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Teasdale reaches finals after close call in quarters

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Gavin Teasdale of Jefferson-Morgan (left) ties up with Jalin Hankerson of Boiling Springs in the 106-pound semifinal of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships Friday night. Teasdale came away with a 9-1 decision.

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Mike Carr of South Fayette shoots into Collin Edsall of Wyalusing during their 138-pound semifinals bout of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships Friday night. Carr won a 7-2 decision.

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Ian Wolfe of Jefferson-Morgan (foreground) tries to shed Jake Beistel of Southmoreland during their heavyweight semifinal bout of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships Friday night. Beistel won 2-1 in overtime.

HERSHEY – This time, there would be no suspense or near-devastating mistake.

There was just crisp, clean wrestling from Gavin Teasdale, the freshman from Jefferson-Morgan High School.

Teasdale methodically tore apart Jalin Hankerson of Boiling Springs in the 106-pound semifinals of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships Friday night.

Now Teasdale has a chance to become Jefferson-Morgan’s first state champion since Justin Tracanna won the 171 pound title in 1995. The last finalist was Ethan Virgili, who made the 189-pound finals in 2008.

“I dictated the action,” said Teasdale. “I had the mental edge. I just wrestled the way I know how to.”

Teasdale will take on Aaron Burkett of Chestnut Ridge in today’s 2 p.m. finals. This is the third time the two will meet this season and Teasdale won both meetings, the last one in the finals of the Southwest Region.

Teasdale will be joined in the finals by another area wrestler, Mike Carr, a 138-pound junior from South Fayette.

Carr reached the finals with a 4-1 win over Shae Bloom of Curwensville in the quarterfinals and a dominating 7-2 decision over Collin Edsall of Wyalusing in the semis. Carr gets Tyler Vath of Saegertown in the finals.

Carr and Teasdale are the only two undefeated WPIAL wrestlers in Class AA with records of 43-0 for Carr and 45-0 for Teasdale.

Carr can be the second wrestler in South Fayette history to win a state title. His brother Nick won the 145-pound title in 2010 as a junior. His brother Seth made it to the 113-pound finals two seasons ago.

“Nick said you have to win it this year or you won’t be as good as me,” said Carr. “It’s my last match of the year so I want it to be something special.”

Like Teasdale, Carr jumped out to a quick lead, 4-1 after one period, and cruised for the remainder of the match.

“I think I could have picked it up a bit and gotten a couple more takedowns,” said Carr, “but I didn’t want to do something stupid.”

Carr’s teammate, Jared Walker, will not make a return trip to the finals. Walker gave up a takedown with one minute to go and lost a 3-2 decision to Cole Walter of Mifflinburg at 160 pounds. Walker got there with a 5-2 decision over Keshon Truitt of Redbank Valley in the quarters. Walker goes for third today.

Anthony Welsh of Beth-Center saw his run from the preliminary round stopped with a 5-2 loss to Greg Bulsak of South Park in the semifinals. Welsh’s 7-1 decision over Derek Dragon of Lake Lehman got him the match against Bulsak. He wrestles for fifth today.

Bill Bowlen and Ian Wolfe each saw their chance at a gold medal end in the semifinals. Bowlen, a 182-pound junior, lost a 1-0 decision to Dakota Greer of Franklin. Bowlen advanced to the semifinals with a 5-3 upset of Garrett Hoffman of Montoursville, who was previously undefeated.

Wolfe fell to Jake Beistel of Southmoreland, 2-1, in three overtimes and will wrestle for third place. Wolfe made it to the semis with a 1-0 victory over Robert Dunbar of Wyomissing.

“All the kids wrestled their hearts out,” said J-M head coach Mike Lesko. “Billy lost by a point and Ian went to overtime. These other guys are good, too.”

Teasdale reached the semifinals after a scare in the quarterfinals when Jaret Lane of Southern Columbia hit a headlock and came close to pinning him. But Teasdale bridged out and went on to win a dramatic 12-10 decision in overtime.

Teasdale shot in and Lane sank a headlock and put him on his back. Teasdale came dangerously close to getting pinned in the next few seconds, then bridged out enough to let the final 14 seconds on the second period clock elapse.

“In practice, we work on different positions from anywhere and that helped me,” said Teasdale. “I was just working to fight it off, and get my offense to score as many points as I can. I just made a stupid move.”

Suddenly an 8-3 lead was 8-8 going into the third period for Teasdale. He allowed Lane an escape, then took him down. But the match was tied again when Teasdale was called for his third caution.

“I thought it was his caution,” said Teasdale, “then they called it on me.”

Tied 10-10, the match went to overtime and Teasdale ended it with a takedown about 15 seconds in.

Brendan Howard, a 120-pound senior from Jefferson-Morgan, lost a heart-breaking 3-2 decision to Brian Courtney in the quarterfinals and will wrestle for seventh today.

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