HERSHEY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Twenty-two grapplers from District 9 took part in the PIAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey March 7-9.
(Pictured above: Brookville’s Cole Householder, left.)
Of those 22, seven returned to the district with state medals, all taking them back to 2A schools.
Clearfield and Brookville both sent four to states, each coming away with two medalists–both district bests.
District 9 wrestling coverage on D9Sports.com is brought to you by Luton’s Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning.
For Clearfield, junior Brady Collins was third at 152 pounds, the highest placement of any District 9 wrestler, and senior Carter Chamberlain sixth at 189 pounds.
Brookville 145-pounder Cole Householder was fifth and 215-pounder Gavin Hannah sixth. Both are juniors.
Collins, a three-time district champion, won his first bout at states, pinning West Perry’s Jenson Hockenberry-Folk (3:41). The Bison grappler then lost to Melvin Miller of Bishop McCort in sudden victory, 8-6. Miller went on to capture the 152-pound title.
On the consolation side of the backet, Collins reeled off four straight wins, starting with an 18-3 technical fall against Saucon Valley’s Cole Hubert (4:21). Collins next downed Ty Watson of Penns Valley, 4-2.
In the consolation semifinals, Collins earned a 4-2 decision over Cody Hamilton of Grove City, avenging a one-point loss in the previous week’s North West Regional final (March 2).
Collins beat Montoursville’s Gage Wentzel in the consolation finals, 3-2, to secure his placement.
Chamberlain won his state opener, a 3-1 decision over Cody Wagner of Faith Christian Academy, but was relegated to the wrestlebacks with an 11-4 loss to Huntingdon’s Andrew McMonagle, the eventual champion.
The Bison wrestler’s first match on the other side of the bracket was against a familiar foe, Easton Belfiore of Brookville. Belfiore beat Chamberlain in sudden victory to win this season’s district championship (Feb. 24), with Chamberlain eking out a one-point victory to become the North West Regional titlist a week later.
Chamberlain took the postseason rubber match, downing Belfiore 5-2 and eliminating the Raider junior from the tournament. Belfiore finished with a 2-and-2 record in Hershey.
Chamberlain won his next contest, a 4-0 decision over Bentworth’ Vitali Daniels, before losing in the consolation semifinals to Caleb Close of Bald Eagle Area, 7 1. He then lost the placement bout, opponent Jackson Angelo of Frazier taking fifth with a 5-2 win.
Also representing Clearfield at states was district 121-pound champion sophomore Cash Diehl and 145-pounder Ty Aveni, a junior. Both went 1-and-2.
Raider grappler Householder, a three-time district champion, reached the 145-pound semifinals before experiencing his first setback.
Householder opened the state tournament with back-to-back decisions–first beating Montour’s Rook Smith, 7-3, and then Mason Horwat of Derry Area, 8-1.
Southern Columbia’s Mason Barvitskie, the eventual runner-up, put an end to Householder’s run, handing the Raider a 7-1 loss.
Householder would lose again in the consolation semifinals, Chase Hontz of Faith Christian Academy beating him, 3-1. He righted the ship in his placement bout, taking care of Horwat for the second time in the tournament, 9-3.
Like teammate Householder, Hannah also advanced to the semifinals before losing. Hannah, the District 9 and Northwest Region champion at 215 pounds, started his stay in Hershey with an 8-0 major decision against Delone Catholic’s Caleb Tyler and a 3-1 sudden victory win over Cole Yonkin of Montoursville.
The victory over Yonkin was Hannah’s last of the tournament. In the semifinals, Hannah was pinned by Frazier’s Rune Lawrence (2:13), who followed that victory by winning his fourth state championship.
Hannah was beat by Rowan Holmes of Somerset in the consolation semifinals, 7-0, and then forfeited the 5th/6th place bout to Conwell-Egan’s Dante Burns.
Brookville’s Jared Popson, a senior 121-pounder, was winless in Hershey.
Port Allegany, Cranberry, and Brockway each had a medalist.
Junior Carson Neely was fifth for the Gators at 285 pounds, while sophomore Dalton Wenner (114 pounds) and senior Weston Pisarchick (127 pounds) were sixth for the Berries and Rovers, respectively. Neely, now a two-time district and regional champion, majored Daniel Williams of Glendale, 12-2, and reached the semifinals with a 3-0 decision over Tyrone’s Braden Ewing.
The Gator grappler lost the semifinal to runner-up Brody Kline of Berks Catholic, getting edged in the ultimate tie breaker, 3-2. Neely fell in the consolation semifinals to Faith Christian Academy’s Mark Effendian, 6-0, but came back to take fifth with a 10-1 major decision against Joey Baronick of Burgettstown.
In addition to Neely, Port Allegany was represented by junior Miska Young, 0-and-2 at 215 pounds, and sophomore Aiden Bliss, 1-and-2 at 172 pounds.
Wenner won two very close decisions to reach the semifinals. He eked out a 1-0 victory against Kevin Bagnell of Conwell-Egan in the first round and a 4-2 sudden victory win over Hamburg’s Chase Homan in the quarterfinals.
A two-time district and regional champion, Wenner lost his next three bouts.
Eventual runner-up Willam Detar of Hamburg beat Wenner 3-2 in the semifinals.
Wenner lost in the consolation semifinals to Chestnut Ridge’s Easton Mull, 13-6, before dropping the placement bout, 1-0, to Jorden Williams of Chartiers-Houston.
Other Cranberry grapplers at states were freshman 107-pound district champion Aiden Thompson (0-and-2), junior Elijah Brosius at 127 pounds (0-and-2), and 139 pound district and regional champion Dane Wenner (1-and-2), a junior.
Pisarchick, the 41st four-time champion in District 9 history, lost his opener–getting pinned in the second period by Indiana’s Nico Fanella (2:47).
Following that setback, Pisarchick won four straight on the consolation side of the bracket.
He started his run with a 2-1 victory over Liam Lawler of Bishop McDevitt, after which received a forfeit from Davd Kennedy of Montoursville, decisioned Bloomsburg’s Anthony Barra, 4-3, and beat Jonah Petterson of Upper Dauphin, 4-1.
Pisarchick lost to Fanella again in the consolation semifinals, this time coming out on the short end of 1-0 decision.
United’s Gideon Bracken downed Pisarchick 5-0 in sudden victory to relegate the Brockway grappler to sixth.
Also in Hershey for Brockway was Pisarchick’s younger brother, Parker. A junior, Parker Pisarchick won his second district championship this season. He was 1-and-2 at the state tournament.
Three-time district champion Reece Bechakas of Kane (160 pounds) and St. Marys’ Andrew Wolfanger (172 pounds), who won his first district champion this season, both seniors, were 1-and-2 at states.
Josh Beal, a senior at Central Clarion, lost his first bout. An injury sustained in that contest prevented him from wrestling further.
The two 3A wrestlers at the state tournament were District 4/9 133-pound champion Jordan Rutan of Punxsutawney and DuBois 139-pounder Davey Aughenbaugh.
Rutan, a sophomore, went 0-2, while Aughenbaugh, a senior, was 1-and-2.
District 9 wrestling coverage on D9Sports.com is brought to you by Luton’s Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning.
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
