103 POUNDS In an ultimate tie breaker fourth overtime, Canon McMillan's Conner Schram burst out of the grasp of Hempfield's Austin Miller to win a, let's say, 'tentative' 103-pound final. The wrestlers exchanged escapes in the first and second periods and did little from their feet on their way to a four-overtime marathon.
112 POUNDS Derry Area's Jimmy Gulibon won his second PIAA title in as many years, putting on a clinic from his feet in a 12-5 decision over Blue Mountain's Corey Keener. Gulibon struck twice in the first period and never trailed to finish his season with a 36-1 record and state gold.
119 POUNDS Franklin Regional's Nico Megaludis out-lasted Liberty's Anthony Marino, using constant pressure in the final period to win an 8-4 decision. Megaludis, the state champ at 112 pounds last season, scored a late takedown to put the finishing touches on the victory.
125 POUNDS Bellefonte's Mitchell Port and Nazareth's Zachary Horan went back and forth in a match jam-packed with action. Port got the better end of some wild flurries and came away with a 6-3 win.
130 POUNDS A wild ride from start to finish, McDowell's Steve Spearman scored an emphatic late takedown to topple Central Dauphin's Tyler Buckman 7-6 in rideout time. Buckman escaped to take a 6-5 lead, but surrendered the winning takedown and just missed turning Spearman for back points in the final seconds.
135 POUNDS Council Rock South's Josh Dziewa finished his dominant run through the 135 bracket, making short work of Cumberland Valley's Shawn Greevy with a first-period pin. Dziewa won two matches by fall and out-scored his other two opponents 7-0 in capturing the gold.
140 POUNDS Blue Mountain's Josh Kindig led from start to finish, disposing of Pittsburgh Central Catholic's Lorenzo Thomas in an 8-3 victory in the finals. Kindig was the gold medal winner at 135 last season and repeated at 140 with two pins and two decisions.
145 POUNDS Central Mountain's Andrew Alton won his second straight PIAA title with a 23-8 technicall fall over West Allegheny's Aaron McKinney. Alton tore through the 145 bracket with two pins and two technicall falls, in which he totaled 50 combined points.
152 POUNDS Dylan Alton used a quick flurry to grab an early lead and cruise to an 11-4 victory over Lasalle's Shane Springer. Dylan Alton one-upped twin brother Andrew with his third straight PIAA gold medal.
160 POUNDS Central Dauphin's Marshall Peppelman used his signature tilt to put West Allegheny's Troy Reaghard on his back, then sunk in a deep half nelson to flatten him out in a second-period pin. The win sent Peppelman to his third straight state title.
171 POUNDS Familiar rivals squared off in the state finals as Central Dauphin's Kenny Courts won a third straight matchup against Cumberland Valley's Tristan Warner, this time for state gold. Courts took an early 4-0 lead when he dumped Warner to his back and held on for a 6-4 win.
189 POUNDS A second caution stall against Council Rock North's Jamie Callender gave Springfield's Andre Petroski the tying point, and after taking a 5-4 lead on an escape, Petroski re-paid the favor with a couple of stalling calls in the final minute. Callender cashed in 33 seconds into overtime, wrapping up a clean double leg and securing a 7-5 win.
215 POUNDS Selinsgrove's Spencer Myers controlled East Pennsboro's Zach Nye from the neutral position and handed Nye his first loss of the season, 5-3. Nye was aiming to become East Penn's first gold medalist since 1978.
285 POUNDS Abington Heights' Evan Craig battered and bruised Central Mountain's Zack Corl on his way to defending his state title with a second-period pin. Craig led 4-0 when he cranked Corl to his back with an arm bar and finished the pin at the 2:45 mark.
CD's Tyler Buckman continued his entertaining run through the 130-pound bracket, coming back from a 4-0 deficit to beat Easton's Mitchell Minotti 5-4. Minotti took the senior down to his back early in the second period for the 4-0 lead, but Buckman took control from there and scored the final five points of the match.
CV 135-pounder Shawn Greevy also trailed in the second period, but came back to beat Derry's Travis Shaffer 7-6. Greevy, down 6-3, reversed Shaffer at the end of the second period to cut the deficit to 6-5. After starting on bottom in the third, he scored the winning points on a reversal late in the period and rode Shaffer out the rest of the way.
