State College wrestling comes up short in PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals
It had been 25 years since State College’s wrestling team was in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals of the dual championships.
On Friday night, the Little Lions put up a good fight against undefeated Franklin Regional, but suffered a 37-23 loss inside 1st Summit Arena in Johnstown.
“The team battled well. We bumped our lineup up and down to try to match them (Franklin Regional) the best we could,” State College coach Jason Nickal said. “We probably felt a little bit of pressure being the first time we’ve been at this tournament for some time. Our kids probably wrestled a little bit up tight. It was a learning experience for us.”
State College was in a hole early as the Panthers took the first two bouts.
Franklin Regional’s Salvatore Colangelo opened the dual by pinning Camden Fletcher in 3:11 at 107 pounds. Beau Fennick followed by earning a 9-4 victory over the Little Lions’ Noah Young to make it 9-0.
State College responded though by winning the next three bouts.
Luke Young used a late reversal to top Titus Colangelo, 5-2, at 121 pounds. Scott Young collected a 10-2 major decision over Keller Maryott.
Kael Davis had no problems racking up a 17-0 technical fall on Salvatore Nassif in 3:56. Davis collected four sets of nearfall points in the second period in the win. His win gave the Little Lions a 12-9 lead.
“Luke had a really big win at (1)21. We threw Scotty in there at (1)27 knowing that we could get maybe a little better matchup at (1)33 and (1)39,” Nickal said. “We got those three big wins, which kind of swung momentum back our way.”
Franklin Regional responded by winning the next three bouts — all with bonus points — to blow open the dual.
Chase Smith and Max Firestine had back-to-back technical falls with teammate Michael Ruane collecting a pin. The Panthers led 25-12.
State College’s James Whitbred, who is a Penn State commit, stopped the bleeding momentarily at 160 pounds. He racked up a 22-6 technical fall in 4:41 to pull his team within 25-17.
After Franklin Regional got another win, the Little Lions’ Noah Williams pinned Evan McManis in 48 seconds to give State College a chance to still win at 28-23.
The Panthers’ John Montgomery got a pin at 215 pounds to lock up the dual at 34-23 with one bout to go. Franklin Regional won the final bout to set up the final score.
The Little Lions wrestle in the consolation quarterfinals against Boyertown at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.
“Boyertown, their dual came down to the last match, so we’re going to be in for a tough team tomorrow. I want our guys to go out and wrestle their very best individually,” Nickal said, “and not worry about the team score and wrestle just to win. It’s a great opportunity for them to get more matches. If we weren’t here, we’d be sitting at home not wrestling, so we better make the most of it.”
