Josh Giorgio and Cody Miller win state medals
The contingent of four local wrestlers traveled to Hershey this past weekend to compete in the PIAA State Wrestling Championships. Two of them came home with just what they’ve been aiming for all season, a state medal.
Schuylkill Valley’s Josh Giorgio came home with a second place medal, and Hamburg’s Cody Miller earned an eighth place medal.
Hamburg’s Sean Stanish and Schuylkill Valley’s Ryan Ramich each lost their first two bouts and were eliminated from the tournament.
Giorgio began his medal trek with a 3-0 victory over Lewis Williams of Central Columbia in their first round bout in the 126 pound weight class. In the quarterfinals, Giorgio won a 3-2 battle over Dante Albanese of Pius X.
That sent Giorgio to the semifinals where he came away with an 11-1 victory over Grant Bond of Boiling Springs.
Giorgio was then just one win away from a state gold medal. But in that championship bout, Zeke Moisey of Bethlehem Catholic defeated Giorgio, 11-1, giving Giorgio a second place medal.
Miller began his tournament with a 13-1 victory over Mohamed Messai of Jamestown in the first round of the 182 pound weight class. His hopes of a gold medal disappeared in the quarterfinals, with Miller lost a 4-2 decision to Isaiah Bobotas of Montgmery.
Miller’s shot at a gold was dashed, but he could still earn a medal through the wrestleback bracket. He began with a 3-2 victory over Connor Frey of Lehighton. He then lost a 9-2 decision to Valley’s Terrell Fields.
The loss sent Miller to the seventh place bout where he was pinned in 2:17 by Colton Dull of Bermudian Springs. That gave Miller his eighth place medal.
At 152 pounds, Ramich lost to Robert Boozer of Cochranton in the first round, on a pin in 1:29. In his first wrestleback bout, Ramich suffered a 10-2 loss to Taylor Cahill of Berlin-Bros Valley. That ended his season with an overall record of 40-7.
At 120 pounds, Stanish lost a 9-0 decision to George Phillips of Derry Area in the first round, then fell 11-1 to Matt Wheeler of Northwestern. Stanish finished with an overall record of 43-12.
