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Bentworth duo in good condition, semifinals

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Hunter Neely of Bentworth holds the leg of Burrell’s Dillan Jeffery in the 126-pound quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class AA Wrestling Championships Friday at South Fayette High School.? Neely won by 5-3 decision

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Manny Dovshek of Bentworth, shown wrestling Fort Cherry’s Nick Candelore, during the WPIAL Class AA Wrestling Championships last year, is looking for his second gold medal in the event in as many years.

Joe Tuscano/ Observer-Reporter

McDONALD – At this point in the season, every wrestler is battling more than an opponent.

Manny Dovshek is hampered by a shoulder injury that recently flared up and his teammate at Bentworth High School, Hunter Neely, is trying to get his conditioning back after a case of the flu forced him to miss a week of school.

There is little, if any, sympathy from their opponents, and the two wrestlers overcame these nagging problems to win their quarterfinal bouts in the WPIAL Class AA Championships at South Fayette High School Friday night.

Dovshek, a 106-pound freshman, downed Fort Cherry freshman Nick Candelore, 11-1. Neely, a 126-pound junior, gutted out a 5-3 decision over Burrell’s Dillan Jeffery.

The two enter today’s semifinals at 11:30 a.m. with an eye on a spot in the 7 p.m. finals.

The top seven wrestlers in each weight class advance to next weekend’s Southwest Region Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School.

“I injured my shoulder at the start of the season,” said Dovshek, who is 28-6. “It stopped during the season, then it just started to hurt me. I’ll have it checked after the season.”

Dovshek, who finished in third place at the Section 2 Tournament last week, draws Tyler Griffiths of Southmoreland in the semifinals. Jeffferson-Morgan freshman Gavin Teasdale is in the opposite bracket. Teasdale opened the tournament with a 20-4 technical fall over Colin Dunn of South Fayette and has Shawn Broadway of Derry in the semifinals.

Candelore entered this tournament as the Section 1 champion but Dovshek jumped out to an early lead and never let up.

“I beat him at the Chartiers-Houston Tournament, 6-0,” said Dovshek, one of 10 freshmen in the weight class. “I wasn’t expecting that good a (spot) in the bracket. I thought I would get someone tougher. Those first points were pretty big. I believe if I score the first two points, I’m going to win the match.”

Neely’s conditioning problem was not only spurred by the flu, but his affinity to sports drinks and snacks.

“I was way over Monday,” said Neely. “I eat and drink too much. I have an unhealthy diet, and I have to much liquid weight. I’ll work to get it off.”

Neely slowed midway through the match but his 5-0 lead was too much for Jeffery to overcome.

“I never wrestled (Jeffery) before,” said Neely. “I know he would be in good condition. All the Burrell kids are in good condition.”

Neely wrestles Stone Kepple of Derry in the semifinals. Neely said he was pleased with his placement in the bracket, opposite of McGuffey’s Aaron Harris and Mount Pleasant’s Mike Novak.

“I lost to Harris, 4-3, in the section tournament and Novak beat me 3-0 in the consolations,” said Neely.

Bill Bowlen of Jefferson-Morgan joined the Century Club with the 100th victory of his scholastic career, a 16-0 technical fall over Austin Boone of South Side Beaver in the quarterfinals. Bowlen gets Garrett Grimm of Chartiers-Houston in the semifinals and, if successful, either Brett Beltz of South Fayette or Brendan Glover of West Shamokin in the finals.

“I was counting it down,” said Bowlen, a junior and the top seed at 182 pounds. “I knew that it would either be in the finals of the section tournament or the first round in this one. My most significant win was in last year’s WPIAL finals. I have a good match in the semifinals. And then we’ll see from there.”

Jared Walker of South Fayette began his quest for a fourth WPIAL title with a 6-0 shutout of Phillip Petit of Valley in the quarterfinals. Trevor Kniha of Jefferson-Morgan is his semifinal opponent. Sam Garner of Laurel and Jason Stay of Beth-Center are in the other semifinals.

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