Teasdale win away from milestone, and a good meal
HERSHEY – When Gavin Teasdale makes that final walk through the tunnel and out onto the sprawling floor of the Giant Center in Hershey today, he knows what will be running through his mind.
It won’t be the possibility of him winning a fourth PIAA Class AA wrestling title, joining an elite group of wrestlers from this tournament or what type of legacy he leaves.
No, he’ll be thinking about this:
“Where we’re going to eat after,” Teasdale said, drawing laughs from the gathering of media.
Teasdale, a three-time state champion from Jefferson-Morgan, has this place down the road from the arena picked out.
While that might be an unusual state of mind for a wrestler seeking an historic win against Joshua Jones of Saucon Valley in the 126-pound finals at 2 p.m. today, head coach Mike Lesko doesn’t feel that way.
“That’s our job, to make sure he’s having fun (off the mat),” Lesko said. “But when he steps on the mat, it’s nothing but business.”
Teasdale had a ball with A.J. Burkhart of Athens in the 126-pound semifinals. With his future college coach, Cael Sanderson of Penn State, in the crowd, Teasdale won a 14-5 major decision from Burkhart, a Northeast champion with a 36-6 record.
Teasdale led 2-0 after one period and 7-1 after two. Teasdale doubled his point total in the final two minutes to run his record to 39-2 this season.
“I treat it the same way every year, not because I don’t like wrestling in this tournament, but because I treat it like any other tournament when I was younger. My speed is ready, my strength is ready. All that needs to be ready is my mind,” he said. “I want to go out there and wrestle like I know how to, let it fly and not hold back on anything.”
Earlier in the day, Teasdale won an 11-4 decision over Ken Kiser of Saegerton in a quarterfinal round bout.
“This kid in the finals is tough,” Lesko said of Jones. “He’s got some dangerous moves you have to stay out of.
Of the 12 four-time state champions, three are local wrestlers: James Conklin of Waynesburg (70-0-1, 1940-43), who was first to accomplish the feat; Cary Kolat of Jefferson-Morgan (137-0, 1989-92), who was No. 7; and Jeremy Hunter of McGuffey (172-2, 1993-96), who was ninth.
Spencer Lee of Franklin Regional was considered a lock to become No. 13 but a knee injury and debatable call at the end of his match last season left him with a loss and the position unfilled.
In other action, Christian Clutter of McGufffey lost a 5-3 decision to Dalton Group of Susquenita at 170 and Bentworth’s John Vargo dropped a 4-2 decision to Matt Lewandowski of Mahanoy in the 182 quarterfinals. Both battled back through the wrestlebacks and will medal.
Manny Dovshek (120) of Bentworth and Mike Cusick (145) of South Fayette worked their way back through consolations and will medal.