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St.Joseph Matmen finish strong at PIAA state championships

By BRIAN CARSON

HERSHEY – Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy put on a stellar performance with five medalists and a second-place team finish at the PIAA Class 2A championships Saturday afternoon at the Giant Center in Hershey.

St, Joseph’s finished second in the team race with 95.5 points with five medalists – Freshman Kolby Franklin placed second at 195, juniors Caleb Dowling (145) and Keegan Rothrock (152) came in second, while sophomore Zack Witmer (132) and junior Tyler Stoltzfus (16) took fourth.

In Class 3A, State College senior Cole Urbas placed fourth, while Bellefonte sophomore Ethan Richner came in sixth.

Franklin (44-6) fell by a 5-2 decision to Southern Columbia’s Gaige Garcia in the 195-pound finals. After a scoreless first period, Garcia took down and escaped to make it 1-0 after two. In the third, Franklin escaped to knot things at 1-1.

With 47 seconds left in regulation, Garcia shot in on a sweep single, Franklin tried to backflip out of it and landed on his back, giving up the four-point move to Garcia. Franklin managed a late escape in the loss.

Dowling (43-6) scored a takedown in the first and an escape in the second to defeat Southern Columbia’s Gavin Garcia 3-0. Dowling now owns a second, third and fourth at states.

Rothrock (39-10) made his first appearance a memorable one with a 3-2 win over Greenville’s Mason Karpinski for third. Rothrock recorded an escape and takedown in the second and rode out Karpinski in the third.

Witmer (33-10) dropped a 6-5 decision to Bedford’s Kaden Cassidy and Stoltzfus (42-8) fell 2-1 to Saucon Valley’s Matthew Arciuolo for third.

Urbas (38-2), heading to Pennsylvania to wrestle collegiately, advanced to the third-place match where he dropped a 5-1 decision to Max Shaw of Thomas Jefferson. The Little Lion senior ends his career with a 116-13 record and three state medals.

Richner (37-7) lost to Carlisle’s Colton Zimmerman 11-9 in sudden victory for third. The Red Raider sophomore ends his season at 37-7.

Shunk (39-8) ended his career on a high note with a 10-5 win over Biglerville’s Blake Showers for his second PIAA medal. The Ram senior tied Curt Decker for the school record in career victories with a 132.

DuVall (34-13) scored an escape in the third period to defeat Saucon Valley’s Thomas Spirk for seventh in his first tournament appearance.

Amonn Ohl (120) of St. Joseph’s, Philipsburg-Osceola’s Chase Chapman (132) and Hunter Weitoish (152), and Bald Eagle Area’s Cooper Gilham (120) and Garret Giedroc (120) qualified for states, but did not place.

PIAA Class 2A Results

Team Key: Bedford (B), Biglerville (BIG), Bishop McDevitt (BM), Brookville (BR), Cambridge Springs (CS), Chestnut Ridge (CR), Derry Area (DA), Freedom Area (FA), Forest Hills (FH), Frazier (F), Greenville (G), Glendale (GL), Hopewell (H), Kane (K), McGuffey (M), Mount Pleasant (MP), Mount Union (MU), Notre Dame-GP (ND), Penns Valley (PV), Pequea Valley (PE), Pope John Paul II (PJP), Reynolds (R), Saegertown (S), Saucon Valley (SV), Southern Columbia (SC), St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy (SJ), Troy (T)

Team Scores: 1. Southern Columbia 121, 2. St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy 95.5, 3. Notre Dame-GP 80, 4. Reynolds 68, 5. Saucon Valley 64, 6. Chestnut Ridge 60.5, 7. Greenville 54, 8. Freedom Area 51.5, 9. Forest Hills 48.5, 10. Bishop McDevitt 47, 39. Penns Valley 18.5, 70T. Philipsburg-Osceola 7, 85T. Bald Eagle Area 4.

Finals

106: Sheldon Seymour, T, dec. Levi Haines, BIG, 5-4; 113: Jackson Arrington, FH, dec. Kole Biscoe, SC, 10-3; 120: Ryan Crookham, ND, dec. Beau Bayless, R, 3-0 ; 126: Brock McMillen, GL, dec. Chase Shields, BM, 3-2; 132: Josh Jones, SV, dec. Tye Varndell, CS, 7-3; 138: Jacob Ealy, H, dec. Kenny Kiser, S, 7-5; 145: Andrew Cerniglia, ND, major dec. Gabe Miller, PE, 14-0; 152: Ryan Vulakh, PJP, tech fall Trent Schulthies, FA, 20-5 (5:10); 160: Thayne Lawrence, F, dec. Alec English, K, 7-2; 170: Jared McGill, CR, dec. Christian Clutter, M, 8-2; 182: Dayton Pitzer, MP, dec. Bryson Miller, FA, 3-1; 195: Gaige Garcia, SC, dec. Kolby Franklin, SJ, 5-2; 220: Jacob McMaster, G, dec. Domenic DeLuca, DA, 6-2; 285: Colby Whitehill, BR, dec. Jake Ryan, MU, 5-2.

OW: Ryan Vulakh, Pope John Paul II

Third Place

132: Kaden Cassidy, B, dec. Zack Witmer, 6-5; 145: Caleb Dowling, SJ, dec. Gavin Garcia, SC, 3-0; 152: Keegan Rothrock, SJ, dec. Mason Karpinski, G, 3-2; 160: Matthew Arciuolo, SV, dec. Tyler Stoltzfus, SJ, 2-1.

Seventh Place

120: Baylor Shunk, PV, dec. Blake Showers, B, 10-5; 138: Malachi DuVall, PV, dec. Thomas Spirk, SV, 9-8.

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