HS Boys’ Wrestling: Tri-Valley’s run comes to end in state opener
Tri-Valley's Max Masser works for a takedown against Conwell-Egan's Brody Moody during a 215-pound bout Tuesday in the first round of the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships at Schuylkill Haven HIgh School. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Tri-Valley made the necessary lineup moves.
The Bulldogs bumped kids to higher weight classes, yet they knew a lot had to go right to knock off District 12 champion Conwell-Egan in the pigtail round of the PIAA Class AA Team Wrestling Championships. The Eagles, though, punched holes in the Dawgs’ plans, taking the first two bouts and scoring six pins overall in a 46-24 victory Tuesday evening at Schuylkill Haven High School’s CACL Center.
The defeat doesn’t detract from the effort that the Dawgs produced over the past four days to represent their school and the Schuylkill League in the state team tournament. Saturday, Tri-Valley (15-5) defeated Mahanoy Area and Northwestern Lehigh to make the finals at the District 11 Team Wrestling Championships. Saucon Valley topped Tri-Valley in the title dual, but as the runner-up, the Dawgs still earned a spot in the 20-team state field.
According to PIAA records, Tri-Valley is the second Schuylkill League squad to qualify for team states since the event debuted in 1999. The Dawgs also are the first from the league to qualify since Blue Mountain reached the Class 3A state semifinals in 2009.
“I’m super-proud of the kids,” Tri-Valley coach Dave Boltz said. “The journey that got us here, we had a really good District Duals tournament. We wrestled really well. It’s just a great group of kids.”
Conwell-Egan advanced to meet District 1 champion Faith Christian in the second match at Schuylkill Haven. The Lions are ranked No. 4 in the nation by Flo and No. 5 by Sports Illustrated.
Faith Christian (17-1), which has won three state dual titles in a row, rolled to a 51-24 victory. With the win, Faith Christian advances to Friday’s 5 p.m. quarterfinals at the 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown. The Lions will meet District 7 champion Derry Area (14-0), which eliminated District 6 runner-up Penns Valley 44-26.
For Tri-Valley to pull off the upset, it needed a fast start. Conwell-Egan’s Eric Horger and Jaiden Goffman had other ideas.
Starting at 152 pounds, Horger pinned Liam Yourey in 1:17, and Goffman scored two takedowns and two sets of back points to earn a 17-6 major decision over Parker Hatter. Hatter scored a pair of takedowns of his own and led 6-1 in the second period before Goffman rallied. Battling a knee injury, Hatter didn’t have his usual quickness and had trouble getting off the bottom. Just like that, the Eagles led 10-0.
“I thought the first two bouts were going to go our way,” Boltz said. “We would have had them on the ropes.”
At 172, Hunter Updegrave got Tri-Valley on the board by pinning Jacob Primich in 1:42. Updegrave used a deep bar-and-half combination to turn Primich.
Conwell-Egan’s Jacob Stout answered with a 41-second pin over Kyle Bowman at 189 to push the lead to 16-6.
The Dawgs then went on a three-bout run to take their only lead of the night at 24-16.
Moving up to 215, Max Masser scored three takedowns before sinking a deep armbar to pin Brody Moody in 5:19. Donovan Keeth, giving up 35 pounds to Connor Horger at 285, won a scramble, reversing Horger to his back for the fall in 1:48.
“He can do it. This was really good for him,” Boltz said of Keeth.
Tri-Valley’s Jayce Hatter picked up a forfeit at 107 to make it 24-16.
At 114, Tri-Valley’s Owen Wolfgang bumped up a weight but couldn’t contend with the length of Conwell-Egan’s Hunter Webster, who used two takedowns and a four-point near fall to decision Wolfgang 10-4. Wolfgang, though, came an inch or two from pinning Webster with double armbars in the second period before time ran out.
Thomas Boyce pinned Garett Leitzel in 33 seconds at 121, putting Conwell-Egan ahead to stay.
The Eagles used three falls down the stretch to pull away. In another featured bout at 133, Conwell-Egan’s Anthony Swartz downed Jaxson Bruso 5-4. Bruso had the first takedown and led 3-0 heading to the third period. A reversal and three back points gave Swartz the victory.
“This is great for us, especially with what’s coming up next (the individual postseason),” Boltz said. “We’re going to see some of these guys. They’re in our region. … Some of our guys are going to hit those guys.”
The entire team experience bodes well for Tri-Valley, whose younger wrestlers got to experience Bethlehem Freedom’s spacious gym for the first time and the intensity that they’ll see at districts.
“This is really good for us,” Boltz said.
