Mar 8, 2022 4 min read

There are plenty of ways to earn a berth to the PIAA Wrestling Championships in Hershey.

You could get slammed in the blood round at regionals, you could treat every opponent like a rag doll, tossing them around like so many toys to be played with, or you can look for the weakest weight class near you and jump in.

And, of course, there is the Vitali Daniels’ way: follow the leader. The 215-pound sophomore from Bentworth could have wrestled at heavyweight – he tried that last year – but that was too much weight to give up and no hope existed to be very successful.

So he decided to stay at 215, come what may, and see how far that would take him. As it turned out, quite a long way.

Daniels is one of 12 local wrestlers to make it to the Giant Center for the state’s Class AA contest, even though senior Dayton Pitzer of Mt. Pleasant will be in the same weight class.

Pitzer is pound-for-pound the toughest wrestler in the state, someone who would get just as much satisfaction from drilling your head into the mat as he would eat a hamburger.

Wrestlers didn’t walk away from that weight class before the season; they ran.

Pitzer is a two-time state champion and, unless something unusual happens, he will begin work on his third title when Class AA action gets underway Thursday morning.

Daniels realizes that every spot is available in the weight class except first place. Well, Pitzer could get injured but Daniels isn’t counting on it.

“That was definitely the idea at the beginning of the year,” said Daniels, who sports a 29-6 record. “I was hoping I could make it to this position.”

That would be runner-up to Pitzer in the regional tournament that was just concluded at Peters Township High School this past weekend.

It’s the same spot he found himself at the WPIAL Championships a couple weeks ago and might just find himself in the state tournament.

“If I get into the finals, then I might get noticed by some college scout,” said Daniels.

You see, Daniels is a good wrestler. One has to be to get into the finals of the regional and WPIAL tournaments. Daniels is just not good enough to beat Pitzer. As long as that doesn’t bother Daniels, then go for the silver, right?

In their two bouts, Daniels has lasted 1:52 combined on the mat before being pinned twice. Daniels was unseeded for this last tournament but pinned Britton Spangle of Glendale and Zane Hagans of Somerset before meeting Anthony Govern of Southmoreland in the semifinals. Daniels came away with a 10-3 decision.

So while many wrestlers headed to the nearest restaurant because their season was over after the regional tournament, Daniels thoughts turned to the plush Giant Center.

Bentworth head coach Mike Shrader said the only part he plays in this decision is that of information gatherer.

“I give them the facts,” Shrader said. “I give them the state rankings and everything I can come up with, like common opponents. You don’t want to do that too much because wrestling comes down to style.”

So it was Daniels’ decision and it was a good one, thus far.

“The decision started last year when he wrestled all year at 215 and then moved to heavyweight,” Shrader said. “In the short term, he ended up being the section champion. But he was giving up so much weight.”

And didn’t make it to Hershey.

“He was walking around at 203 or 204 (pounds) most days,” Shrader said. “He knows that Pitzer is a generational talent. Without missing the one year (to injuries), he’d be going for a four-time champion.”

Shrader said Daniels wants to go out there and wrestle no matter who the opponent is. That made this an easy decision. A silver medal is up for grabs.

“Absolutely. As a coach, it’s our job to mentally prepare him for that,” Shrader said. “A lot of times, a kid might make it to states early in his career and think once the seniors graduate, the way will be clear. There will always be somebody there and you have to be mentally prepared to wrestle to the best of your ability.”