CD 160-pounder Marshall Peppelman has cruised through plenty of matches throughout his accomplished career, but few matches came easier than his win in the semifinals. Would-be opponent Pat LaBuz from Hazleton Area suffered a knee injury in yesterday's quarterfinals and forfeited. Peppelman advances to face West Allegheny's Troy Reaghard in the finals.
Central Dauphin's Kenny Courts and Cumberland Valley's Tristan Warner will square off in the 171-pound finals. Courts has won a pair of decisions over Warner this season, including a 4-2 overtime victory in the District 3 championship finals. Courts pinned Downingtown East's Robbie Fitzgerald in 3:38 in today's semifinals, while Warner advanced with an 11-3 major decision over previously unbeaten Tyler Wilps of Chartiers Valley.
Nye took the same approach to his 8-5 semifinal win over Whitehall's Taray Carey as he did his previous two matches of the tournament. He was patient in the early going before pouncing on Carey late. Nye scored six points in the final period to march on to tonight's gold medal bout.
Over the past five seasons, everything has gone pretty well for the Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin wrestling teams.
That changed a little bit over the past three months.
Graduation and injuries turned the normally dominant Eagles into a beatable team. That became more evident than when Wilson went into the CV Dome and bounced the Eagles out of team districts.
As for the Rams, their impenetrable armor was nicked a bit at districts when they only advanced four wrestlers to this weekend’s state tournament.
But now that the Class AAA portion of the PIAA Wrestling Championships is in high gear, the Eagles and Rams are back on top of their game, occupying five spots in tomorrow morning’s semifinal round, which begins at 8 a.m.
The Eagles Shawn Greevy led the Eagles contingent with a breath-taking 9-6 rally over Crestwood spunky senior Hunter McGraw in a match that the CV senior trailed 6-1 in the first period.
"This win really helped a lot with my confidence," Greevy said. "It showed that I can get down and have enough heart to come back. It shows that I can come back and score points and win the match."
Greevy’s epic Giant Center comeback started with an escape and takedown to close the first period, bringing the margin to 6-4. One minute later, the deficit was erased when the Eagles star escaped and hit another takedown to take a 7-6 lead heading to the third.
There, Greevy (22-2), who suffered a knee injury in December, put the finishing touches on the match with a textbook Russian that had many purists gleaming.
"I didn’t expect anything less than the state semifinals at the beginning of the season," Greevy said. "After I hurt my knee, I didn’t know how long I was going to be out. I was going to take one match at a time and hope everything fell into place.
"Now that I already have a medal, I’m not going to be anxious and just do what I have to do to win the match."
There was plenty of anxiety coming into this year’s championships for the Rams, who normally are the team doling out headaches.
But Tyler Buckman (36-4) squashed some of the uneasiness, when he mustered a 6-4 overtime decision over Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s Tyler Zymroz, in one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament so far.
Buckman looked like a sure consolation candidate trailing 4-2 with nine seconds left, but the CD senior slipped a reverse to tie the match with one second left.
In the overtime period, Buckman was the aggressor and hit a double-leg takedown with 31 seconds showing on the clock to end it.
"Once I got to my feet and reached down and got one of his legs up, I looked at the clock and turned it into a double-leg to tie it," Buckman said. "I just kept the momentum and knew I had it in overtime.
"Me and Marshall [Peppelman] talked at the beginning year, and our goal was to win state titles, me getting my first and his third. We pushed each other and didn’t want to lose whether it was lifting or running."
Peppelman (160) and Kenny Courts (171) also advanced to the semifinals for the Rams.
Tristan Warner (37-2) avenged last year’s season-ending loss to Hazelton’s Jared Kay by beating Kay in the quarterfinals 1-0 to give the Eagles their second semifinalist.
This was a defensive struggle that saw Warner ride Kay out in the second period before escaping in the third for a 1-0 decision.
"I knew it was going to come down to who could ride who out; it was the same as last year," Warner said. "I was pretty confident that I could get out in the third period, but I wasn’t sure I could hold him down.
