Seven reach semis at Regionals

WEST LAWN – Grit and grind.

Hustle and heart.

The opening night of the Class 2A Southeast Regional tournament often isn’t for the faint of heart.

Dreams of making it to the state tournament in Hershey can be dashed in an instant.

Wrestlers know all too well the perils of the postseason and that they can’t overlook any opponent.

Seven Times News area wrestlers navigated the first night at Wilson West Lawn High School to reach today’s semifinals – and automatically punch their ticket to next week’s state tournament. Another nine are still alive in the consolation bracket.

“It means a lot, but my goal is to win the tournament, obviously,” said Northwestern’s Matt Peters. “And I’m capable of doing that if I just go out there and wrestle 100 percent every match, and don’t look past anybody. So I just gotta keep pushing the pace and wrestling hard.”

Peters picked up a 9-4 decision over Boiling Springs Jack Coulston (District 3-4) in the 132-pound quarterfinal bracket.

The senior posted an 8-4 decision over Dylan Griffie (District 3-7) of Bermudian Springs in the first round.

Peters will wrestle District 3 champion Bodee Tolbert (33-9) of Bishop McDevitt in the semifinals.

Peters led a strong first night for the Tigers, who have all seven wrestlers coming back today.

Northwestern’s Jackson Bernhard rolled to a 12-0 major decision over Trinity’s Caleb Bentley (District 3-7) in his 152-pound first round match. Bernhard pinned Jason Penton (Littlestown) in 1:11 in the quarterfinals to punch his ticket to states for the second year in a row.

“I’m really excited (to be going to states) again,” said Bernhard. “I had two good wins today, so I’m looking forward to my next match.

“The last match was actually my 99th win, so I’m really excited about that, too. It would be cool to get my 100th win in the semifinal of regionals. But we’ll see how that turns out. I’m really excited to go to Hershey again. I’m hoping that this year I can improve from last year since I went two-and-out. I’m hoping to get two wins out there.”

Bernhard will take on the District 3 champion Tanner Updegraff (38-7) of Bishop McDevitt in the semis.

Northwestern’s Caleb Clymer had a bye in the first round after winning his third district title a week ago.

The senior didn’t take long to shake off any rust, picking up a 14-2 major decision over Colton Shriner (Fairfield) in the 160-pound quarterfinals.

Clymer will see Austin Watkins (25-6) of Susquehanna Township in the semis.

Panther Valley’s Hunter Kennedy battled to reach the 170-pound semifinals and punch his ticket to the state tournament for the second straight year.

Kennedy scored a takedown in the waning seconds of his quarterfinal match against Kutztown’s Tyler Fisher to pick up a 3-1 win.

“It means a lot,” said Kennedy. “I pushed everyday in practice for this. Everyday I was working hard with my brother (Tanner). Everyday. This is where it got me: the semifinals on the road to Hershey.”

Kennedy cashed in on that hard work to put Fisher away.

“I was thinking, he’s kind of dying a little bit. I noticed it in the second period,” said Kennedy. “Tough kid. I wrestled him last year and lost to him. But this year, pushing the action, I knew I had to get a takedown to win it.”

The senior started strong, pinning Kennard Dale’s Daniel Eagle (District 3-7) in 3:44 in the first round.

Palmerton’s Lucas Christman picked up two impressive wins on the opening night of the tournament. Christman pinned Newport’s Michael Capozzoli in :29 in the 145-pound quarterfinals.

Christman picked up a dominant victory in the first round, pinning Annville-Cleona’s Zachary Renninger (District 3-7) in 1:05.

Jim Thorpe’s Ethan Mordaunt scored a solid 7-2 decision over Noel Gilgeous (Church Farm School) in the 195-pound quarters.

Mordaunt leaned on his experience of qualifying for the regional tournament a year ago to take away any anxiety he had Friday.

“It helped me a lot, just not being as nervous. I know what it’s like here,” said Mordaunt. “I was a little nervous tonight, coming into that match, but I took care of business.”

Mordaunt stayed poised despite trailing 2-0 early on.

“I just focused on six hard minutes of wrestling,” Mordaunt said. “It’s only two points. There are multiple ways to score those back.

“It’s a little nerve-racking. But you just gotta work that much harder.”

Mordaunt posted a 17-8 major decision over Hamburg’s Ben Weidenhammer (District 3-7) in the first round.

Tamaqua’s Bronson Strouse roared back to pin Brent Hayes (Biglerville) in 5:59 in the 220-pound quarterfinals.

Strouse recorded an 8-5 decision over Camp Hill’s Micah Springer (District 3-7) in the first round.

Jim Thorpe’s John Newhall led Northern Lebanon’s Kyler Anspach (District 3-4) 4-0 in the third period before Anspach flipped the match with a late takedown and three back points to secure a 5-4 win in the quarterfinals. Newhall is still alive in the 113-pound consolation bracket.

Newhall defeated Korey Smith of Bermudian Springs (District 3-7) 8-6 in first round.

