Battle tested
Leopards’ Brown challenged in winning 2nd straight state title
HERSHEY — Every great champion needs to be tested, and Saturday night in the PIAA Class 3A Individual Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center, Belle Vernon senior Elijah Brown was tested by Garnet Valley’s Paxton Hunt.
Brown capped off his high school career with a second straight state title following a 1-0 decision over Hunt for the championship in the 215-pound weight class.
“It was a tough match, but it was nice to get a test like this because I am going to wrestle in college, and I need to be ready for these types of matches,” Brown said. “He (Hunt) had great hips, so it was really hard to finish my shots, and his reattacks are awesome. I think that was the big thing. I had to be pretty wary of all my attacks.”
The Penn State commit had a tough start to the season, as he spent much of his offseason recuperating from a torn lateral collateral ligament (LCL) that he suffered in last year’s state final, which hindered his conditioning, and that was exploited in a 10-8 loss to DuBois’ Kendahl Hoare on Dec. 6 at the Trinity Duals in Brown’s third match of the season.
Brown never lost again this year, and only five of his victories this year were by decision.
Brown escaped in the second period and didn’t allow Hunt to get another going offensively in the final. Brown was close to scoring a takedown several times in the first period, but Hunt was able to scramble out of danger.
Brown ended his senior season with a record of 46-1. He had a career mark of 173-20, which is the most in program history. He passed Zach Hartman’s mark of 170 in the quarterfinals.
In addition to the finals, Brown downed Owen J. Roberts’ Decker Bechtold, 4-1, in the semifinals. In the five matches that Brown didn’t earn bonus points in this season, two were against Bechtold, whom he topped in a pier-six brawl, 17-13, in the semifinals of the MyHouse Trojans Wars on Dec. 28 at Chambersburg High School.
Brown will compete in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic for Team Pennsylvania on March 28 inside the AHN Arena on the campus of Peters Township High School before getting ready to compete for the Nittany Lions.
“I will most likely head to some practices at the RTC (Regional Training Center) and get myself prepared for wrestling in college,” Brown said. “I want to be as ready as I can possibly be when I start at Penn State.”