Berish, McCollum still alive for medal in Hershey
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Beth-Center’s Tyler Berish lifts Hunter Hohman of Grove City during their first-round bout in the PIAA Class 2A tournament Thursday.
By Joe Tuscano/Staff writer/jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Parker Sentipal of Burgettstown grabs the ankle of Major Lewis of Camp Hill Trinity during their first-round bout in the PIAA Class AA tournament Thursday.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Washington’s Cameron Carter-Green, top, controls Gunnar Treibley of Meadowlands Christian in a heavyweight consolation bout at the PIAA Class AA Championships Thursday.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Beth-Center’s Kyle McCollum, left, goes head-to-head with Jack Martinac of Cochranton during their first-round bout in the PIAA Class AA tournament Thursday.
HERSHEY – Sometimes, a wrestler’s misfortune can be a learning experience for another.
Take Kyle McCollum and Tyler Berish for example. The two wrestlers from Beth-Center suffered different fates with the same margin of victory: one point.
McCollum, a senior 132-pounder, gave up a takedown with three seconds to go to lose a 2-1 decision to Jack Martinac of Cochranton in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Thursday morning.
Berish, a 152-pound junior who placed third in the Southwest Region, won his first-round bout, 8-7, over Hunter Hohman, a Northwest Region runner-up from Grove City.
“I watched his bout,” Berish said of McCollum. “It was heartbreaking. It told me I had to go out there and stay headstrong. I have been working all summer and it’s paying off now.”
Hohman got the first takedown, which usually puts a wrestler in good position for a victory. Berish escaped to make it 2-1. Berish scored four of the next five points to take a 5-3 lead at the end of the first period.
A reversal and takedown, sandwiched around a Berish escape, gave Hohman a 7-6 lead after two periods. Berish chose down and got a reversal with 1:36 remaining. Berish roe him out the rest of the way.
“Takedowns are my strength on the mat, I would say,” Berish said. “I need to put in a little extra time with the boots. That’s not my strong suit.”
McCollum made an escape stand against Martinac, a Northwest silver medalist, until three seconds remained. Martinac just got his feet inbounds.
“You’ve got to finish periods,” said Beth-Center head coach Gary Welsh. “Bad calls are part of the sport. Sometimes they go for you; sometimes they go against you.”
Welsh was particularly upset with the inbounds call and the time left on the clock after Martinac’s takedown.
“I was questioning whether the clock had started after the (out of bounds) call,” said Welsh. “There were four seconds on the clock. I definitely thought there should have been seven seconds left. I also wondered whether he got both feet inbounds. The referee didn’t think so but the mat judge said he did.”
McCollum won his first consolation bout by forfeit over Blaine Pucholski of West Perry. He drew Ashton Sipes of Tyrone in today’s consolations.
Berish gets Devon Deem, a Northeast champion from Montgomery, in the quarterfinals.
Another set of teammates, in this case brothers, came through the first round unscathed. Burgettstown’s Parker Sentipal and his brother Joey were victorious in their first-round matches.
Parker Sentipal, a Southwest Region champion at 106 pounds, shut out Major Lewis of Trinity (Camp Hill), 6-0. Sentipal, now 40-3, draws Elijah Brosius of Cranberry, a Northwest bronze medalist, in today’s quarterfinals (9 a.m. start).
“I wanted to win the first two, secure the medal, then just have fun,” said Parker Sentipal.
Joey Sentipal, a 132-pound junior who was a Southwest Region runner-up, was a 4-1 winner over Wyatt Lazor, a third-place finisher in the Northwest.
“At this stage, it doesn’t really matter if you know (your opponent),” said Joey Sentipal. “Everyone starts out 0-0. They are all good, I’m good. It’s just who wants it more.”
Joey Sentipal gets No.-2 seeded Brandon Chletsos of Notre Dame Green Pond in the quarterfinals.
Chris Vargo and Vitali Daniels, both from Bentworth, won their first-round bouts.
Vargo pinned Jackson Rush of West Perry in the first round and meets Hunter Gould of Conneaut Area in the quarterfinals. Daniels pinned Jonah Houser of Lackawana Trail in 4:25 and draws third-seeded Brad Morrison of West Perry in the quarterfinals.
Washington’s Cameron Carter-Green (Hvy) lost his first bout but rallied in the consolation round. Gavin Suica (126) of Burgettstown joined him.
Losing twice and being eliminated were Burgettstown’s Rudy Brown (138) and Joe Baronick (Hvy), Jefferson-Morgan’s Chase Frameli (145) and Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh (160).