Carson: Final results from last day of PIAA wrestling championships

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: March 13, 2022

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By BRIAN CARSON

HERSHEY – State College sophomore Pierson Manville wrestles mean. His aggressiveness, raw determination, and constant pressure make him a formidable opponent. He wrestles mean in the good sense of the word.

Those traits lifted Manville to the pinnacle of the mountaintop and a PIAA Class 3A gold medal Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Manville (38-3) started his day with a 5:39 fall over returning state champion Tyler Kasak of Bethlehem Catholic in the 138-pound semifinals. In the finals, Manville won a wild 5-4 decision in the second tiebreaker over Hempfield Area’s Briar Priest, a PIAA runner-up last year.

The Little Lion scored the first takedown before Priest escaped to make it 2-1 after two minutes of action. Priest chose down and escaped. The period on their feet tied 2-2. Manville escaped taking a 3-2 lead early in the third. Priest hit his first takedown for the 4-3 advantage before Manville escaped with 34 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

After a scoreless sudden victory round, Manville took down and escaped with 18 seconds left in the rideout. Priest was down for the second rideout but couldn’t get out, giving Manville the victory and the state title.

Manville is the first PIAA champion for State College since Matt Kocher won it back in 2003.

Bellefonte’s Jude Swisher (145) and State College’s Nick Pavlechko (215) finished third, while Mifflin County senior Trey Shoemaker (189) took seventh, and Little Lion freshman Asher Cunningham (120) was eighth.

Swisher (42-2) suffered a 12-5 loss to Ty Watters of West Allegheny in the semifinals before rallying to defeat Hempfield Area’s Lucas Kapusta 7-0 in the consolation semifinals. In the match for third, the Red Raider senior beat Nazareth’s Nick Foster 8-0. Swisher owns three PIAA medals in four trips.

Pavlechko (32-4) dropped a 12-10 decision to Belle Vernon’s Cole Weightman in the semis. He followed up with a 4-0 victory over Corey Boerio of Greater Latrobe in the consy semifinals. In the match for third, the Little Lion sophomore took care of Carl DiGiorgio of Central Bucks West by a 10-2 major decision.

Shoemaker (39-6) lost to Meadville’s Griffin Buzzell in the consolation quarters by a 5-2 score. The Husky senior earned his first PIAA medal with a 4-1 decision over Clearfield’s Carter Chamberlain for seventh place.

Cunningham (35-9) fell to the seventh-place match after suffering a 12-3 loss to Nazareth’s Charlie Bunting. The Little Lion freshman got pinned in 1:51 by Penn Trafford’s Troy Hohman to place eighth.

State College finished sixth in the team race with 53.5 points. Nazareth won the team title with 135 points.

Class 2A

Bald Eagle Area crowned three medalists with Penns Valleyclaiming one at the PIAA Class 2A Championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Coen Bainey (120) took third, Lucas Fye (113) came in fifth, and Caleb Close (172) finished eighth to pace the Eagles. Ty Watson (145) was sixth for the Rams.

Bainey (32-5) earned his second PIAA medal when he beat Burrell’s Cooper Hornack by a 1-0 score in the third-place match. The Eagle junior lost 10-5 to eventual state champion Jaden Pepe of Wyoming Area in the semifinals.

Fye (34-10), just a sophomore, won a 5-2 decision over Landon Bainey of West Branch for fifth, while Close (40-14), a freshman, fell 3-1 in sudden victory to Garrett Tettemer of Notre Dame-Green Pond.

Watson (40-3) ended his sophomore season in sixth place after being pinned by Evan Maggs of Notre Dame-Green Pond in 3:15. Two of Watson’s losses this season were to Maggs.

Notre Dame-Green Pond won the team title with 116 points.