Chi’s Bryant a happy qualifier for states
FRANCONIA » Blake Bryant didn’t know the last time a Chichester wrestler qualified for the PIAA tournament.
Eagles coach Marty Scarpato knew it was Bob Scheivert, but Scarpato couldn’t remember the year.
“I think it was 2015 or maybe 2011?” Scarpato said with a little hesitation.
For the record, Scheivert made the PIAA tournament in 2010 but he no longer is the answer to the trivia question of who the last Chi wrestler to advance to Hershey might be.
That honor belongs to Bryant, who held on for a 6-5 decision over Andrew Lindros of Council Rock South in the fifth-place match at 145 pounds at the PIAA Class 3A Southeast Regional at Souderton High School Saturday.
That earned him a trip to Giant Center. The top five wrestlers in each classification qualify for the state tournament.
Bryant is one of eight Delaware County wrestlers headed to Hershey. Strath Haven and Sun Valley had two wrestlers advance, Ben Farabaugh and Sam Milligan for the Panthers and Hunter Delaney and Brandon Carr for the Vanguards.
Farabaugh finished second at 285 while Milligan placed third at 189. Delaney was fourth at 127 and Carr took second at 145.
Ridley’s Curtis Nelson (107) and Haverford’s Cole McFarland (114) came away with silver medals, while Garnet Valley’s Dylan Bledsoe (285) placed fifth.
Bryant earning a spot in Hershey wasn’t a surprise. He came in seeded fourth at 145 pounds. The top five wrestlers in each classification qualify for the PIAA championships. He just took a tough route to become Chi’s first state qualifier in 13 years. He had to bounce back from a 14-3 loss to Max Parnis of West Chester East in the consolation semifinals.
“The plan was, do what I needed to do to qualify for states,”
Bryant said. “I just went out there and gave it my best shot.”
Bryant got a reversal 14 seconds into the third period to open up a 6-1 lead. That gave Bryant a little breathing room and that proved huge as Lindros made a late run to punch his ticket to Hershey.
“This means a lot to me,” Bryant said. “I put in so much work to get to this point. It’s great to have all that work pay off. It makes me feel good.”
Bryant wasn’t the only one feeling good.
“He does everything the right way,” Scarpato said. “He works hard. He goes and practices with his club team after he practices with us. It’s just great to see that hard work get rewarded.”
Delaney flashed a huge smile as he stood on the awards podium. He came into the tournament seeded sixth at 127 pounds and came away with a fourthplace medal.
“This means a lot,” Delaney said. “I put in a lot of effort with my brother (Killian) over the summer,” Delaney said. “He goes to Lehigh and he worked with me every day. This shows that all that work we put in over the summer was worth it.”
Nelson got into an early hole in the final. Colby Martinelli of Pennridge jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never trailed. Nelson fought back but Martinelli was able to hang on for an 8-6 win to claim the regional title.
“I was sleeping,” Nelson said of his slow start. “I was tired.”
Nelson entered the tournament as the top seed at 107 and showed why. He pinned Zach Thomas of C.B. South in the opening round (3:22), beat Connor Lenahan of Council Rock South in the quarterfinals, 3-0, and defeated Gus Smith of Spring-Ford in the semifinals, 10-3, to secure his second straight trip to the state meet.
The loss in the final was disappointing and something Nelson said he plans to use as motivation for the PIAA championships. “No doubt,” he said. McFarland also was disappointed with his second place finish.
He was tied with Chris Dennis of C.B. West before Dennis got a reversal with 47 seconds left in the match and came away with the 4-3 victory.
“Dennis is a good kid,” McFarland said. “I wrestle with him in practice. I have to give it to him … I don’t know what it is but when it
comes to big matches like this I get caught up in the moment and lose close matches like this, but I still have next week. I’m not going to stay down. I’m going to go back to work and hopefully I’ll see him next week and get the better of him.”
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Former Garnet
Valley coach
Rocco Fantazzi and assistant John Conte were among the inductees into the Southeastern Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame. They were introduced during a ceremony before the finals Fantazzi and Conte won 231 matches and seven Central League titiles during their time together.