District 11 3A, 2A wrestling tournament
Easton wrestler pulls off big ‘move’ in victories
‘Different’ high school wrestling season begins its postseason run with opening day of PIAA District 11 3A and 2A championships.
Michael Hynes is not sure why he stopped wrestling after sixth grade.
The Easton junior had no intention of returning to the sport until a November phone call from first-year coach Jody Karam.
“Coach was like, ‘Why not come out and wrestle?’ ” Hynes said. “I was like, ‘OK. I’ll try.’ ”
Hynes won more matches (two) in a two-hour span Saturday in his first District 11 Class 3A tournament than he had during the abbreviated regular season (one).
The 215-pounder’s biggest victory came with a 5-2 decision over top seed and returning state qualifier Logan Holland of Blue Mountain in the quarterfinals.
After two scoreless periods, Hynes got a three-point tilt in the first 16 seconds of the third. The two exchanged reversals midway through before the Red Rover rode out the Eagle.
“I definitely had some doubts this year,” Hynes admitted. “I was getting beat up at practice. But I have great teammates. Dom [Falcone], Isaiah [Reinert] and [Matt] Cruise really worked with me.”
Falcone, the top seed at 172 who advanced to the semis with a quarterfinal pin, kept Hynes after practice to teach and encourage him and build his stamina.
“I didn’t know any moves,” Hynes said. “I just tried to muscle guys. But Dom stayed with me, taught me. He’s been great.”
Nazareth leads the team standings with 85 points and has 12 alive, 11 in Sunday’s semifinals, which are at 12:15 p.m. at Parkland. Finals and consolations are at 3:15. True second-place matches, if necessary, are at 5:30. Bethlehem Catholic has 10 semifinalists and is second in the team race (74). Northampton, Emmaus and Easton round out the top five.
Top three in each weight class advance to next Saturday’s Northeast Regional tournament at Charles Chrin Community Center in Palmer Township.
Holland was ranked 12th in the state at 215, according to PA Power Wrestling. Liberty’s Dustin Tocci knocked him out of the tournament with a 40-second pin in second-round consolations.
Freedom’s Connor Bevan had one of the more dramatic wins to reach the 138-pound semis. He trailed Pottsville senior Matt Ross 10-4 before hitting a lateral drop with less than 10 seconds left for the fall in 5 minutes, 57 seconds.
“I looked at the clock and it said 12 seconds left,” Bevan said. “He was stalling and I didn’t really have anything, so I said I might as well try it. And I lucked out.”
Bevan had opportunities to score earlier in the match, but found himself in a 9-1 hole.
“I definitely reflected after the match that I had to do a better job defending the shot,” the Freedom junior said. “I have to work on finishing my doubles if I see him again and moving forward in general.
Bevan got a reversal with 31 seconds left, but Ross escaped to set up the wild finish.
“I’ve never been in that situation before where I trailed by that much that late in the match and win. I knew I had to go big and had the lat drop in my back pocket.”
Bevan, who earlier pinned Bangor’s Zach Poff, gets top seed Andrew Harmon from Bethlehem Catholic in Sunday’s semis.
Tournament notes
Easton junior Anthony Apgar lost twice and was ousted from the 145-pound bracket but not before he won its first varsity match — a technical fall over Pottsville’s Blake Bender in a first-round consolation bout. Apgar was 0-21 to that point . ... Bethlehem Catholic advanced all eight out of the first session with a 15-0 mark, 13 by bonus points . ... Scratches were Pocono Mountain East’s Max Baker (132), Pleasant Valley’s Bryce Kibler (138) and Bethlehem Catholic’s Elijah Thompson (285) . ... Emmaus’ Evan Camire reached the 145 semis with a reversal with six seconds left to beat Nazareth’s Nick Foster 4-2. Foster stayed alive with a pin in second-round consolations. ... Pottsville’s R.J. Quinn beat East Stroudsburg South’s Gareth Till 4-2 to reach the 285 semis. It was the only sudden victory match of the quarterfinal round.