"This is huge for me. He beat me last year, and it is a great feeling to place at states. This takes the pressure off and now I can see how high on the podium I go."
Tyler Buckman of Central Dauphin celebrates after defeating Tyler Zymroz of Pittsburgh Central Catholic 6-4 in overtime at PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal wrestling championships.
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(JOHN C. WHITEHEAD, The Patriot-News)
Central Dauphin's Tyler Buckman got the better end of Pittsburgh Central Catholic's Tyler Zymroz for the second time this season, this time in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships.
Buckman reversed Zymroz with nine seconds left to send the match into overtime, then needed just 29 seconds to score the winning takedown in a 6-4 decision.
Earlier this season, Zymroz was leading Buckman 13-1 at the Beast of the East Tournament in Delaware before Buckman caught him for a third-period pin. This time around, with the stakes a little higher, the match was more even throughout with an equally strong finish by Buckman.
Buckman marches on to tomorrow's semifinals, where he faces Easton's Mitchell Minotti, a 7-1 winner over Erik Galloway from State College in today's quarterfinals.
Whether it is the regular season, the District 3 Championships or the PIAA Wrestling Championships, Bo knows one thing.
Winning.
Bo Candelaria wasted little time in showing that he isn’t about to lay over for Central Mountain’s Andrew Alton or anyone else in the 145-pound weight class for that matter, when he carved out a picture-perfect 16-1 over Council Rock South’s Tim Riley in the first round of Class AAA competition.
“Everything is working for me right now,” Candelaria said. “There are always some pre-state butterflies coming in; your eyes get big but once you blink and get that first match in, you are into it.
“This is my time to feel strong. I’m not going to back down now.”/p
The Blue Raiders senior (30-3) rests in the top-heavy side of the 145-bracket, with weight favorite Alton and Nazareth’s Ryan Krecker (34-4), who Candelaria will face in the quarterfinals, which start at 1 p.m.
It should be noted that Krecker decisioned Candelaria 7-2 at Beast of the East in mid-December. But he can expect to see a different wrestler this time around.
“I’m in better shape, and I’m more aggressive than when we wrestled the first time,” Candelaria said. “The last time, I wrestled his way. This time, I’m going show him the way I wrestle.”
A win, and Candelaria will likely hit Alton, the state champion at 140 last year, in the semifinals.
“I don’t mind that those guys are on my side of the bracket,’ Candelaria said. “I’m here to win gold and wrestle the best whether it is in the first round or the finals.”
The local Mid-Penn contingent showed its worth on the state stage by advancing 13 of 23 wrestlers into the Class AAA quarterfinals. Five more wrestlers are still alive in the consolations.
Cumberland Valley’s Travis Friend is in his last high school season and is looking to make it count.
He got off to a good start by punishing Ringgold’s Neal Rands and then pinning him in 3:12 to advance to the quarterfinals against St. Marys Sean Sadosky (34-0).
“Districts is done and over with,” said Friend (23-1), who lost to East Pennsboro’s Zachary Nye in the District 3 final. “There is no pressure on me. I like where I am in the bracket and just want to take it one match at a time and make it on the medal stand.
“This is my last time season, and I want to go out on a good note.”
Central Dauphin’s Marshall Peppelman (160) and Kenny Courts (171) are also looking to put an exclamation point on the season.
The two ripped off quick pins, spending a combined 1:31 on the mat in advancing to today’s quarters.
Others local wrestlers remaining in the championship hunt are Cedar Cliff’s Christopher Vassar (103), Big Spring’s Dereck Enders (112), Central Dauphin’s Tyler Buckman (130), Cumberland Valley’s Shawn Greevy (135), Carlisle’s Jayshon Wilson (152), Big Spring’s Luke Etter (160), Cumberland Valley’s Tristan Warner (171), East Pennsboro’s Zachary Nye (215) and Susquehanna Twp.’s Averee Robinson (285).
103 pounds Chris Vassar, Cedar Cliff: Vassar patiently out-worked Clearfield's Christian Stone in their all-freshmen preliminary bout, 1-0 in overtime. He advanced to face Liberty's Anthony Cabrera in tomorrow's quarterfinals.
