Burrell’s Corrado, Oswalt to wrestle for PIAA Class AA gold
By:
Friday, March 6, 2020 | 8:14 PM
Burrell’s Ian Oswalt wrestles Adam Jacob of East Pennsboro in a Class AA 132-pound quarterfinal bout at the PIAA championships Friday, March 6, 2020, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Burrell’s Ricky Feroce wrestles Dane Csencsits of Saucon Valley in a Class AA 182-pound quarterfinal at the PIAA championships Friday, March 6, 2020, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Burrell’s AJ Corrado howls in pain as he lands on the mat, twisting his leg against Palisades’ Ben Haubert in a Class AA 152-pound quarterfinal at the PIAA championships Friday, March 6, 2020, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
HERSHEY — Burrell will have two wrestlers competing for gold medals Saturday at the PIAA Class AA championships at Giant Center.
Ian Oswalt punched his ticket to the 132-pound final with a 3-1 win over Anthony Glasl of Brockway on Friday night. Shortly thereafter, AJ Corrado claimed his spot in the 152 final with a 3-2 victory over Malachi DuVall of Penns Valley.
“I’m in the position to win now,” Oswalt said. “Obviously, I needed to win all three matches to get here, but now that I’ve won the semi, I have a real opportunity in front of me.”
The junior scored the first points with a takedown with 11 seconds left in the first period. Glasl made an escape in the second period, but Oswalt (45-6) regained his margin with an escape in the third.
After that, it was 90 seconds of holding off any shot Glasl tried to take.
“I knew I didn’t have any stall calls,” Oswalt said. “Not that I want to stall, but you do what you have to do to win at states.
Oswalt had lost in the semifinals a year ago.
“I didn’t want to feel that again,” Oswalt said.
In the morning session, Oswalt defeated Adam Jacob of East Pennsboro, 3-2, in the quarterfinals with a takedown midway through the second period.
His finals opponent will be Brock McMillan (35-3) of Glendale.
Corrado (45-7) followed Oswalt’s example in his semifinal by taking a 2-0 lead with a first-period takedown, though DuVall answered with an escape before the frame ended.
They exchanged escapes, putting Corrado ahead 3-2 from the last 1:55. The junior fended off a couple of nice shots from DuVall and spent the last 15 seconds holding on to DuVall’s ankle to fend off a deciding takedown.
“I saw 15 seconds on the board, and I didn’t want to do anything stupid,” Corrado said. “I saw an opportunity, his ankle was too far forward, and I grabbed it.”
Corrado and DuVall had wrestled against each other several times before, but Corrado did not want to think about his opponent’s tendencies.
“I try to wrestle a body, not a name or a face,” Corrado said.
Earlier in the day, Corrado beat Benjamin Haubert of Palisades, 3-2, in the quarterfinals with an escape and takedown in the third period.
Corrado will face Caleb Dowling of St. Joseph’s in the 152 finals on Saturday afternoon.
Ricky Feroce guaranteed himself a medal the hard way at 182 after dropping a 10-7 decision to Dane Scencsits of Saucon Valley in the quarterfinals. In a must-win third-round consolation contest, the senior posted a 5-3 win over Alec Snyder of Wilson Area to assure himself a spot on the medal stand.
In the evening consolations, Feroce (38-16) beat Patrick Cutchember of Quaker Valley 3-1 and then lost 7-2 to Andrew Sharer of Penns Valley. That puts Feroce in the fifth-place match on Saturday against Ethan Finch of Sheffield.
Tags: Burrell
More High School Sports
• Through the Years: 40 years ago, Freeport finally got the better of nemesis Jeannette• Kiski Area football coach Sam Albert hangs up head coach’s whistle after 3 decades
• Monessen girls basketball team sets sail under Schmidt
• Monessen looks to extend playoff streak to 43 years despite graduation of top scorer
• WPIAL Class 3A championship preview: Avonworth, Central Valley set for rematch
