Tamaqua’s Strouse sixth at PIAA Championships, Wickersham eighth

Bronson Strouse has put together a lengthy catalog of accomplishments and highlight reel moments during his time at Tamaqua.

The senior closed out his career by adding the final chapter on Saturday.

It wasn’t the storybook ending he had imagined. But it was better than anything he had experienced before.

Strouse completed his third trip to the PIAA Wrestling Championships with a sixth-place finish at 285 pounds to capture his first state medal.

“From last year, going 1-2, to getting a sixth-place medal, it feels great,” said Strouse. “I wasn’t hoping for a semi-slide, but it’s OK.”

Strouse was joined on the Class 2A podium inside the Giant Center by teammate Nate Wickersham, who concluded his second state tournament with an eighth-place finish at 182 pounds.

“Finally being able to do what I’ve thought of for basically all my life, getting on the podium at states, it feels really good,” Wickersham said.

After falling to eventual state champion and undefeated Colby Whitehill of Brookville Friday night in the semis, Strouse was disappointed to see his tournament end with two more losses, including a 3-2 setback to Burgettstown’s Riley Kemper in his fifth-place match.

Strouse took a 2-1 lead after a takedown with 0:17 remaining in the match. But Kemper countered with a reversal in the final seconds to win it.

It wasn’t the outcome he had hoped for. But the result didn’t diminish an already distinguished career.

“I hope kids watched Bronson wrestle through his high school career and they want to be like Bronson,” said Blue Raiders’ head coach Jim McCabe. “I hope they want 140-plus wins; to be a state qualifier; to work hard in the room to get better and be a leader.

“He’s on every single board we have in our wrestling room. He added a regional title last week, which is a huge accomplishment. He’s on the state qualifier board twice, and he’s on the board now for placing sixth.”

In addition to the regional title, Strouse also collected his second district crown this season.

“It was a fun ride to get to getting the sixth-place medal,” said Strouse.

Wickersham was pinned by Quaker Valley’s Patrick Cutchember in 2:20 in his match.

After a scoreless first period, Cutchember built a 4-0 advantage with a reversal and two back points before securing the fall.

Wickersham has made great strides this season to land on the podium after losing both of his matches in Hershey a year ago.

“From last year, I was really nervous coming out here,” said Wickersham, who was third at districts and fifth at regionals this season. “And then this year, doing it again, I felt more relaxed, and I thought that I was more calm and cool about what was going on and just soaking it in, and wrestling how I wanted. I really think that’s what made me get to the next level.

“I just want to be really conditioned well so that I could go for six minutes real hard and tough, and start scoring more on my feet. I want to get a little bit quicker for next year and a little bit more technical. If I do that, I definitely think I can get up a lot higher on the podium.”

Wickersham survived three brutal consolation matches to secure his spot on the podium. The junior started his run with a 6-5 win over Kane’s Cameron Whisner before topping Ian Eckenrode 10-9.

A 5-3 decision in sudden victory overtime over Bishop McDevitt’s Riley Robell, who pinned him a week earlier at regionals, put him on the medal stand.

Strouse flattened Tussey Mountain’s Matt Watkins in 0:28 to move into the quarters. He edged Northeast Bradford’s Dawson Brown 3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker period of overtime to reach the semis.

“I think winning it’s winning the close match,” McCabe said of the reason for Strouse and Wickersham’s success. “Those one-point matches, that when you get knocked out, you look at it and think, ‘I lost to that kid by a point and he took third. I lost to that kid and he took fifth.’

“That’s the difference. They won those one point matches, and that’s what got them the medals.”

And it’s something Wickersham will hope to build on next season.

“He has such a plethora of experience from wrestling so many matches the last two years it’s ungodly,” said McCabe. “(If) he works in the offseason, works on a few things here and there, he’s definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Regardless of the results in the end, Strouse and Wickersham proved themselves among the best wrestlers in Pennsylvania over the past three days.

“I’m extremely proud of the guys,” said McCabe. “This is a brutal tournament. Almost everybody’s faces are so bruised up and banged up … their bodies haven’t gone through something this rigorous in a long time.

“I’m sure when things settle down, and they look at the medal, they’re going to be extremely happy. They’ll always say, ‘I could have done a little bit better.’ But they can always say I placed. And not only was I top-20 in the state, but Bronson has done it three times, and now Nate has done it twice. And they got out of here with a medal.”

NOTES … Southern Columbia’s Gaige Garcia was named the Class 2A Outstanding Wrestler. Garcia, a defending champion who finished the season 49-0, defeated Brayden Herbster of Reynolds 7-0 in the 195-pound final.

The senior pinned his first three opponents in the first period to reach the final.

Casey Taylor of Reynolds was voted the PWCA Class 2A Coach of the Year.

Notre Dame Green Pond’s Ryan Crookham won his second straight state title with a 7-2 decision over Biglerville’s Levi Haines at 126 pounds. With the victory, the sophomore also recorded the 100thwin of his career.

Andrew Cerniglia gave the Crusaders two state championships with an 11-8 decision over Frazier’s Thayne Lawrence at 160 pounds. Lawrence was the defending champion at 160 and entered the match 24-0. Cerniglia was the champion at 145 pounds a year ago.

Notre Dame won the team title with 114 points ahead of Montoursville (103). Southern Columbia (98.5), Reynolds (84.5) and St. Joseph’s Catholic (75.5) rounded out the top-five. Saucon Valley (66) was eighth.