Six wrestlers from Berks headed to states
Travis Colson came a long way during his junior season at Hamburg.
Thanks to his performance in the Class 2A Southeast Regional Tournament at Freedom High School, Colson has one more trip to make — to the state tournament in Hershey.
Not bad for a guy who couldn’t get into the starting lineup last season on a regular basis and lost a wrestle-off that prevented him from even getting to sectionals in the individual postseason a year ago.
“I put a lot of hard work in over the season to try to get to this spot,” Colson said. “It was just a grind to battle to get to my goal of getting to states this year.”
Colson, who placed sixth at 182 pounds, was one six Berks wrestlers to place in the top six in their weight classes Saturday to earn trips to the PIAA Wrestling Championships Thursday through Saturday in the Giant Center.
Also qualifying for states were Hamburg’s Parker Davidson, Bailey Gimbor and Brant Mason, along with Brandywine Heights’ Dillon Reinert and Noah Frack.
But some big names, led by 2019 PIAA medalist Dalton Gimbor of Hamburg, didn’t make it. Dalton Gimbor, an eighth-place finisher last year and twotime state qualifier, was one of five Berks wrestlers to lose in the “blood round,” the round of consolations where winners qualify for states and losers are eliminated.
Dalton Gimbor and Hamburg junior Kyle Vernon, who earned his 100th career win last week, both lost in overtime in the fourth round of consolations.
Colson’s season-ending loss last season came in the Hamburg wrestling room to teammate Nick James. They battled for the 182-pound starting spot all season, with James winning the final wrestle-off before sectionals.
“It was tough,” Colson said. “I beat myself up over it a lot over the offseason. But I kind of used it to fuel me for this year.”
James, who went to states last season as the 182-pound regional champion, moved up to 195 this season. He also lost in the fourth round of consolations, along with Tulpehocken’s Zach Ruffner and Brandywine’s Jake Deysher, to fall one win short of a trip to Hershey.
Colson assured himself of his first trip to states by winning two bouts Friday and becoming one of four Berks wrestlers to reach the semifinals. He suffered an 8-4 loss to District 3 champ Riley Robell of Bishop McDevitt in the semifinals, then lost again in the consolation semifinals and the bout for fifth place.
Frack, a seventh-place finisher at states last season, lost in the semifinals to returning state champion Ryan Crookham of Notre Dame before rebounding to finish third at 126.
Frack came back with a fall and a 2-1 decision over Allentown Central Catholic’s David Kreidler in the consolation finals.
Davidson finished third at 113. After losing in the semifinals to Notre Dame’s Brett Unger, Davidson scored an 8-0 decision and pinned Faith Christian’s A.J. Stayton in the consolation finals.
Reinert finished fifth at 113 after losing in the semifinals to Littlestown’s Connor Brown. He also lost his next bout before receiving a forfeit in the bout for fifth.
Bailey Gimbor bounced back from a quarterfinal loss on Friday to Newport’s Dorian Gonzalez to place fifth at 145 and earn his third straight trip to the state tournament.
Bailey Gimbor defeated Octorara’s Mike Trainer 5-3 in the consolations finals after suffering a 5-2 loss to Boiling Springs’ Michael Duggan, the wrestler he defeated to win a District 3 title a week earlier.
Mason also lost in the quarterfinals to Faith Christian’s Damon Waltenbaugh. After winning three straight consolation bouts, Mason lost to Waltenbaugh again, 10-5, to place fourth at 170.