The PIAA Wrestling Championships began Thursday morning in Hershey at the GIANT Center. Many Mid-Penn wrestlers began their search for a state championship win, and seven from the Mid Penn still remain in the hunt for a state championship win.
107- Jordan Manyette (Trinity) vs Thomas Boyce (Conwell-Egan)
Manyette has been a true warrior through 2 initial bouts of wrestling. He started the day with Phillipsburg-Osceola's Caleb Hummel, who is 37-6 on the season and lost the District 6 107 title bout earlier this postseason. Manyette advanced to the round of 16 and Angelo Lomonte in sudden-victory. Manyette earned a very early escape point in the second period, but a penalty on Manyette gave a point to Lomonte, tying things at 1-1. After a few injury timeouts for Lomonte, Manyette earned an escape point in the sudden-victory period. Manyette is a freshman at Trinity and placed 3rd in the District 3 tournament and 5th in regionals, earning the bid to Hershey. Now, it'll be Thomas Boyce from Conwell-Egan standing in the way of Manyette's pursuit of a championship. Boyce is another District runner-up and 3rd placer at Regionals, sporting a 34-9 record on the season a round of 32 forfeit before a win against Bryce Pequignot of North Penn in the round of 16. The winner between Manyette and Boyce will face the winner of bout #209 between Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge) and Sam Wolford (Northern Lebanon) for a trip to the semifinals on the line.
114- Will Detar (Trinity) vs Jordan Williams (Chartiers-Houston)
That's right, Trinity has not only one but two wrestlers still alive in a chase for a championship. The bout between Detar and Williams is one of two wrestlers who've only wrestled one GIANT Center bout so far. Both received byes in the first round before second round wins. For Detar, it was Mason Vanderpool from Athens for that first round win in a relatively close but uneventful bout, consisting of a strong takedown from Detar early and strong defensive play from there, leading to a 2-0 bout win for Detar and a trip to the quarterfinals. Williams, on the other side, is getting a nice taste of local competetion once again. Williams spent his freshman and sophomore years at Hempfield in Lancaster, competing against teams from the Lancaster-Lebanon league, Mid Penn and District 3. Now outside of Pittsburgh at Chartiers-Houston, Williams is experiencing some local competition with a bout against Big Spring's Keegan Barrick in the round of 16, which he won 5-4 in a regular decision with a crucial takedown to gain a lead in the third period.
121- Greyson Music (McDevitt) vs Bradley Wagner (Mifflinburg)
Music is another wrestler that has only seen one match so far in the state tournament. After a bye in the round of 32, Music wrestled Landon Bainey of West Branch, who gave him a tough run in the round of 16. All of the points were scored in the third period with Bainey, a first on an escape and two more on a takedown for Music. A lone escape point with one second to go in the third period wasn't enough for Bainey, 3-1 in a regular decision. Music, another Crusader freshman, has tallied a 38-10 record this season including a District 3 tournament runner up performance and a 3rd place finish in regionals. Facing Wagner is fitting, because Wagner is a fellow class of 2027 member, and finished as runner up in Districts but won the Regionals. He's lost only three times to his 39 wins in his inaugural season.
127- Jackson Rush (West Perry) vs Jax Forrest (Bishop McCort)
Forrest, along with the rest of his Bishop McCort teammates, have essentially set up their own camp in Hershey, Pennsylvania with a ton of McCort representatives. West Perry has also put several Mustangs in the GIANT Center, with a lot falling in Thursday consolations. Rush is not one of those fallen Mustangs, as he still goes for gold and continues that pursuit Friday. Both wrestlers put together strong performances in their earlier tournaments, Forrest winning his District tournament and running up in Regionals, and Rush placing 3rd in the District 3 tournament and winning Regionals. The performances earning them both byes in the round of 32. Rush faced Central Valley's Don Lindsey in the round of 16, which was no match for the 45-6 Rush, winning by tech fall in the third period. Forrest, ironically, had the exact same result down to the score, 17-2 against Elijah Brosius of Cranberry in the round of 16. It's hard to get as evenly matched as the two of them when they go at it tomorrow in weight 127.
133- Camden Baum (McDevitt) vs Colten Shunk (Penns Valley)
Sophomore Baum has been turning heads all year with a 46-2 record as part of a loaded McDevitt underclassmen group. Baum finished 1st in Sectionals, Districts and Regionals leading up to the PIAA tournament. Baum faced Clay Kimmy of General McLane in the round of 16 which was a 14-4 major decision for Baum with a 6-1 score after the first period. Shunk's lone Thursday match was one of the most fun to watch, and longest match of the day. The bout went seven periods long and ended just 3-2 in a regular decision for Shunk. Shunk didn't place in last year's state tournament after losing the District final bout. Shunk once again lost his District final bout, and the senior will face a tough challenge in a red hot Baum, looking to continue his trajectory.
145- Ryan Lawler (McDevitt) vs Wyatt Lazzar (Commodore Perry)
As a Sophomore at Newport, Lawler did not place in the District 3 tournament, therefore missing the cut to a trip to Hershey. After transferring to McDevitt, Lawler is now a back to back District 3 champion, and topped it this year with a Regionals win as well. He faced Kole Doppelheuer from Belle Vernon in the round of 16 and won decisively with a 17-2 tech fall win in the third period. Lazzar also won by tech fall, 16-1 when he faced Riley Vanderpool from Towanda. Lazzar is committed to Lock Haven as a senior and is coming off of a 7th place finish in last year's GIANT Center trip.
160- Tyler Morrison (Big Spring) vs Devon Magro (Bishop McCort)
Magro is another piece of a stacked McCort squad heading into day 2 still hunting for a championship. Magro is a soon to be Brown University wrestler after compiling 91 career wins, 52 of which came this senior season. It's Magro's first trip to the postseason in his three year wrestling career, and he's making the most of it. He won the District and Regional tournament and pinned Honesdale's Mason Avery in his round of 16 bout on Thursday. As for Morrison, he put together four third period points to beat Fort LeBoeuf's Jojo Przybycien in his round of 16 bout. Morrison won the District 3 tournament and lost the Regional title bout. Now Morrison has a chance to get to the semifinals against a tough Magro in the quarterfinals.
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