112 pounds Dereck Enders, Big Spring: Enders started slow against a tough first-round opponent in Upper St. Clair's Mackenzie McGuire, but finished strong in a 9-4 defeat. Down 4-2 midway through the second period, Enders scored the final seven points of the match.
130 pounds Tyler Buckman, Central Dauphin: Buckman had his hands full with Haverford's Luke Bilyeu, but scored an early takedown and made it stand with a smothering defense.
135 pounds Shawn Greevy, Cumberland Valley: Greevy grabbed control with an early takedown and led from start to finish, beating State College's Adam Powers 6-3.
145 pounds Bo Candelaria, Middletown: Before the buzzer sounded on the first period, Candelaria had executed three tilts and taken a 12-1 lead on Council Rock South's Tim Riley. Less than a minute later, Candelaria sealed the deal on a 16-1 technical fall.
152 pounds Jayshon Wilson, Carlisle: Wilson struck first and kept attacking until the final buzzer in a 5-2 win over Blue Mountain's Travis Moyer. A big challenge lies ahead for Wilson in unbeaten Dylan Alton, last year's state champ at 145.
160 pounds Marshall Peppelman, Central Dauphin: Peppelman's first-round win has become the norm for him this season: takedown, tilt, 36-second pin over Spring-Ford's Matt Krueger. The senior is looking for his third PIAA title.
Luke Etter, Big Spring: Etter, a third-place finisher at the District 3 tournament, started on a strong note with a 7-3 victory over Upper Moreland's John Bolich. Etter faces Hazleton Area's Pat LaBuz in tomorrow's quarterfinals.
171 pounds Kenny Courts, Central Dauphin: Courts stayed unbeaten (39-0) and began his quest for PIAA gold with a first-period pin against Nick Lynch from Hatboro. Courts faces Coughlin's Josh Popple in tomorrow's quarterfinals.
Tristan Warner, Cumberland Valley: Warner posted a major decision against Upper Moreland's James Nicholson, winning 12-2 to set up a quarterfinal date with Hazleton Area's Jared Kay.
215 pounds Zach Nye, East Pennsboro: Nye was impressive in a first-round pin against Blue Mountain's Brook Gosch, shutting him out before putting him on his back at the 5:43 mark. Nye also benefitted from the first-round loss of defending state championship Nate Gaffney, who would have been the junior's opponent in the quarterfinals.
Travis Friend, Cumberland Valley: Friend made short work of Ringgold's Neal Rands, registering a pin midway through the second period. He faces unbeaten Sean Sadosky (34-0) from St. Mary's in the quarters.
285 pounds Averee Robinson, Susquehanna Twp.: Robinson cruised through his first-round bout with Penn Trafford's Zach Baker and tacked on a late takedown in an 11-4 victory. He faces Clearfield's Andre Buck, also an 11-4 winner, in the quarterfinals.
There were times this weekend that Cumberland Valley’s Shawn Greevy looked like he was on his last leg.
Literally.
After his early round matches in the District 3-AAA Wrestling Championships at Hersheypark Arena, you could notice Greevy limping off the mat, favoring the knee he injured during the Beast of the East Tournament in mid-December.
“I didn’t get a good warm-up before my first round match,” Greevy, a senior, said. “It was cold in here, and it just got sore. It hurt real bad there for a while, but luckily, I was able to push through.”
Push through?
Greevy did better than that, bowling through the 135-pound bracket and decking Wilson’s Tim Ravel 7-3 in the finals to take his second-straight district title and 61st for the Eagles.
It also gave the Eagles standout a measure of satisfaction and much-needed confidence heading into states, which will be across the parking lot at Giant Center in two weeks.
“After I hurt my knee, I figured this could be my season,” Greevy said. “When I heard it would be two or three weeks until I could get back in the room and then five or six until I could go back live, I had to set a new set of goals.
“Now, I just have to go out and get them.”
Greevy showed no signs of ailment during his finals match.
Ravel escaped and hit a controversial takedown on the edge to take a 3-2 lead. But before the first period came to a close, Greevy escaped to even the match.
