Class AA PIAA wrestling
Beth-Center trio leads locals into second round HERSHEY – Beth-Center wrestling coach Dave Nelson brought three wrestlers to the first round of the PIAA Class AA wrestling championships Thursday and suffice it to say he’s more than happy to be bringing three back to the second round today.
The Bulldogs’ coach watched Mike Morgan at 152 and Jordan Sweany at 189 win their preliminary round matches, and 215-pound senior Brandon Palmer won his first consolation match after being pinned in the first-round.
Southmoreland went 1-for-2 as Shane Datz at 189 won as expected but heavyweight Justin Poole lost two straight matches and was eliminated from further competition.
Jefferson-Morgan’s lone entrant, Stush Demaske at 145, is alive in the consolation round after splitting two matches.
And Mount Pleasant brought the most local wrestlers with a five-man contingent, but just two will be returning today to the second round at the shiny, new Giant Center.
The Giant Center is barely a half-mile away from Hersheypark Arena, where the last 24 tournaments were held, but it’s a world away in crowd comfort and amenities for the wrestlers.
So what better way to break in a new arena than win?
Beth-Center’s Morgan did just that at 152 with a 6-3 victory over Jordan Stiner of Canton, out of District 4. “Mike wrestled a smart match and we had a good scouting report,’ Nelson said.
“Mike’s at his best when he’s shooting from the outside. He took him down twice.
And nobody controls Mike from the bottom.
“He wrestled smart and then his conditioning took over,’ Nelson said.
Morgan will need to bring his A-game this morning when he meets Ryan Hluschak of Northern Lehigh. Hluschak placed third last year at 140 pounds.
Sweany, meanwhile, exacted some revenge on Travis Young of Newport. Young defeated Sweany rather handily at the Bedford holiday tournament, but Sweany was just returning from a three-week hiatus because of hip and knee injuries.
Sweany notched two takedowns in a 5-2 win over Young. He’ll face Stevie Rimbley of Lehighton in this morning’s quarterfinals.
“We learned a lot about Young from that Bedford match and we formulated a game plan,’ Nelson explained. “We created movement in order to shoot from the outside. And Jordan is a bear on top.’
Sweany is on a bit of a roll, coming off his overtime victory over Southmoreland’s Datz in last week’s Southwest Region finals. “Datz had a five-point lead,’ Nelson said, but Jordan kept battling back and took him to overtime and won.’
The Bulldogs’ Palmer was pinned in the first period by Hughesville’s Troy Charles but beat Pierce Frauenheim of Shady Side 3-2 to qualify for today’s second round of consolations.
“Brandon met a real bear in the first round today,’ Nelson said. “I told him his career can end here and now (in the consolations), but that if he goes out and wrestles his match that he can win. And that is precisely what he did.’
Frauenheim won an AA WPIAL title so Nelson asked Palmer which was better, a WPIAL title or winning here at the states. “He said he can keep that WPIAL title because he’s (Frauenheim) going home,’ Nelson said.
“Palmer has been a surprise around the area, but we knew he had it in him.’
Southmoreland’s Datz is no surprise. Third last year as a sophomore and a qualifier as a freshman, Datz, along with Sweany, certainly is one of the favorites at 189.
He trimmed Tad Yelland of Wilkes-Barre GAR 7-3 and will be paired this morning with Southeast Region champ David Iobst of Wilson Area.
Two takedowns and a reversal did the trick for Datz. “I made a couple of mistakes, not being in the right position, but as long as you win, it doesn’t matter how you win.’
Teammate Poole wasn’t as fortunate, losing by fall to both Kyle Smith of Brockway and Jon Neese of Marion Center.
Jefferson-Morgan’s Demaske lost 14-8 to Ryan Bennick of Jim Thorpe, but then notched his 100th career victory in the consolations with a 5-4 win over Brian Luton of Clarion.
Mount Pleasant’s Zach Holt became a quarterfinalist with a 6-5 win over EnzoGiambanco of Brookville. However, Lee Vanella at 112, Joe Geary at 119, Donnie Ament at 130 and Victor McCoy at 152 each lost their first-round bouts. McCoy was the only Mt. Pleasant wrestler to win his consolation round match.
The biggest shocker of the Class AA prelims was the defeat of Jake Strayer of Forest Hills. Last year’s champion at 103, Strayer moved up to 119 and led Ryan Storm of Donegal 4-1 before Donegal caught him with a cement job pinning combination for the stunning fall in 2:15.
Burrell’s Joe Makara, last year’s champ at 119, nearly became the second champ to suffer defeat. He was four seconds away from being ridden out in overtime by Jared Casciole of Notre Dame Green Pond in District 11, but a quick a nifty shoulder roll and ensuing reversal got Makara a win at the buzzer and a berth in the quarterfinals.