HS Boys’ Wrestling: Tri-Valley gets ‘home’ meet for states

Tri-Valley High School logo

MECHANICSBURG — Administrators set the sites and times for the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships early Sunday — all except one.

That one involved a Class AA pod containing District 11 runner-up Tri-Valley (15-4), District 12 champion Conwell-Egan (16-0) and District 1 champion Faith Christian (17-1).

When the PIAA later revealed the site, Tri-Valley learned it had a much shorter road trip than the expected drive to the Lehigh Valley or Philadelphia area.

Schuylkill Haven High School stepped up to host Tuesday’s competition.

In Class AA, the Bulldogs will meet Conwell-Egan at 5 p.m. at Haven’s CACL Center. The winner will advance to meet Faith Christian in the round of 16 at 6:45 p.m.

Those who remain after Tuesday’s competition will advance to Friday’s quarterfinals at the 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown. Quarterfinals for both Class AA and 3A will be held Friday. Semifinals, consolations and championship duals will be Saturday.

Tri-Valley advanced to the 20-team state bracket by defeating Mahanoy Area and Northwestern Lehigh on Saturday at the District 11 Team Wrestling Championships. The Dawgs fell to Saucon Valley in the finals.

The Panthers (15-3) are also in the state bracket. District 3 runner-up Berks Catholic (17-4) will face District 4 third-place Montoursville (19-6) at 5 p.m. at Bethlehem Freedom, with the winner moving on to meet Saucon Valley at 6:45 p.m.

Tri-Valley will be making its first appearance in the state team wrestling tournament. Seniors Owen Wolfgang (30-6) at 107, Jaxson Bruso (31-9) at 133 and Max Masser (27-7) at 189 lead the Dawgs. Garett Leitzel (19-14) at 121 and Kyle Bowman at 215 are other senior starters for Tri-Valley.

Others to watch include freshman Easton Moore (17-11) at 114, freshman Landon Horoschak (21-14) at 139, sophomore Parker Hatter (15-7) at 160, junior Hunter Updegrave (24-13) at 172 and junior Donovan Keeth (18-17) at 285.

Conwell-Egan, a non-boundary school, has several standouts, including sophomore Hunter Webster (23-2) at 114, sophomore Tobias McIntyre (17-2) at 121, senior Lukas Grodzki (27-7) at 127, sophomore Anthony Swartz (22-8) at 133, sophomore Michael Gorrell (26-6) at 139, junior Colin Walther (25-1) at 145, senior Jaiden Goffman (18-4) at 160 and senior Jacob Stout (20-9) at 189.

All fans, students from kindergarten through 12th grade and adults must have a ticket to enter a PIAA Championship event that requires admission for entry. All tickets are general admission and may be purchased at piaa.org/tickets.