The referee’s call antagonized Greevy and bit and served as a wake-up call, which was bad news for Ravel and the Bulldog faithful.
Greevy escaped in the third and scored the most impressive takedown of the finals, when he grabbed Ravel, who was scurrying to get out of bounds, pulled him back in by the leg and lit the scoreboard for 2.
“I thought that was BS,” Greevy said. “That made me realize that [Ravel] came to wrestle and wanted to win. I had to step up and get to work.
No doubt, Greevy, who became the Eagles’ 15th two-time champion, earned his 7-3 decision and the right to wear gold around his neck.
CHAMPS GET NO RESPECT
The 2009-2010 District 3 Wrestling Championships might go down as one of the most dangerous in the event’s 73-year history.
A total of eight defending champions failed to defend, including three from Central Dauphin: Shyheim Brown, Kevin Gooding and Tyler Buckman.
One defending champion was guaranteed to lose. That turned out to be Juniata’s Zac Beitz, who was beaten 8-0 at 125-AA by Delone Catholic’s three-time champion Tyler Small, who would have been a likely pick for outstanding wrestler if District 3 had such an award.
Other returning champions who missed a return to the top of the podium were Schuylkill Valley’s Nate Giorgio (beaten 1-0 by Milton Hershey’s Nick Lamoreaux in the 112-AA finals), Susquenita’s Derec Sauve (beaten 12-9 in the 171-AA finals by Hamburg’s Glenn Miller), Fairfield’s Dylan Ferguson (beaten 8-3 by Delone’s Joseph Kreiner in the 215-AA finals), and Juniata’s Dan Fultz (beaten 6-1 in overtime by Milton Hershey’s Cris Ramirez).
On the other hand, South Western’s Cameron Throckmorton, the champion at 125-AAA, was able to regain the title he won as a freshman and lost last year as a sophomore by beating Penn Manor’s Bobby Rehm 5-4.
Even being unbeaten was no insurance against loss. Bermudian Springs’ Brad Farley was 32-0 entering the 103-AA finals, but was outwrestled by Delone’s Joseph Byers, 9-7, giving the Squires a great start to a great evening.
Beitz was also unbeaten, 43-0, before losing to Small. Cumberland Valley’s Travis Friend was 22-0 before losing to East Pennsboro’s Zach Nye, also unbeaten at 35-0, in the 215-AAA final. Nye won 7-1.
BO KNOWS WINNING
iddletown’s Bo Candelaria is peaking at just the right time.
The competition in the 145-pound bracket found out the hard way during districts, as Candelaria gave up an anemic three points in four matches on his to his first title.
“I was real focused,” Candelaria said. “I had to get my head right. I felt comfortable, knew what I needed to do and came out and did it.”
Candelaria scored a pair of tech falls, including a 15-0 drubbing of West York’s Billy Randt in the finals, a 14-0 major decision and a 10-3 win over Daniel Boone’s Colin Martucci in the quarterfinals.
“Dropping to 145, I knew I could have an impact at districts, Candelaria said. “I hope that will continue in two weeks. The PIAA better watch out for Bo Candelaria.”
ONE MORE
Schuylkill Valley’s Colin Shober is closing fast on Class AA state history.
Not only did Shober notch his third straight District 3-AA championship, he also recorded his 186th career win putting him within one of the state record.
Fellow District 3 Berks wrestler Matt Yocco, a two-time district champion in 2006 and 2007 while at Brandywine Heights, holds the record at 187.
Shober will eclipse the mark with two wins at next week’s Southeast Regional, which is being held at Wilson High School.
WAIT IS OVER
No school won its first championship, but several extinguished some long droughts.
New Oxford’s Jordan Conaway, the 103-AAA champion, was his school’s first since 1997 (Jarrod Adams, 130-AAA). Nick Dragonette of Wilson ended an even longer empty streak. His win over Central York's Matt Newman was the Bulldogs’ first title since Jeff Gibble won the last of three straight in 1994./p
Dan Neff’s victory over Buckman at 130 was the first title for Solanco since 2001 (Brian Caldwell, 152-AAA). Philip Landis, the 189-AA champion, was the first to win from Eastern York since 2000 (Jimmy Bair, 130-AA).
