Franklin Regional Repeats as PIAA AAA State Wrestling Champs

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 7, 2015 | 11:03 PM

Last weekend at the WPIAL Championships, Franklin Regional had to win both of their matches by winning the last bout. At the PIAA Championships in Hershey, it wasn’t the last bout of the night, but it still took a pair of tight wins for the Panthers to repeat as PIAA Champs.

After defeating Spring Ford 49-18 and Council Rock South 45-13, Franklin Regional, ranked #2 in the state, would take on the #1 ranked team in Bethlehem Catholic in the semi-finals. After jumping out to a 9-4 lead, Franklin Regional would get upset at 152 pounds. Senior Josh Maruca would drop a 3-2 decision to Michael Labriola. Although Josh Shields would come out to pickup a technical fall win, the loss by Maruca kept the marginal lead to seven at 14-7.

But it was two big wins for the Panthers heavier weights that would keep Franklin Regional alive. At 195, Jeremy Nestor would pick up a 1-0 decision and at 285, Jake Pickup would win 4-3 in the overtime ultimate tiebreaker. Those wins for Franklin Regional would make it 20-16 Panthers with five bouts to go.

Franklin Regional would drop a major decision at 106, which made it 20-20 with four bouts to go. But the Panthers would send out three of their best wrestlers to win the dual. Devin Brown would grab a decision and Spencer Lee would win by major decision, which made it 27-20 with two bouts to go. In the match at 126 it was #1 vs. #2 in the state, as #2 Gus Solomon of Franklin Regional would take on #1 Luke Karam of Bethlehem Catholic. Solomon would score the lone point in the match, picking up an escape on Karam to win the match at 126 and more importantly, win the dual meet for Franklin Regional. The Panthers would move to the finals with a tight 30-26 win.

Semifinals:  Franklin Regional 30  – Bethlehem Catholic 26

After a big win on Friday night, Franklin Regional carried their momentum into Saturday’s final. They would take on Cumberland Valley, who had already defeated a pair of WPIAL teams in the tournament (North Allegheny 30-20 and Belle Vernon 35-33).

The match started at a great spot for Franklin Regional, as they would be able to jump out to a big lead and never look back. The Panthers would win the first three matches by fall, as Devin Brown, Spencer Lee, and Gus Solomon would all win by fall to take an 18-0 lead.

After losing the next two, Franklin Regional would win four of the next five bouts, with three of those wins adding bonus points. Michael Kemerer would add a technical fall, Josh Maruca a fall, and Josh Shields a major decision to give the Panthers a big lead.

Winning 7 of the first 10 bouts would give Franklin Regional a 36-10 lead. That would be all the points the Panthers would need, as Cumberland Valley would need to win the last four matches by fall to simply tie the Panthers. At 195 pounds, Franklin Regional’s Jeremy Nestor would drop a 4-2 decision to Brad Drabenstadt of Cumberland Valley, but with Nestor not giving up the fall, the win was clinched. Cumberland Valley would win the last three matches by fall but it would not be enough, as Franklin Regional would repeat as PIAA Champions with a 36-33 win.

AAA Championship:  Franklin Regional 36 – Cumberland Valley 33

North Allegheny Places 4th – Belle Vernon Falls Short

It wasn’t easy for North Allegheny, but after losing in the opening round to Cumberland Valley 30-20, the Tigers would battle back in the consolation bracket to place 4^th in the PIAA in AAA.

Their first win came against Mifflin County, a 39-22 win. In the second round of consolations, the Tigers would win a nail biter against Council Rock South 33-30. In that match, North Allegheny would split the wins at 7 a piece. But it was a win at 120 that put the match away. After being up 27-14 with four matches to go, North Allegheny would give up a major decision and a fall. Those wins for Council Rock South would make it 27-24 North Allegheny with two bouts to go. But the Tigers Zack Stedeford would play hero, winning by fall at 3:59 over Troy Nation to put the dual meet away. After forfeiting the last bout, North Allegheny would win 33-30 to advance.

