HERSHEY — The “blood round.’
In wrestling parlance, it’s the stage of a tournament where winning and losing makes all the difference between going home with some kind of medal … or going home with nothing but memories.
It’s the round where Gregg Harvey and Jakob Campbell saw their hopes for PIAA medals end last year. So this time around, the two Boyertown grapplers were determined to steer clear of that round … and they got a leg up on that accomplishment Thursday.
Harvey and Campbell were part of a 5-for-5 the Bears executed during the opening session of Class AAA competition at the PIAA Championships. They won their respective first-round championship bouts at 182 and 106, joining three other teammates remaining in the hunt for gold medals at the Giant Center.
Boyertown teammates Lucas Miller (126), Jordan Wood (220) and Tommy Killoran (285) completed Boyertown’s sweep of the first-round opposition. Joining them are Owen J. Roberts’ Derek Gulotta (120) and Xavier Ferrizzi (195) and Upper Perkiomen’s Dustin Steffenino (113).
“Getting that first win is big,’ Harvey said. “This is a hard tournament.’
Coming off a loss in the championship match at the Southeast AAA Regional, Harvey (43-7) was determined to get back on the winning track in a big way. He achieved that with a gritty 6-4 decision of Wallenpaupack’s Jared Wehrmann, coming on strong in the latter minutes to pull off the victory.
“I had to keep my head going to states, think positive,’ Harvey said. “I wanted to keep a high pace … keep the match how I wanted it.’
Campbell was equally as determined to not go through another early exit at states. The Bear sophomore (39-10) took care of his business with an 8-6 decision of Bethlehem Liberty’s Luke Werner to get his team’s roll going.
“I just had to believe in myself and stay positive,’ he said. “I felt good things could happen, and to let the chips fall where they may.’
Following Campbell’s lead, Miller (40-10) edged Hazleton Area’s James Hoffman 4-3, Wood (17-0) pinned Pittstown Area’s Jake Vaxmonsky in 1:42, and Killoran (41-11) handled Titusville’s Jason Oakes 9-3.
They join their fellow PAC-10 grapplers for Friday’s quarterfinal-round competition at 1:30 p.m. Winning there puts the “blood round’ well in the rear-view mirror of their medal aspirations.
“It’s a good start,’ head coach Pete Ventresca said. “Come this time of year, the level of wrestling is different. We wanted to hang in tough, and fortunately we pulled it all out.’
Gulotta (34-8) got his bid for a fourth-straight state medal going with a 7-5 decision of Cumberland Valley’s Wyatt Long. He’s up one weight class from the 113-pound bracket where he placed fourth in 2014.
Ferrizzi (38-5) had to go overtime to stay in the gold-medal hunt. But he accomplished that, topping Central Dauphin’s Steven McNeal 3-1.
Steffenino (36-1) continued his season-long romp at 113 with a 3:45 pin of Jersey Shore’s Hunter Zondory. The Indian senior is looking to improve on the eighth-place medal he claimed in the division last year.
NOTES — Two area wrestlers — Methacton’s Bryce Reddington, Spring-Ford’s Frankie Krauss — were the only winners among the area’s grapplers who started out in the preliminary round. Reddington nipped Carlisle’s Brady Meals 3-2, and Krauss topped Bangor’s Dallas Labar, 7-3. Reddington and Krauss rebounded from losses in the first championship round with victories in the first round of consolations. Reddington (132) went overtime to top Upper Dublin’s Colin Devlin, 3-2, while Krauss (160) won by forfeit over Spring Grove’s Marcus Kehr. … Owen J’s Ryan Resnick (113) and Demetri D’Orsaneo (138) also won in first round consis. D’Orsaneo decisioned Spring-Ford’s Matt Krieble 8-0. …
In other consolation action, Upper Perk’s Eric Miller (138) was doubled up by Father Judge’s Kyle Mallon 8-4; Pottstown’s Bryant Wise (138) was forced to forfeit due to a dislocated elbow he suffered during his preliminary round match; Spring-Ford’s Jon Cooper (152) was topped by Garnet Valley’s Pat Rowe, 5-2; SF’s Steve Rice (170) fell to Father Judge’s Idris White, 9-7; and the Rams’ Brendan Zimmie (195) handled Coatesville’s Wesley McGuire, 4-2. … Dropping into second-round consolations with losses Thursday were Spring-Ford’s Ryan Hayes (120) and Zach Dorsey (285) and Owen J.’s Dominick Petrucelli (145).