TEAM SCORING: 1. Central Dauphin (CD) 119; 2. Cumberland Valley (CV) 80; 3. Spring Grove (SG) 68; 4.(tie) Big Spring (BiS) and Wilson (W) 59; 6. Middletown (Mid) 51.5; 7. Cedar Cliff (CC) 43; 8. (tie) Dallastown (Dt) and Susquehanna Twp. (ST) 40.5; 10. Red Lion (Rli) 39.5; 11. Solanco (Sol) 38.5; 12. New Oxford (NO) 38; 13. Penn Manor (PM) 34; 14. Chambersburg (Ch) 33; 15. Mechanicsburg (Me) 32; 16. (tie) Hempfield (He), Northern (No) and East Pennsboro (EP) 31; 19. Warwick (Wa) 30.5; 20. Governor Mifflin 29; 21. Carlisle (Ca) 28, 22. South Western (SW) 27; 23. CD East (CDE) 26; 24. Garden Spot (GS) 19; 25. Central York (CY) 18.5; 26. (tie) Conestoga Valley (CoV), Lower Dauphin (LD) and Waynesboro (Way) 18; 29. West York (WY) 17.5; 30. Manheim Twp. (MT) 17; 31. Dover (Do) 16; 32. Kennard-Dale (KD) 15; 33. Daniel Boone (DB) 14; 34. Manheim Central (MC) 13; 35. Susquehannock (Sus) 12; 36. McCaskey (McC) 11; 37. (tie) Cocalico (Coc), Elizabethtown (Et) and Harrisburg (Ha) 10; 40. (tie)Donegal (Don) and Lebanon (L) 6; 42. Exeter (Ex) 5; 43. (tie) Muhlenberg (Mul) and Reading (Re) 3; 45. (tie) Gettysburg (Ge), Greencastle-Antrim (GA) and Palmyra (Pa) 2; 48. Red Land (RL) 1; 49. (tie) Conrad Weiser (CW), Ephrata (Eph), Hershey (Her), James Buchanan (JB), Northeastern (Nte) and Twin Valley (TV) 0; 55. West Perry (WP) -2.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
103. Jordan Conaway NO d Dustin Rook BiS 9-2; Austin Miller He d Tyson Dippery CD 3-1. 112: Jon Brigham CV d Shyheim Brown CD 4-1; Dereck Enders BiS p Brock Thompson Mid 1:02. 119: Dylan Nguyen Rli d Colten Keck BiS 5-0; Kyle Coblentz GS d Nick Varndell CD 6-1. 125: Cameron Throckmorton SW d Jimmy Hughes Ch 9-3; Bobby Rehm PM d Kevin Gooding CD 8-7. 130: Tyler Buckman CD p Sean Bise EP 3:57; Dan Neff Sol d Victor Bracey KD 12-6. 135: Shawn Greevy CV d Tyler Griffith MC 7-3; Tim Ravel W d Drew Rebling SW 5-3. 140: Matt Newman CY md Marcus Johnson GM 18-4; Nick Dragonette W d Jared Ross No 7-4.
145: Bo Candelaria Mid md Rustin Barrick Me 14-0; Billy Randt Mid d Tyler Fittery Coc 4-1. 152: Jayshon Wilson Ca d Grant Dickey CC 3-1; Zach Thomson Me d Connor Moran Sol 7-5. 160: Marshall Peppelman CD tf Andrew Marsh CDE 17-2 (5:34); Logen Wisner SG d Ben Kramer He 3-2. 171: Kenny Courts CD p Tyler Rhoads CDE :22; Tristan Warner CV win by injury default over Clint Morrison CC. 189: Antonio Giorgio Wa p Louie Acampora GM :14; Phil Sprenkle Dt p Chaz Sheaffer WP 4:45. 215: Travis Friend CV d Sterling Goshea Don 2-0; Zachary Nye EP p Dawson Peck Ch 4:06. 285: Averee Robinson ST d Gavin Nickel Ca 7-4; Cole Dillman CoV d Zach Freet Sus 5-0.
