Belle Vernon’s Brown wins 2nd title; C-M’s Dreshman falls short in finals
HERSHEY — When former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher walked off the field after his team lost in Super Bowl XXX to the Dallas Cowboys, the Crafton native consoled his young daughters and said, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”
Cowher’s statement might not have resonated with his daughters at the time, but the lesson was clear that in sports, and life, things don’t always go your way, which can seem unfair, but that doesn’t mean you don’t stop working.
Canon-McMillan freshman Lee Dreshman most likely felt like Cowher’s children following his 3-0 setback to Sun Valley’s Jacob Carr in the final of the 107-pound weight class Saturday in the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center.
Despite the loss, Dreshman will be able to look back on his experience wrestling in the state finals as a freshman.
“I will be working hard to get my name back up there,” Dreshman said. “There are always things to work on, and I will use this loss as motivation for next year.”
While Dreshman had an experience he never wants to feel again, Belle Vernon’s Elijah Brown capped off his high school career with a second straight PIAA championship following a 1-0 decision over Garnet Valley’s Paxton Hunt for the title at 215.
“It was a tough match, but it was nice to get a test like this because I am going to wrestle in college, and I need to be ready for these types of matches,” Brown said. “He (Hunt) had great hips, so it was really hard to finish my shots, and his reattacks are awesome. I think that was the big thing. I had to be pretty wary of all my attacks.”
The Penn State commit had a tough start to the season, as he spent much of his offseason recuperating from a torn lateral collateral ligament (LCL) that he suffered in last year’s state final, which hindered his conditioning, and that was exploited in a 10-8 loss to DuBois’ Kendahl Hoare on Dec. 6 at the Trinity Duals in Brown’s third match of the season.
Brown never lost again this year, and only five of his victories this year were by decision.
Brown escaped in the second period and didn’t allow Hunt to get another going offensively in the final. Brown was close to scoring a takedown several times in the first period, but Hunt was able to scramble out of danger.
Brown ended his senior season with a record of 46-1. He had a career mark of 173-20, which is the most in program history. He passed Zach Hartman’s mark of 170 in the quarterfinals.
In addition to the finals, Brown downed Owen J. Roberts’ Decker Bechtold, 4-1, in the semifinals. In the five matches that Brown didn’t earn bonus points in this season, two were against Bechtold, whom he topped in a pier-six brawl, 17-13, in the semifinals of the MyHouse Trojans Wars on Dec. 28 at Chambersburg High School.
Brown will compete in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic for Team Pennsylvania on March 28 inside the AHN Arena on the campus of Peters Township High School before getting ready to compete for the Nittany Lions.
Dreshman had three solid victories on his way to the finals, but after a scoreless first period, Carr was able to get a quick turn for two near-fall points and a 2-0 lead heading into the third.
“I felt good on bottom,” Dreshman said. “I created a lot of flurries and was close to getting out multiple times. I got stuck in those scenarios at Powerade. We worked on it, and I felt like I got out plenty of times, but when I took off his leg, I kind of fell backwards and got stuck in danger, and I gave up two swipes. It’s just stuff that will prepare me for the offseason and all the offseason tournaments.”
Carr (43-2, 81-12) chose bottom to begin the third period, but Dreshman let him up immediately to use the full two minutes to work for the match-tying takedown. He was in on a shot as time wound down in the bout, but Carr was able to hang on for the win.
Dreshman finished his freshman season with a record of 51-5.