In the third round of consolations, North Allegheny would need their upper weights to save the day. Central Dauphin led the match 24-18 with three bouts to go. But it was Clay Byerly who would win in overtime 2-1 to cut the lead to 24-21. Then Jeff Clemens would pick up a fall and Layne Skundrich would add a 5-1 decision to help North Allegheny defeat Central Dauphin 30-24.

The win over Central Dauphin would setup a semi consolation match between North Allegheny and Belle Vernon. The winner would come home with a PIAA medal, the loser falling one win shy. Belle Vernon got to this match after losing in the semi-finals.

Belle Vernon won their first match over Jersey Shore 58-12 before facing off against Boyertown in the quarterfinals. The Leopards would defeat Boyertown 34-30 thanks to last minute heroics in their final bout. After leading 28-6, Belle Vernon would drop the next five bouts to end up trailing Boyertown 30-28 going into the final match. In that bout, freshman Zach Hartman would not only pick up the win, but he would do it by fall over Garrett Mauger in 3:28 to help Belle Vernon win the dual meet 34-30.

In the semi-finals, Belle Vernon would not be able to pull through. Taking on Cumberland Valley, Belle Vernon would lead the match 15-14 before dropping the next five bouts. The losses would make it 35-15 Cumberland Valley with three matches to go. Because the dual was out of reach, Cumberland Valley would forfeit the final three weight classes. The forfeit wins would not be enough for Belle Vernon, as they would fall short of reaching the finals with a 35-33 loss.

That setup the WPIAL matchup with a state medal on the line. Belle Vernon would start out winning three of the first four matches, including a fall for Zach Hartman over North Allegheny’s Zack Stedeford in 2:15 to make it 12-6 Belle Vernon. North Allegheny would win three of the next four though, including a fall by Sean Hoover over the Leopards Cameron Evans in 3:44 to make it 18-17 North Allegheny.

Belle Vernon would then bounce back by winning three of the next four, including a major decision for Derek Verkleeren over the Tigers Jacob Fritch (10-2) to make it 27-21. North Allegheny’s Zach Smith would receive a forfeit to make it 27-27 going into the last match.

The last bout at 285 came down to Layne Skundrich of North Allegheny and Michael Fine of Belle Vernon. In a nail bitter, the match would go down to the overtime ultimate rideout period. Skundrich would come out on top in the final overtime period to win the match 3-2 and more importantly, help North Allegheny win the dual meet 30-27 to advance to the medal round of the PIAA Championships.

North Allegheny 30 – Belle Vernon 27

The win put North Allegheny in a third place match with Bethlehem Catholic. After winning four straight in the consolations, the Tigers simply ran out of gas. Bethlehem Catholic would win the first seven matches to jump out to a 33-0 lead. North Allegheny would win three total matches against Bethlehem Catholic, with Jake Woodley, Clay Byerly, and Layne Skundrich picking up decisions. North Allegheny would end their PIAA Championship run by finishing in 4^th place, as they would fall to Bethlehem Catholic 52-9.

AA Comes Up Empty

The WPIAL AA teams took a hit in the PIAA Championships before they even made it to Hersey. Both McGuffey and South Fayette, wrestling in pigtails matches on Monday night, would not win their duals and would fall short of advancing to Hershey. McGuffey would lose to Fort LeBoeuf 31-26 and South Fayette would fall short to Saegertown 40-12.

That would leave Burrell as the lone representative from the WPIAL in AA in Hershey. The Bucs would get off to a great start on Thursday, winning over EL Meyers 38-24 to advance to the quarterfinals. EL Meyers kept it close with Burrell, with the score being 28-24 Burrell heading into the final two matches of the day. But it was Phil Coutch at 220 and Al Beattie at 285 both picking up falls for Burrell to win the dual meet 38-24.

Burrell would struggle though on Friday. In the quarterfinals they would lose to eventual PIAA runner up Chestnut Ridge, 41-18. After the loss, Burrell would fall into the consolations, where they drop yet another match. This one was to Saucon Valley, a 45-24 defeat. With a pair of losses Burrell, the nine time reigning WPIAL Champions, would be eliminated from the PIAA tournament.

In AA, Boling Springs would end the tournament as the champion, defeating Chestnut Ridge 36-21. Reynolds would place 3^rd, beating Wyalusing 44-20.

Tags: Franklin Regional