Mar 8, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 6 min read

HERSHEY – When wrestling aficionados call it the “blood round,” it is meant figuratively … or is it?

The “blood round” is used to determine whether a wrestler will be stepping onto the podium as a place winner when the tournament ends, or if they will be going home without any hardware.

In folkstyle high school wrestling, consolation matches are shortened from six to five minutes, and the intensity of the matches will cause sweat and tears, and yes, there has been blood.

Burgettstown senior Gaven Suica may not have had any tears after his 5-2 decision over Faith Christian Academy’s Mason Wagner in the “blood round,” but there was definitely sweat and the Edinboro commit had some blood on his lip after his win on Friday in the Class 2A PIAA Individual Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.

“I lost to him (Wagner) at “The Surge” tournament early in the season, so it felt good to get some redemption,” Suica said. “It feels great to win for a small school like ours because we are homegrown. Our senior class has been wrestling with each other forever.”

Suica dropped a 4-3 decision in his round of 16 match on Thursday, but he rallied back for a 3-1 victory over Elizabeth Forward’s Lucas Boyer and a 7-0 triumph over Mid Valley’s Matthew Almedina to qualify for Friday’s morning’s “blood round” in the 139-pound weight class on Friday at the Giant Center.

“The only way I could put the earlier loss out of my mind was to give everything to God, and just focus on my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Suica said. “I want to thank my mom and I have the best coaching staff in the world.”

Suica, who placed eighth in the state tournament while wrestling with a broken ankle as a sophomore, competed in the fourth round of consolations Friday night.

Chartiers-Houston senior Jorden Williams lost his quarterfinal bout at 114, but rebounded with a fall in 4:26 over Derry’s Anthony Mucci to assure himself a spot on the podium in his third trip to the state tournament.

Williams lost a 3-2 decision to Mucci in the WPIAL Class 2A finals. In their “blood round” bout, Williams clung to a 6-5 lead with 1:01 remaining after Mucci scored a reversal. Mucci allowed Williams to escape, and the senior Buc hit a throw that put Mucci on his back for the fall.

“To come here looking for gold each year and not even touching the podium, at least I was able to cross one goal off the list by placing,” Williams said. “Even in the first match we wrestled, he (Mucci) thought he could wrestle Greco with me. He needed a takedown there at the end, and he gave me a little bit too much pressure, which allowed me to throw him onto his back for the pin.”

The last Buccaneer to place in the state tournament was Garrett Vulcano in 2013 when he was the runner-up at 195.

“Over the last few years I have learned that this is just a wrestling tournament, even though it is on this huge stage, you can’t let it get to you,” Williams said. “I wanted to win gold, but I am still glad that I was able to place. I will be looking to get third.”

Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh was close to scoring a takedown in his round of 16 bout for a win in sudden victory, but he suffered a setback via fall in 6:36 to Northwestern Lehigh’s Luke Fugazzotto at 172. Welsh, a junior who has committed to Brown University, shook off the tough loss and won his next three bouts by scores of 3-0, 5-1 and 7-0 to earn a spot on the podium.

Welsh is competing in the state tournament for the third time. He advanced to the semifinals last year and finished fourth.

“Luke (Fugazzotto) is a good wrestler, but I was in on like three or four shots, and I just wasn’t bringing it up and my hand fighting wasn’t there,” Welsh said. “My coaches just told me after the first match to keep up with the shooting and hand fighting. I just need to finish quicker on my shots. My top and bottom are pretty good, and if someone shoots, I’ll score, so it is just about finishing when I shoot.”

Bentworth’s Vitali Daniels avenged an earlier loss to Derry’s Brady Brown with a 5-2 decision at 189. Daniels, a senior, is wrestling in his third state tournament. He didn’t place as a sophomore and was fourth last year.

“Right off the whistle, he came out really hard,” Daniels said. “I just dropped my level, went to a double leg, and probably took him down within the first 10 seconds. I was fourth last year, so the goal is to get one step higher on the podium. Obviously, I came here to win a state title, but third is the best I can get now.”

Peters Township freshman Nicholas McGarrity came into the state tournament with a record of 40-1 and all the confidence to run the table, but had a humbling experience in a 16-4 setback to Emilio Albanese of Emmaus in his first match during the round of 16 in the Class 3A bracket.

McGarrity recovered to pin State College’s Noah Young after trailing 4-0 in the first period to advance to the “blood round,” where he edged Connellsville’s Nolan Rice by decision, 3-2.

McGarrity received a point after Rice was penalized for a technical violation to break a 2-2 tie.

“Losing that first match was kind of like a wake-up call for me,” McGarrity said. “I thought I was so high and mighty coming in here with just one loss, and then I came here and lost the first match. It feels good to know that I will medal as a freshman. It was a goal of mine to medal here because I had placed last year in the middle school state tournament.”

The fourth round of consolations was held Friday night, but the results weren’t available at press time.