HS Boys’ Wrestling: 7 advance to regional semifinals
Mahanoy Area's Rory Dixon, top, and Pine Grove's Austin Frantz battle during their 160-pound bout. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
All 24 local qualifiers remain alive
in tournaments
LITITZ — Cadyn McGraw knew what he had to do.
Escape in the 30-second tiebreaker … and win.
With time ticking away, the North Schuylkill senior rose to his feet and broke away from Big Spring’s Judd Cleland to secure a 2-1 victory in a 215-pound quarterfinal Friday evening at the Southeast Regional Class AA Wrestling Championships at Warwick High School.
Tied 1-1 after six minutes of regulation and a 1-minute sudden-victory period, Cleland chose bottom for the first of two 30-second tiebreaker sessions. McGraw rode tough on top and held Cleland down for the entire half minute. McGraw then chose bottom and escaped with 10 seconds left in the 30-second tiebreaker to pull out the win.
The Schuylkill League shined brightest at 215 as Pine Grove’s Zach Kurtz knocked off District 3 champion Kaj Miller 5-2, and Mahanoy Area’s Kyler Quick rolled past Northern Lebanon’s Connor Troxell 10-1 in the quarters.
Mahanoy Area produced three semifinalists in all as Arturo Reyes (121) and Rory Dixon (152) joined Quick in the final four.
Tri-Valley’s Owen Wolfgang (107) and Pottsville’s Terrell McFarland (189 in 3A) also made the semifinals.
In all, the Schuylkill League went 31-17 on Day 1 of regionals — 17-7 in the round of 16, 7-10 in the quarterfinals and 7-0 in the first round of consolations. With that performance in the wrestlebacks, all 24 local regional qualifiers earned at least one victory to remain alive in the tournament heading into Day 2.
Action resumes Saturday morning, the Class AA wrestlers at Warwick and the Class 3A grapplers at Bethlehem Liberty. Second-round consolations start at 9:30 a.m., with championship semifinals and third-round consolations at 11 a.m., fourth-round consolations including seventh-place matches (Class AA only) at 12:30 p.m. and championship finals, third- and fifth-place bouts (3 mats) at 4 p.m.
The top five placewinners in each weight class in both Class 3A and AA will qualify for the PIAA Wrestling Championships on March 5-7 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Wolfgang, the top seed at 107, looked particularly dominant with a pair of first-period falls. He decked Halifax’s Kamden Schadel in 33 seconds, then flattened Hamburg’s Hunter Gregg in 1:58. Next up for Wolfgang (37-7) is Bishop McDevitt’s Blake Klipp (27-10).
Reyes racked up a pair of technical falls, 19-3 in 2:31 over Bermudian Springs’ Cole Schisler and 19-4 in 5:50 over Brandywine Heights’ Asher Oman. Reyes (36-4) will face Berks Catholic’s Tyden Shuman (35-10) in the semifinals.
Dixon also gained two technical falls to reach the semifinals. He opened with a 19-4 tech in 2:58 over Biglerville’s Christopher Dugan, then routed Conwell-Egan’s Eric Horger 20-3 in 1:28. Dixon (46-4) will take on Pequea Valley’s Cole Byler (33-3) in the semifinals.
The semifinal pairings at 215 have Kurtz (37-7) against McGraw (34-10) and Faith Christian’s Cael Weidemoyer (33-4) versus Quick (45-3).
As expected, the nationally ranked non-boundary schools are dominating the team race. Faith Christian leads with 101 points, followed by Bishop McDevitt with 98.5. Trinity (66.5), Northwestern Lehigh (48) and Conwell-Egan (37.5) round out the top five. Mahanoy Area is seventh, Pine Grove 10th and Tri-Valley 11th after Friday’s rounds.
McFarland wins pair in 3A
BETHLEHEM — Pottsville senior Terrell McFarland (189) wrestled all six minutes — literally — to earn a spot in the semifinals at the Northeast Regional Class 3A Wrestling Championships at Bethlehem Liberty High School.
McFarland opened the tournament by pinning Father Judge’s Thomas Quinn in 2:42. That set up a quarterfinal against Hazleton Area’s Mason Marolo (30-5), the District 2 champion and a state qualifier last season.
The wrestlers went to the third period tied 1-1 — Marolo with an escape and McFarland with a point for Marolo’s technical violation. McFarland chose bottom for the third period and escaped, but Marolo answered with a takedown with 1:05 to go for a 4-2 lead. McFarland escaped with 19 seconds left, then took Marolo down with six seconds remaining for a 6-4 decision.
