Governor Mifflin’s Jan Johnson takes gold at states

Governor Mifflin’s Jan Johnson completed an amazing wrestling season this past weekend by taking a gold medal in the 195 pound weight class at the PIAA State Wrestling Championships in Hershey. He becomes the second Governor Mifflin wrestler to win state gold in team history. Corey Houser completed the feat in 2007.

Exeter’s Brett Kulp also came home with a medal when he finished fifth in the 106 pound weight class.

Tristan Watts and Ethan Stever were both eliminated after losing their first two bouts.

Johnson collected his first state gold medal and completed his season with a nearly perfect 44-1 record.

He started his trek through the 195 pound weight class with a 7-1 first round victory over Zach Smith of North Allegheny. In the quarterfinals, Johnson just got by Tom Sleigh of DuBois, 4-3.

Johnson needed an overtime period to get by Norwin’s Andrew Phipps, 3-1, sending him to the championship bout. There he earned a 6-0 victory over Nezar Haddad of Parkland.

For Kulp, he began his tournament with a 5-0 victory over Cole Manley of Altoona in the first round. His quarterfinal round bout ended in a 5-2 victory for Kulp over Jakob Campbell of Boyertown, sending him to the semifinals.

There Kulp met his match, losing a 6-4 decision to Devin Brown of Franklin Regional. The loss sent Kulp to the wrestleback bracket where he lost a 2-1 decision to Kordell Rush of Pennridge.

That sent Kulp to the fifth place bout where he won a 6-5 decision over Gage Curry of North Hills.

For Watts, his tournament ended when he lost a 1-0 decision ton John Ritter of Liberty in the first round, then fell to Ben Ross of Pennridge, 5-1 in the first round of the consolation bracket.

In the 145 pound bracket, Stever lost on a technical fall, 25-10, to Solomon Chishko of Canon McMillan in the first round. He then lost a 6-4 overtime decision to Shane Ruhnke of Great Valley in the consolation round.