Little of everything works for Waynesburg’s Wilson
Shaun Wilson of Waynesburg does a split to avoid being taken down by Riley Palmer of Council Rock South in the 138-pound quarterfinal round bout in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Friday. Wilson won a 9-7 overtime decision.
Mike McAleavey (top) of Peters Township keeps a close hold of Garret Zobel of LaSalle during their 220-pound quarterfinal round bout in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Friday. McAleavey won a 7-1 decision.
Austin Bell of Belle Vernon pushes the face of Noah Stewart of Mifflin County into the mat during their 170-pound quarterfinal round bout in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Friday. Bell won a 3-2 decision. Bell is one of five area Class AAA wrestlers who advanced to today’s semifinals.
HERSHEY – Shaun Wilson realizes there are many ways to win a wrestling match.
Overpowering an opponent is one, making a strategic move at the right time is another, keeping poised under pressure also is an option and knowing when to keep your distance can be crucial to winning.
Wilson used a little bit of each strategy Friday in piecing together a heart-stopping 9-7 overtime decision against Riley Palmer of Council Rock South in the quarterfinals of the 138-pound weight class.
Wilson is one of five area wrestlers to advance to today’s semifinals (9 a.m.) Finals are at 7 p.m.
Joining Wilson in the semifinals are Zach Hartman (132), Austin Bell (170) and Milt Kobaly (182) from Belle Vernon and Peters Township’s Mike McAleavey (220).
The top eight wrestlers in each weight class receive medals.
Bethlehem Catholic is way out in front of the team standings with 68.5 points, followed by Mifflin County (42.5) and Belle Vernon (41).
Wilson will wrestle Easton’s Evan Fidelibus, a Northeast Region runner-up with a 42-3 record, in the semifinals.
“I’ve been in a match like that before but not one that I won,” said Wilson, a WPIAL runner-up with a 38-6 record. “It usually turns out the other way. I got two takedowns with the duck-under and I had two others where the hand touched but they didn’t give me points for them.”
Wilson came out strong, using his duck-under move to keep Palmer off balance and take a 4-3 lead after one period. The bout slowed in the second period after Palmer tied it with an escape. Wilson was warned for stalling with 24 seconds remaining in the period.
Wilson came to life early in the third period, scoring three points and taking a 7-4 lead. But Palmer tied it with a takedown and a penalty point against Wilson for stalling with just 12 seconds left.
“My coaches helped me with that,” he said. “Every time I looked over, they said, ‘Calm down.’ I admit I was stalling. I was gassed.”
Wilson got the winning takedown with just 12 seconds to go in the first overtime.
“He had some crazy ones as a freshman but probably not as important as that one,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton. “He’s improved 1,000 percent. You get the pressure when you come up here. We knew (Palmer) was a quality kid. The mental edge was important. We teach these kids that whatever happens, just keep firing away. Luckily, his duck-under was working.”
Hartman turned Wert, a Southcentral Region runner-up, for three backpoints in the second period that cemented a 5-1 decision. Hartman, a WPIAL champion with a 44-6 record, gets Bethlehem Catholic’s Joey Gould, the Northeast runner-up, in the semifinals.
Bell overpowered Mifflin County’s Noah Stewart, a Northwest Region champion, taking a 3-0 lead early and allowing a reversal in the final 26 seconds.
“It was very important getting that big lead,” said Bell. “It puts more pressure on them.”
Bell said he’ll be thinking about only one thing today.
“Just win,” he said. “Don’t worry about the name, nothing, just wrestle my match.”
Bell faces Bethlehem Catholic’s Michael Labriola (40-3), a Northeast champion, in the semifinals.
Kobaly rolled to a 13-4 major decision over Evan Morrill of Lower Dauphin, who fought his way from the preliminary round. Kobaly battles Cedar Cliff’s Josh Colello, a Southcentral champion, in the semifinals.
McAleavey had a relatively easy time with Garrett Zobel of LaSalle, jumping to a 5-0 lead on the way to a 7-1 victory.
“The game plan is to keep it safe,” said McAleavey. “I got that nice lead and still wrestled hard.”
McAleavey doesn’t mind saying he is counting down the wins to a gold medal.
“Yeah, I’m thinking about it,” he said. “I’ve been dreaming about it since I was a kid. It’s a big goal for me. You still have to go match by match.”
Canon-McMillan’s Logan Macri lost his quarterfinal bout to Julian Chlebove of Northampton, 5-1, then was pinned in the consolations by Luke Werner of Liberty in 20 seconds and was eliminated.
Ringgold’s Doug Gudenburr was pinned by Fidelibus in the quarterfinals then was eliminated by a 3-2 loss to Garrett Kyner of Chambersburg in the consolation round.
Derek Verkleeren of Belle Vernon was pinned in the 152-pound quarterfinals by Hayden Hidlay of Mifflin County, then eliminated Waynesburg’s Terry Victor in the consolations with a 10-4 decision. Teammate Mitch Hartman won a 4-2 decision over Cade Moisey of Northampton and can still finish third.
Waynesburg’s Colin McCracken is still working his way through the 182-pound bracket but Caleb Morris (120) and Cole Rush (126) were eliminated.