Feb 7, 2015 By The 2 min read

The PIAA Class AAA 3rd-place consolation semifinal between North Allegheny and Belle Vernon Saturday afternoon came down to the heavyweights, winner-take-all.

The Tigers’ Layne Skundrich and the Leopards’ Michael Fine battled through three periods, and then overtime, before Skundrich won by ultra-tiebreaker to give North Allegheny a hard-fought 30-27 victory.

North Allegheny then lost to Bethlehem Catholic in the third-place final, 52-9. Franklin Regional, the WPIAL champs, edged Cumberland Valley, who had defeated the Leopards in the semifinals Friday, 36-33 for the state crown.

North Allegheny tied the match with only one bout remaining when Zach Smith won by forfeit at 220 pounds.

Jacob Dunlop spotted Belle Vernon an early 3-0 lead after winning a tight 1-0 decision at 106 pounds.

North Allegheny’s Jacob Downing won by fall at 113 for a 6-3 lead, but Belle Vernon responded with Zachary Hartman’s pin at 120 pounds and Brock Godzin’s 9-3 decision at 126 for a 12-6 lead.

North Allegheny countered with decisions by Jake Hinkson (132) and A.J. Boeh (138) to tie the match at 12-12.

The seesaw match continued at 145 pounds when the Leopards regained the lead, 17-12, with Jarod Verkleeren’s 20-3 technical fall at 145 pounds, only to have North Allegheny’s Sean Hoover came right back with a pin at 152 for a 18-17 advantage.

The Leopards regained the lead one bout later when 160-pounder Derek Verkleeren scored a 10-2 major decision for a 21-18 lead.

North Allegheny’s Jake Woodley tied the match again when the 170-pounder secured a 4-3 decision against the Leopards’ Josh Godzin.

Belle Vernon again went ahead by six points on back-to-back decisions by Austin Bell and Milton Kobaly. Bell edged Clay Byerly at 182 pounds, 1-0, while Kobaly had an easier time against at 195 with an 11-5 decision over Jeff Clemens.

The Leopards return to action in two weeks at the Section 2-AAA individual tournament at Ringgold.