CONSOLATION ROUND 3
103: Bryce Killian Mid d Tanner Shoap Ch 8-1; Chris Vassar CC d Colin Ochs GM 3-0. 112: Daniel King ST d Dakota Minnich He 3-2; Andrew Brehm NO p Dylan Pallas MC 2:28. 119: Jake Verheyen SG d Matt Hoover Et 4-2 OT; Zachary Ross No d Blaine Shutt LD 4-3 3 OT. 125: Kyle Hejmanowski No d Jake Martin Pa 4-1; Shane Miller Mid d Kyle Demain GM 3-1. 130: Scott Page Do p Sheldon Hannibal-Nixon W 2:51; Celby Allen Mid d Jeremy Rivera Et 4-1. 135: Bobby Manning WP d Jordan Hastings Sol 11-8; Tre Miller-Scott CDE d Trey Andree Way 12-9. 140: Devin Anderson McC d Kevin Kann PM 5-3; Kyle Savage LD d Scott Vasellas Rli 6-2.
145: Woodie Hermann He d Dylan Carmichael CC 7-3; Colin Martucci DB d Matt Flick PM 6-3. 152: Dylan Wisner SG p Robert Tupper ST 1:41; Jordan Rosa W md Justin Williams DB 13-3. 160: Adam Geiger No d Josh Burg Dt 2-0; Luke Etter BiS md Pavlik Telguz CoV 13-1. 171: Tyler Hoover Dt tf Alex Loder W 16-0 (4:03); Matt Blessing Ca d Jake Kennedy NO 8-2. 189: Austin Schultz MT d Matthew Zdradzinski CDE 6-3; Neal Grudi SG p Ashton Corbin Hbg 2:11. 215: David Quackenbos Rli d Bryan McCall Wa 7-2; Kyle Wolfe CD p Brody Black Do :24. 285: Marvin Gaskill Way d Nick Stewart CD 1-0; Evan Singleton PM p Joe Giorgio Ex 4:01.
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
103: Rook d Killian 4-0; Vassar d Dippery 1-0 4 OT. 112: King d Brown 8-1; Brehm d Thompson 7-3. 119: Verheyen d Keck 8-2; Varndell md Ross 9-1. 125: Hughes d Hejmanowski 5-2; Miller d Gooding 6-2. 130: Page md S. Bise 14-2; Bracey d Allen 5-1. 135: Griffth d Manning 10-8; Miller-Scott d Rebling 5-4. 140: Anderson d Johnson 5-0; Ross d Savage 5-2.
145: Barrick d Hermann 3-0; Martucci d Fittery 3-1 OT. 152: Wisner d Dickey 3-1; Rosa d Moran 4-1. 160: Geiger d Marsh 8-5; Etter md Kramer 9-0. 171: Hoover tf Rhoads 15-0 (3:35); Morrison d Blessing 7-4. 189: Schultz d Acampora 7-1; Grudi won by disqualification over Sheaffer. 215: Quackenbos d Goshea 5-1; Peck d Wolfe 7-0. 285: Gaskill d Nickel 3-1; Freet d Singleton 15-9.
CONSOLATION FINALS/p
103: Vassar d Rook 6-2. 112: King d Brehm 9-5. 119: Varndell d Verheyen 6-4 OT. 125: Hughes d Miller 1-0. 130: Bracey d Page 7-1. 135: Miller-Scott d Griffith 3-1 OT. 140: Ross d Anderson 5-3. 145: Barrick d Martucci 4-2. 152: Wisner d Rosa 11-5. 160: Etter d Geiger 8-3. 171: Morrison d Hoover 6-1. 189: Schultz d Grudi 10-3. 215: Peck d Quackenbos 6-4 OT. 285: Freet d Gaskill 3-2.
CHAMPIONSHIPS/p
103: Conaway d Miller 9-7 3 OT. 112: Enders d Brigham 8-3. 119: Nguyen p Coblentz 3:50. 125: Throckmorton d B. Rehm 5-3. 130: Neff d Buckman 7-5. 135: Greevy d Ravel 7-3. 140: Dragonette d Newman 6-5. 145: Candelaria tf Randt 15-0 (5:20). 152: Wilson d Thomson 13-7. 160: Peppelman md L. Wisner 9-0. 171: Courts d Warner 4-2 OT. 189: Giorgio d Sprenkle 9-4. 215: Nye d T. Friend 7-1. 285: Robinson d Dillman 2-1 3 OT.
