Mar 3, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

ALTOONA — Jonah Erdely, Ryan Celaschi and Jackson Angelo ran into a buzzsaw Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional Individual Wrestling Championships at Altoona Area School District Field House.

The Frazier trio suffered setbacks at 152, 160 and 172 pounds to Bishop McCort’s Devon Magro, Melvin Miller and Jayden O’Farrill, but all three battled back to win their next two bouts and finish third and qualify for the PIAA Class 2A Individual Wrestling Championships this Thursday-Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

West Greene junior Colin Whyte recorded two falls, over Michael Wano of River Valley and Parker Cunningham of South Park, and an 11-4 decision over Jonah McCoy of Westmont Hilltop to reach the finals at 285 before dropping a 7-0 decision to Somerset’s Rowan Holmes.

Whyte had already qualified for his second appearance at the state tournament by reaching the finals.

At the PIAA Class 3A West Regional at Canon-McMillan, Waynesburg Central senior Jake Stephenson qualified for the state finals with a fifth-place finish at 189. Stephenson decisioned North Allegheny’s Mason Hartung, 14-10, in the first round and Central Mountain’s Bryce Brungard, 7-3, in the quarterfinals before falling to DuBois’ Kendahl Hoare in the semifinals by an 11-1 major decision. After being pinned by Kiski’s Mark Gray in the consolation semifinals, Stephenson bounce back to decision Brungard again, 4-1, to secure fifth place.

The Frazier trio had already qualified for the state tournament Friday night after winning their quarterfinal bouts, which ensured a finish no lower than sixth place. The top seven wrestlers in each weight class qualified for the PIAA Class 2A Individual Wrestling Championships.

Despite reaching the state tournament, the sting of losing in the semifinals can, at times, be detrimental to a wrestlers’ psyche, but Erdely, Celaschi and Angelo didn’t let that deter them from moving forward.

Celaschi, a senior, will be making his third straight trip to the state tournament. He lost to Miller in the semifinals at 160, but battled back to defeat Cambria Heights’ Marshall Eckenrode and Derry’s Ewan Olson by decisions for the bronze.

“You can’t dwell on a loss too long,” Celaschi said. “You just have to get your mind clear and get ready for the next match. This will be my last time wrestling at states. I am just looking to put on the best show I can.”

Celaschi has committed to wrestle in college for Bloomsburg University.

Erdely wasn’t able to wrestle in the postseason last year due to an injury, which made qualifying for the state tournament a second time even more special.

“I missed all of last season after getting hurt at the Powerade tournament,” Erdely said. “This is definitely an important season for me to prove that I still have it and I’m back. You always have to come back after a hard loss. You gotta have a short memory in wrestling and focus on your next match.”

Erdely lost to Magro in the semifinals before earning victories over Burgettstown’s Logan Noyes and Burrell’s Calio Zanella at 152.

Angelo entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed, but his loss to O’Farrill at 172 derailed his chances for a gold medal.

The junior, who qualified for states a second time after earning a berth last year, beat Southmoreland’s Landon Delara and Moshannon Valley’s Rocco Reifer.

“I don’t think I wrestled my best match in the semifinals, but it’s all dust in the wind,” Angelo said. “Nobody cares how you did at regionals when you go to college. They care about what happens at the end of the season and what happens in Hershey. After that semifinal match, I talked to my coaches, figured out the problem and I won’t be making the same mistakes again.”

The Commodores were eighth in the team standings with 58 points.

Beth-Center’s Mason Wright lost his round of 16 bout, but the junior recorded three-straight victories to earn his second berth to the state tournament at 133. Wright also won his 100th-career match Saturday morning in the consolations on his way to a sixth-place finish.

“I knew I had to find a way to get back to a medal through the consolations, but it was a pretty tough road,” Wright said. “It was a great feeling to not only get my 100th win, but do it on my way to a medal and a spot in the state tournament. I also decided to stay in this weight class knowing how tough it was. I hope that works for me in the future.”

Wright wrestles for the Bulldogs as part of a co-op with California Area.

Delara, a senior, placed fifth to qualify for his first state tournament.