Bentworth’s Vargo wraps up spot in 2A finals
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Chris Vargo of Bentworth, right, controls Hunter Gould of Conneaut during their 127-pound semifinal bout in the PIAA Class 2A Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey on Friday. Vargo won an overtime decision.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Adam Waters of Faith Christian, left, keeps hold of Braedon Welsh of Fort Cherry during their 172-pound semifinal in the PIAA Class 2A Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey on Friday. Welsh was pinned in 3:17.
HERSHEY – If there is a Sheetz convenience store nearby, then Chris Vargo’s opponent has a problem.
There is something in the store’s snack wraps that has a winning effect on Bentworth wrestlers inside the Giant Center.
When Francis Mizia won the PIAA Class 2A 160-pound title, he dined at Sheetz. Not to break the tradition, Chris Vargo has been a frequent customer.
Hey, why tempt fate?
Vargo, with a tummy full of snack wraps, ripped up Hunter Gould in overtime and grabbed an 8-3 victory in the 127-pound semifinals.
Vargo will take on Cooper Hornack of Burrell for the third time this season and fifth time in the past two seasons.
And just for some extra juice, the Bentworth head coach for Mizia was Mike Shrader, who was in the corner for Vargo’s latest win.
“Francis won it on Sheetz and that’s all I’ve been eating,” Vargo said. “Snack wraps baby; snack wraps. So blame it on the Sheetz.”
The area was hoping to get a second wrestler to the finals but Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh was pinned in 3:17 by Adam Waters, a freshman from Faith Christian.
After a scoreless first period, Gould took a 1-0 lead on an escape in the second period. Vargo tied with an escape of his own in the third and it stayed that way through the first overtime.
In the fifth overtime, Vargo turned Gould for two points, gave up an escape and took Gould down. Vargo got an escape and takedown in the next overtime period to put the match away.
“I would have loved to score in that first overtime period,” said Vargo. “But I knew I could ride him out. I knew I could get an escape if I had to.”
Vargo beat Cooper in the Southwest Reion final after Cooper defeated Vargo in the WPIAL finals.
“I’m excited about the match,” Hornack said. “I get a chance for revenge from last week. He’s a great competitor and I’m going to take it to him, for sure.”
Shrader and Albert Miles switched coaching positions the year Mizia won his state title.
“He was willing to do that, switch with me,” said Shrader. “We knew what we had in the room that year and he still switched with me.”
Gould is a junior from Conneaut and a runner-up in the Northwest Region. He finished sixth at 120 pounds in last year’s state tournament.
Waters is a freshman at Faith Christian and a champion of the Southeast Region. He entered the bout against Welsh with a 42-1 record.
Waters took Welsh down, allowed an escape, and took Welsh down again and pinned him.
Welsh can still finish as high as third place.
“We wanted to get to his scramble,” said Fort Cherry head coach Doug LeFebvre. “We knew he was tough on top so we tried not to let him control us on top. (Welsh) wrestled a really good match. He fought hard, toook it to him in every position he got.”