Four 3A wrestlers have shot at gold
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Rocco Welsh, top, of Waynesburg starts to turn Kevin Alivarrio of Manheim Township during their 172-pound quarterfinal at the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Friday.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Mac Church finds himself on his head during his quarterfinal bout with Brad Bower at the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships Friday in Hershey. Church won 2-0.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Darius McMillon, back, of Peters Township, is tangled up with Tony Burke of Council Rock North during their 113-pound consolation match at the PIAA Wrestling Championships.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Zander Phatorus, right, of Waynesburg repels a move by Anthony Ferraro of Pine-Richland during their 126-pound consolation bout at the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships.
HERSHEY – Maybe it was the right weight after all.
When Jacob Houpt found he couldn’t drop to 113 pounds this season because his coaches misinterpreted the weight-loss rule, Houpt felt “betrayed.”
Houpt, a senior from Canon-McMillan, felt he had been let down by the coaching staff.
Now he feels fine about it, especially after a come-from-behind pin with time running out against Sean Logue of Father Judge in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships Friday at the Giant Center.
Now, Houpt is just two wins away from a gold medal, thanks to his pin in 5:07 of Logue.
“My coach and I had a conversation when the weight thing happened and he said sometimes things happen for a reason,” said Houpt. “So I put it in the back of my mind and just decided to go for the gold at 120.”
Houpt’s next step will come in the semifinals (9 a.m.) against the top seed in the weight class, Mason Leiphart of Dover, a Southcentral Regional champion with a 38-0 record.
Houpt, who is 36-5 and a third-place finisher in the Southwest Region, said he feels he is a slow starter in matches.
“I thought he was getting tired,” Houpt said. I just needed to push the pace a little bit. I’d say this is one of my most memorable wins. I saw my family after I won and that was a great feeling too.”
Houpt was one of four local wrestlers to survive the quarterfinals. Mac Church (132) and Rocco Welsh (172) of Waynesburg and Cole Weightman (215) of Belle Vernon were the others.
Church won a 2-0 decision over Braden Bower in a match that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate. Bower, who took only two shots, seemed more intent on saying he lost a close one rather than winning.
“I’ve just got to make my way through the weight class,” said Church. “I have to take things as it is. He didn’t try to do anything that would’ve won the match. I’ve just got to score more points.”
Church had two escapes, one at the start of the second period and one in the third after Bower took his second batch of injury time.
Church draws Kollin Rush of Bethlehem Catholic in the semifinals. Rush is a freshman with a 22-1 record and was a Northeast Region champion.
Welsh, like Church, Houpt and Weightman, is two wins from gold. The Waynesburg junior has made it to the finals the last two years only to fall to Kurtis Phipps and Alejandro Herrera-Rondon by a combined three points.
Welsh used his brutal strength to dispose of Kevin Alivarria of Manheim Township, getting a pin in 2:00.
“The first round I got the tech and I felt good. My offense was good,” said Welsh, now 44-1. “This guy was a little tougher than the last guy so I had to work on top.”
Welsh gets Dillon Bechtold of Owen J. Roberts, a third-place finisher in the Southeast Region, in the semifinals.
Weightman decisioned top-seed Carl Digiorgio of Central Bucks West, 8-7, in the quarterfinals. The Belle Vernon senior gets Nick Pavlechko of State College in the semifinals. Pavlechko is the Northwest Region champion.
Noah Tustin of Waynesburg had the fastest pin of the round, nine seconds, in beating Bailey Shindle of Kennett. Tustin won his next match, against Julien Laventure of Upper Darby, assuring himself a medal.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Tustin. “I wrestled that kid before. I was going out there and try to pin him as fast as possible.”
Tustin’s teammate, Colten Stoneking, can still finish as high as third place at 138 pounds. Zander Phatorus is right with them at 126 pounds.
Darius McMillon of Peters Township was eliminated after a 2-1 loss to Tony Burke of Council Rock North at 113 pounds. And Trinity’s Blake Reihner got knocked out after a 7-1 loss to Collin Gaj of Quakertown at 132 pounds.