things rolling for Penns Valley with a fall at 107 pounds in 47 seconds. Max Dinges followed with a fall of his own in 1:33.
Conner Myers, who has been on a hot streak as of late, continued the pin parade with a third-period pin in 5:07.
After a heartbreaking 9-8 loss at 127 pounds for Penns Valley, Tripp Watson closed the dual out with another fall in 5:11.
As for the Rams’ match with Quaker Valley, it was an up-and-down affair.
After holding the lead for the first half of the dual, Penns Valley saw itself trailing 27-18 with five bouts left. The Rams won the last five bouts with nothing but bonus points.
Hess collected a fall in 3:08. Evan Lisowski and Dinges got back-to-back forfeits to give Penns Valley a 36-27 lead.
Myers had a 15-0 technical fall in 4:30, and Erik Carlile closed the dual out with a fall in 2:17.
Now the Rams shift their focus toward the individual postseason and the District 6 Championships, which get started on Feb. 14 in Altoona.
“This is a feather in their cap, but now we can heal and mend a little bit. We can work on some things that are specific for each kid. We’re looking forward to it,” Brinker said.
PIAA Class 2A Dual Championships
Tuesday at Lower Burrell
First Round
Burrell 39, Penns Valley 27
139: Zach Rummel, PV, dec. Jacob Stewart, 4-2
145: Julian Bertucci, B, dec. Sawyer Fetterolf, 11-4
152: Calio Zanella, B, pinned Seth Fetterolf, 2:27
160: Ben Catullo, B, dec. Brayden Lisowski, 12-9 (SV)
172: Isaac Lacinski, B, pinned Joey Torres, 1:35
189: Logan Shank, B, pinned Shane Rimmey, 3:09
215: Luke Boylan, B, won by forfeit
285: Ayden Kun, B, pinned Landon Hess, 5:21
107: Evan Lisowski, PV, pinned Logan Barrett, :47
114: Max Dinges, PV, pinned Vincent Guerrini, 1:33
121: Conner Myers, PV, pinned Carter Thomas, 5:07
127: Carter Thomas, B, dec. Erik Carlile, 9-8
133: Tripp Watson, PV, pinned Luca Rosa, 5:11
Preliminary Round
Penns Valley 47, Quaker Valley 27
133: Watson, PV, won by forfeit
139: Rummel, PV, pinned Harper Sipes, 2:44
145: Matthew Danna, QV, tech. fall Sa. Fetterolf, 18-3 (5:25)
152: Jack Deimert, QV, pinned Se. Fetterolf, 1:28
160: B. Lisowski, PV, won by forfeit
172: Trey Dunlap, QV, tech. fall Torres, 19-3 (5:40)
189: Marcus Richey, QV, pinned Rimmey, 3:55
215: Brennan Breisginer, QV, won by forfeit
285: Hess, PV, pinned Sebastian Juarez-Safon, 3:08
107: E. Lisowski, PV, won by forfeit
114: Dinges, PV, won by forfeit
121: Myers, PV, tech. fall Eoin Parnell, 15-0 (4:30)
127: Carlile, PV, pinned Damien McClay, 2:17
