Exeter takes second at sectional tournament

With four first place winners, the Exeter High School wrestling team captured second place at the District 3-AAA Section 4 Tournament held this past weekend at Governor Mifflin.

Governor Mifflin captured third place as a team, with a pair of first place winners.

Exeter had 122.5 team points, well behind first place Wilson. Mifflin had 94 team points 5.5 points ahead of fourth place Twin Valley.

The top three wrestlers in each weight class advance on to the District 3 Tournament this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22. Although, tho top four wrestlers advanced from the 126 and 220 weight classes, which was good news for Daniel Boone’s Mason Hoffman who was fourth at 220.

Exeter will advance its four weight class winners – Brett Kulp (106), Austin DeSanto (113), Scott Baker (138) and Ethan Stever (145). Tyler Bagoly will also advance on after his second place finish at 120 pounds, while Tristan Watts (126) and Andrew Bennett (152) each finished third to advance on.

For Governor Mifflin, Jan Johnson (195) and Keith Miller (285) each came home with first place medals, while Zach Sheetz (113), Allen Arentz (120) and Colin Johnson (138) all advance with third place finishes.

Mifflin’s Wilson Fontanez (170) and Exeter’s Justin Landis (132) both missed the cut by finishing fourth, as did Daniel Boone’s Brenda Valverde (182) and Jeff Yohn (195).

Kulp earned his gold medal with a 12-0 decision over Tyler Wilkes of Wilson in the championship bout. Kulp needed just 1:37 to pin Alex Centeno of Governor Mifflin in the semifinals, and just 43 seconds to pin Kyle Walter of Muhlenberg in the quarterfinals.

For DeSanto, his 18-9 decision over Trever Leonard of Cedar Crest in the championship match made him the 113 pound weight class champion. He decisioned Sheetz in the semifinals, 9-4, and won by a technical over Steve Ramos of Reading, 20-5.

In Baker’s championship bout, he had a 7-3 decision over Tyler Davis of Reading. In his semifinal match-up, Baker just got past Colin Johnson, 3-2. In the quarterfinals, Baker pinned Jordan Wissinger of Garden Spot in 5:04.

Stever’s 4-3 decision over Alex Aharonian of Garden Spot gave him first place at 145. He earned a 5-2 decision over Gage Griffith of Reading in the semifinals, and pinned Tanner Vogel of Wilson in the quarterfinals.

Bagoly was pinned in 1:29 by Aaron Wildonger of Twin Valley in the 120 championship match, after earning a 6-1 decision over Owen Powell of Daniel Boone in the semifinals, and a 1-0 victory over Dillon Kramer of Conrad Weiser in the quarterfianls.

Fernandez was Boone’s only wrestler in the championship round, but just fell short in a 3-2 loss to Jacob Yancey of Wilson. In the semifinals, Fernandez pinned Ben Maack of Governor Mifflin in 4:56, and needed just 17 seconds to pin Dwayne McQueen of Lebanon in the quarterfinals.