Kiski Area drops chance for crown
Bethlehem Catholic wins final five matches to claim 3A championship
Wrestling coaches always stress two things in a dual meet — win the close bouts and score bonus points.
Kiski Area came up short in both categories Saturday in the PIAA Class 3A team tournament championship against Bethlehem Catholic at Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.
Bethlehem Catholic, the District 11 champion and tournament favorite, recorded 17 bonus points and won two key overtime bouts en route to a 38-22 victory against the Cavaliers.
Bethlehem Catholic (161), the 2017 PIAA runnerup, was making its seventh PIAA title appearance in eight years and claimed its sixth title. Kiski Area (212), the WPIAL champion, was making its second PIAA title appearance and had to settle for another runner-up trophy. The Cavaliers lost to Easton in the 2003 final.
“It’s disappointing to get this far and come up short,” Kiski Area coach Chris Heater said. “We lost to a very good team. I’m very proud of what our kids were able to accomplish.”
The match began at 138 pounds and Bethlehem Catholic registered two victories to take a 7-0 lead. The most significant of those wins was a 5-3 overtime decision by Cole Handlovic over Cam Connor at 145 pounds. Handlovic tied the bout with a last-second takedown, then added the winning takedown midway through the overtime period.
Kiski Area responded with two pins by Jack Blumer and Nick Delp to take a 12-7 lead. Blumer pinned Luca Frinzi at 2:12 at 152 pounds. Delp needed only 1:32 to pin Matt Archiuolo at 160. Bethlehem Catholic’s Mikey Lewis cut Kiski’s lead to 12-11 with a 14-5 major decision of Collin Murray at 170.
Kiski Area showed its dominance in the upper weights by winning three of four bouts. Logan Pollick recorded a 3-0 win over Joe Kurtz at 182 and Danny Starr followed with a 6-2 win over Tavion Banks at 195. Isaac Reid capped the Cavaliers rally with a 12-3 win over Jase Crouse at 285 pounds. That gave Kiski Area a 22-17 lead.
Unfortunately, those would be the final points the Cavaliers would score. Bethlehem Catholic won the final five bouts, including Dylan Murphy’s 2-0 overtime decision of Dom Giordano at 113. Murphy scored the winning takedown with 0:06 left in the sudden victory period.
More matches
Canon-McMillan (15-3) placed fourth in the Class 3A bracket. The Big Macs posted two narrow victories in the consolation bracket, then dropped a 4222 decision to Erie Cathedral Prep in the consolation final. Canon-McMillan opened the day with a 29-28 win over Central Dauphin. The Big Macs rallied from a 28-18 deficit with wins in the final three bouts. Logan Macri provided the deciding points with a 25-10 technical fall at 120. That set up a rematch with WPIAL third-place finisher Seneca Valley in the consolation semifinals. The Big Macs rallied from a 23-21 deficit with wins in the final two bouts to win 27-23. Macri’s 5-2 win over the Raiders’ Louis Newell at 120 was the key victory.
In Class 2A, District 10 champ Reynolds won its second title in a row and fifth overall with a 3025 win over District 4 champ Southern Columbia. Reynolds was making its ninth appearance in the finals.
Burrell (12-8) failed to place in the Class 2A bracket after a heartbreaking 33-31 loss to District 3 champ Boiling Springs in the third round of consolations. The Buccaneers rallied from a 30-19 deficit with pins by Trent Valovchik (106) and Ian Oswalt (113) to take a 31-30 lead, but Colby Christie (120) dropped a 6-2 decision in the final bout.