With three-plus hours between the consolation round of the District 3 Wrestling Championships and tonight's finals, we used the time to take a little stroll through the brackets. Here's what we found. Please note, this is not designed to be an all-inclusive list.
On the AAA side ...
Cumberland Valley's Tristan Warner has two pins that took 43 seconds apiece and was beating Cedar Cliff's Clint Morrison 13-0 in the semifinals when the match ended with a Morrison injury.
Of course, Central Dauphin's Marshall Peppelman, the returning state champ at 160 pounds, has been as dominant as any wrestler in either tournament. He's logged the fastest pin of the tournament (11 seconds) and has added another first-period pin and a technical fall in his path the finals at 160.
Cumberland Valley is a distant second to Central Dauphin in the team standings, but has the most wrestlers competing for a championship (four). In addition to Warner, Jon Brigham (112), Shawn Greevy (135) and Travis Friend (215) remain in the hunt for district titles.
Brigham's opponent in the 112-pound final, Big Spring's Dereck Enders, has three pins in three matches. Two of those falls have come in the first period.
Solanco's Dan Neff has scored 47 points in his three victories, while Middletown's Bo Candelaria has outscored his three opponents 40-3. Neff faces Central Dauphin's Tyler Buckman in the 130-pound final, and Candelaria tangles with West York's Billy Randt at 145 pounds.
After getting pinned by Central Dauphin's Peppelman in the second round, Big Spring's Luke Etter has battled back in a big way. He tallied a quick pin and three more dominant victories to win out in the consolation bracket and finish in third place.
East Pennsboro 215-pounder Zach Nye has three pins to his credit. Nye, a junior with a 35-0 record this season, tallied pins against Waynesboro's Shane McFerren, Warwick's Bryan McCall and Chambersburg's Dawson Peck. He faces Cumberland Valley's Travis Friend in tonight's finals.
And, in AA ...
No team has more championship finalists than Schuylkill Valley's five. The Panthers lead the AA field with 199 team points.
Juniata's Arty Walsh dismissed both consolation finalists - Brandywine Heights' Pete Renda and Biglerville's Nick Leiphart - in the 119-pound weight class. Walsh, who enters tonight's final with a 39-0 record, throttled Leiphart 19-7 in the second round and pinned Renda in 38 seconds in the semifinals.
Schuylkill Valley's Dakota Davis may not have finished in the top three at 130, but he participated in two of the more entertaining overtime contests of the tournament. First, he upset Delone Catholic's Josh Ruppert with a 14-12 overtime win in the second round. Then, he was on the receiving end of a three-overtime loss to Brandywine's Tyler Herman in the consolation finals.
Milton Hershey 285-pounder Cris Ramirez has two pins in two matches, totaling 52 combined seconds. He pinned Columbia's Jake Sentz, the bracket's third-place finisher, in 13 seconds in the second round, then Boiling Springs' Tylor Unger, the fourth-place finisher, in 39 seconds in the semifinals.
When is the last time Central Dauphin wrestlers lost three straight semifinal matches?
Ah, today.
The Rams dropped their first three semifinal matches at 103, 112 and 119, much to the delight of some of the fans during the District 3-AAA Wrestling Championships at Hersheypark Arena.
Tyson Dippery dropped a tough 3-1 decision to Hempfield's Austin Miller, when the Black Knights standout hit a takedown with :06 left in the third period.
At 112, Cumberland Valley's Jon Brigham sent Shyheim Brown into the consolation bracket when he scored a late takedown and turned it into two near-fall points for a 4-1 victory.
Freshman Nick Varndell was out-matched and out-muscled by brutish Garden Spot senior Kyle Coblentz.
Kevin Gooding (125) and Tyler Buckman (130) are on the mat now looking to stop the bleeding for the Rams, who have seven wrestlers in the Class AAA semifinals.