Panther Valley’s Derrick Beckham dropped a 7-1 decision to Bishop McDevitt’s Tyrone Fowler in the 182-pound quarterfinals after blasting Colby Tennyson (District 3-7) of Boiling Springs in the first round, winning by fall in 5:53.

Tyler Martin (Bishop McDevitt 3) pinned Northwestern’s Colin Rex in 5:36 in the 138-pound quarterfinals.

The match was tied 2-2 after the second period, but Martin caught Rex and secured the pin.

Rex had a 6-2 decision over Susquenita’s Jacob Hammaker to reach the quarters.

STILL ALIVE … The following wrestlers are still alive in the consolation bracket: Northwestern’s Jake Dellicker (106), Harrison Bernhard (126) and Quin Moyer (220), Lehighton’s Cody Scherer (170), Panther Valley’s Tanner Kennedy (160) and Jim Thorpe’s Austin Williams (182).

TRIVIAL … A total of 168 matches were contested Friday night between the first round, first round consolation and quarterfinal matches.

UP NEXT … Action resumes Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with second round consolation matches. Semifinals are set for 11 a.m. or directly after consolation matches. The parade of champions will be held at 4:45 p.m. with finals set for 5 p.m. The top-six wrestlers in each weight class move on to states.

PIAA CLASS 2A SOUTHEAST REGIONAL WRESTLING

(Results of TN area wrestlers)

First Round

106 - Brandon Breidegan (Northern Lebanon) dec. Jake Dellicker (Northwestern), 8-2.

113 - John Newhall (Jim Thorpe) dec Korey Smith (Bermudian Springs), 8-6.

126 - Collin Nester (Boiling Springs) dec Harrison Bernhard (Northwestern), 8-3.

132 - Matt Peters (Northwestern) dec Dylan Griffie (Bermudian Springs), 8-4; Tanner Ball (Pequea Valley) dec Pierce Demetriadis (Tamaqua), 4-0.

138 - Colin Rex (Northwestern) dec Jacob Hammaker (Susquenita), 6-2.

145 - Lucas Christman (Palmerton) pinned Zachary Renninger (Annville-Cleona) in 1:05; Gabe Miller (Pequea Valley) tech. fall Chris Whiteman (Lehighton), 18-3 (4:35).

152 - Jackson Bernhard (Northwestern) major dec Caleb Bentley (Trinity), 12-0.

160 - Brendan Hamilton (Hamburg) dec Tanner Kennedy (Panther Valley), 10-5.

170 - Hunter Kennedy (Panther Valley) pinned Daniel Eagle (Kennard-Dale) in 3:44; Dalton Group (Susquenita) tech. fall Cody Scherer (Lehighton), 15-0 (4:34).

182 - Derrick Beckham (Panther Valley) pinned Colby Tennyson (Boiling Springs) in 5:53; Luca Colestock (Camp Hill) dec Austin Williams (Jim Thorpe), 8-3.

195 - Ethan Mordaunt (Jim Thorpe) major dec Ben Weidenhammer (Hamburg), 17-8.

220 - Joe Coblentz (Pequea Valley) pinned Quin Moyer (Northwestern) in 5:30; Bronson Strouse (Tamaqua) dec Micah Springer (Camp Hill), 8-5.

Quarterfinals

113 - Kyler Anspach (Northern Lebanon) dec John Newhall (Jim Thorpe), 5-4.

132 - Matt Peters (Northwestern) dec Jack Coulston (Boiling Springs), 9-4.

138 - Tyler Martin (Bishop McDevitt 3) pinned Colin Rex (Northwestern) in 5:36.

145 - Lucas Christman (Palmerton) pinned Michael Capozzoli (Newport) in 0:29.

152 - Jackson Bernhard (Northwestern) pinned Jason Penton (Littlestown) in 1:11.

160 - Caleb Clymer (Northwestern) major dec Colton Shriner (Fairfield), 14-2.

170 - Hunter Kennedy (Panther Valley) dec Tyler Fisher (Kutztown), 3-1.

182 - Tyrone Fowler (Bishop McDevitt) dec Derrick Beckham (Panther Valley), 7-1.

195 - Ethan Mordaunt (Jim Thorpe) dec Noel Gilgeous (Church Farm School), 7-2.

220 - Bronson Strouse (Tamaqua) pinned Brent Hayes (Biglerville) in 5:59.

First round consolations

126 - Harrison Bernhard (Northwestern) pinned Edwin Kent (Church Farm School) in 1:22.

132 - Hayden Funck (Annville-Cleona) dec Pierce Demetriadis (Tamaqua), 6-0.

145 - Todd Hartman (Conwell Egan) dec Chris Whiteman (Lehighton), 8-5.

160 - Tanner Kennedy (Panther Valley) pinned Andy Muzika (Faith Christian) in 1:58.

170 - Cody Scherer (Lehighton) dec Ethan Herb (Northern Lebanon), 10-5.

182 - Austin Williams (Jim Thorpe) dec Aiden Weber (Schuylkill Valley), 11-6.

220 - Quin Moyer (Northwestern) dec George Nanouh (Wyomissing), 5-4.