Hornack’s long wait is finally over
Burrell junior erases bad memory of final loss in 2021 to win 127 title
HERSHEY, Pa. — Burrell junior Cooper Hornack waited two years to get back onto the championship mat after losing a 6-2 decision to Hickory’s Louie Gill in the 2021 106-pound final.
“Ever since that day I’ve been thinking about it,” Hornack said. “Every single day.”
Standing in the way of his first championship was a familiar face in top-seeded Bentworth junior Chris Vargo. The two already had four matches against each other and split them at two apiece.
Whoever won the rubber match would be the state champion. And, like in the WPIAL finals, it was Hornack who came away with the title.
After an escape by Vargo seconds into the third period gave him a 1-0 lead, Hornack needed a small miracle. And he got it.
With 1:00 left, Hornack pulled off a two-point takedown for his only points of the match — a split second before Vargo, who was in his first final, dragged him off the mat.
“I was just hoping that he called it,” Hornack said. “I thought at that point I had it locked and it was 50-50 him calling it and it went my way.”
It wasn’t over by a long shot.
Hornack had to keep Vargo at bay and rode him out for the final minute to close it out for the 2-1 win.
“I didn’t want it to go to overtime,” Hornack said. “I knew I had to ride him. I wrapped him with my leg, worked a stalemate and rode to the win.”
Laurel senior Grant MacKay also knows what it feels like to finish as a state runner-up. While competing at 160 pounds in 2022, he dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 decision to Holden Garcia of Notre Dame-Green Pond.
He made sure he didn’t feel that kind of disappointment this year.
“There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about getting on top of that podium again,” MacKay said. “The middle of the summer, middle of the night, I can’t sleep and watching (that match) on my phone. That was my reason to get up early and go to the gym.”
MacKay jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period against Grove City junior Hunter Hohman and pushed his advantage throughout the bout. He was never in any danger and cruised to a 5-0 victory to win the 160-pound title.
He previously won at 152 pounds in 2021.
“I knew I had some opportunities to score and, if I didn’t take them, it would be a lot closer, maybe an overtime or a ride-out kind of match,” MacKay said. “Late in that second and third period, I had that ride on top … the little things that get you the bigger margins in those matches.”
As soon as MacKay left the mat, he was met by best friend and teammate, Colin Bartley, who had his season end abruptly after he was shot in the leg in a hunting accident on Dec. 29.
“I’m his best friend and he’s like a brother to me,” MacKay said. “Seeing how easy your senior season can be taken from you, it put some perspective on things.”
Frazier junior Rune Lawrence wasn’t worried about margins or points. He took care of things the old-fashioned way.
Lawrence captured his third consecutive state championship and first at 189 with a pin of Brookville’s Jackson Zimmerman 42 seconds into the second period.
“I got the first takedown and pin him. Simple as that,” Lawrence said. “After that first takedown, I was confident that I could do it.”
Lawrence, who won at 172 in 2021 and 2022, has already refocused his attention on 2024 and potentially joining a list of 13 wrestlers who won four state championships. The last to accomplish the feat was JeffersonMorgan’s Gavin Teasdale in 2018.
“I’m just one step away from my ultimate goal,” Lawrence said. “Then my name will be set in stone forever.”