Hempfield junior perseveres in Class 3A
HERSHEY, Pa. — The third time was a charm for Hempfield junior Briar Priest at the PIAA Class 3A individual championships, held March 13 at Giant Center in Hershey.
Priest faced Dylan Chappell for the third time in three weeks and finally beat the Seneca Valley senior to claim the 132-pound title.
The two met in the WPIAL final on Feb. 27 and Chappell posted a 7-5 win. They met again one week later at the West Super Regional and Chappell held on for a 7-6 victory.
“I didn’t come in looking at him,” said Priest, when asked about getting revenge for his losses to Chappell. “I just looked at whoever I had first, and I really didn’t think I was going to end up wrestling him in the finals. I didn’t see myself getting that far.”
“Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to beat [Nathan] Lucier, because he’s a tough kid. And I ended up doing it.”
Priest (34-5) faced Lucier, an unbeaten senior from Coatesville, in the semifinals and rode him out in the third period en route to a 1-0 win, which earned him the rematch with Chappell (37-3), a two-time PIAA runner-up. The rematch was much different as Priest dominated in a 60 victory.
“That was crazy, to beat the kids that I thought I’d never beat,” Priest said.
Priest scored what turned out to be the winning point with an escape 39 seconds into the second period. Twentythree seconds later he recorded a takedown, then iced the victory with a threepoint near fall with 35 seconds left in the period.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening,” said Priest, when asked about the near fall. “I was shocked with the way it happened.”
Priest was one of three underclassmen who won PIAA Class 3A titles. The others wereWaynesburg sophomore Mac Church (28-2) and Franklin Regional junior Finn Solomon (35-2).
A rideout in the first tiebreaker period was the difference in Church’s 2-1 overtime victory over Chambersburg’s Karl Shindledecker in the 120pound final. Shindledecker let Church up in the second tiebreaker period with hopes of recording a takedown, but Church held on for the win.
Church placed third at 106 last year at Hershey after a tiebreaker-loss in the quarterfinals.
“Losing in the quarterfinals last year and coming back to place third was a learning experience for me,” Church said. “It inspired me to work even harder this year to win a state title.”
Solomon won the 138pound title, which was the rubber match in his threeweek battle with Cole Homet ofWaynesburg. Homet won in the WPIAL final. Solomon responded with back-to-back wins in the West Super Regional and PIAA tournament.
“My goal in both wins was to just put point on the board and not worry winning or losing,” said Solomon after his 75 win over Homet. “It’s incredible to finally win a state title.”
Don’t be surprised to see
Solomon and Homet meet again next year, as both are juniors.
Waynesburg in a walk
Waynesburg entered the state tournament with six entries, while Bethlehem Catholic had seven. The expected battle between the two schools for the team title never materialized as Waynesburg blew away the field, while Bethlehem Catholic fizzled.
The Raiders scored 100 points behind the strength of five finalists and three champions. Hempfield was a distant second with 57 points and one champion. Bethlehem Catholic was a disappointing third with 54 points and only one finalist.
Church, Wyatt Henson, and Luca Augustine won titles for Waynesburg, while Homet and Rocco Welsh placed second. Colton Stoneking finished fifth at 132.
Henson (32-1) claimed his second PIAA title and third overall with a 5-3 win over Norwin’s John Altieri at 145 pounds. Augustine (21-1) upset Mifflin County’s Trey Kibe, 3-2, in the 172-pound final. Welsh lost 3-1 to Seneca Valley’s Alejandro HerreraRondon, who claimed his third state title.
“Our goal coming into the season was to win this title, then win the team tournament title,” Raiders coach Joe
Throckmorton said. “We’ve accomplished the first of those goals. Now we have to be ready for the team tournament.”
The PIAA team championships begin Monday with only district champions in the 10team field. Pigtails will be held that night with the quarterfinals to follow Wednesday. The final four teams in each class advance to the semifinals at Cumberland Valley High School on March 27. The championship matches will also be held that day.
Waynesburg will represent the WPIAL in Class 3A, while Burrell will be the Class 2A entry.
Adding up the wins
Herrera-Rondon’s three wins in the 152-pound weight class allowed the Seneca Valley senior to move up to No. 7 on the WPIAL’s all-time wins list. Herrera-Rondon finished the season with a perfect 39-0 record, which increased his career totals to 175-14.
Canon-McMillan graduate Gerrit Nijenhuis owns the WPIAL record with a 181-16 record. The other WPIAL grads who recorded 175 or more wins were: Shady Side Academy’s duo of Dane Johnson (180-12) and Geoff Alexander (180-22), Connellsville’s Ashtin Primus ( 179- 20), Mount Pleasant’s Donnie Ament (179-28), and Kittanning’s Jason Nolf (176-1).
Herrera-Rondon is one of four Class 3A seniors from the WPIAL who finished their careers with 150 or more wins. The others are: Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell (164-26), Waynesburg’s Wyatt Henson (154-21), and Franklin Regional’s Carter Dibert (150-16).
Four Class 2A seniors finished their careers with 150 or more wins: Burrell’s Ian Oswalt (163-24) and A.J. Corrado (155-35), Derry’s Tyler Cymmerman (153-29) and Freedom’s Trent Schultheis (150-35).