Wait is worth it for Conestoga’s McLellan; Kennett’s six make history

FRANCONIA >> In the first period of the 172-pound final, Conestoga’s Hayden McLellan arched back, grinning at the referee as he waited for him to start counting near-fall points.

McLellan believed he was in criteria to earn some back points. The ref disagreed, but McLellan did manage to score an early four points. If it was short-term patience that led to that eventual lead, it was that longer term resilience that had him in that spot in the first place.

McLellan converted that early lead into the first title by a Pioneer at the Class 3A Southeast Regional since Jack Chidester in 2008. 

“I feel like it was long overdue,” McLellan said. “I’ve always had the talent. Whether it was getting sick or not peaking at the right time, it just didn’t work out.”

Earlier on Saturday, McLellan won his 100th career bout. It was his second pin of the two-day tournament. He followed it up with a major decision in the semifinals before defeating Pennridge’s Talan Hogan, 6-3, for gold to qualify for states for the first time.

“My teammates and I did a lot of offseason wrestling,” said McLellan, a senior. “It was a lot of coaches and a lot of specialized time to hone our attack.”

Conestoga tied a school record with three qualifying for the PIAA Championships, which begin Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Jake Allred (189 pounds) also made the finals but wound up on the wrong end of a 6-2 decision to Owen J. Roberts’ Dean Becthold, for his second straight trip. Miles Warkentine (127) won the fifth-place bout to grab the final spot.

The Pioneers finished seventh as a team, while Kennett was the highest local finisher, claiming third, which is highest in program history. 

The Blue Demons did it with another program record, six state qualifiers. Blake Boyer (127) made history as the first freshman to qualify when he used a cradle to pin Spring-Ford’s Quinn Smith in the semifinals. Later in the day, Zack Jaffe (121) became the second freshman to advance with a fifth-place finish.

Boyer fell in the finals, 1-0, to Council Rock North’s returning third-place state medalist, Eren Sement.

“It means a lot,” Boyer said of his accomplishment. “All the training I’ve put in and all the opportunities my dad gave me are starting to pay off for me.”

Kane Lengel (133), Josh Barlow (160), John Pardo (215) and Bailey Shindle (285) finished third for the Blue Demons, helping them 114 team points, behind Pennridge (128.5) and champion, Quakertown (129.5).

“I’m really proud with how they trained and how they competed and also with how they carried themselves,” Kennett coach Kevin Reigel said of his team. “They’re a good bunch of young men.”

West Chester Henderson’s Carmen Cortese (133) and Oxford’s Austin McMillan (139) navigated their ways to the finals, but settled for second. 

Cortese fell victim to Boyertown’s Gavin Sheridan, 8-4, but became a three-time state qualifier.

“I’m a third period wrestler,” Cortese said. “All throughout the season I excelled in the later periods, but this match it seemed to be the opposite.”

McMillan won the coin toss going into a scoreless ultimate tiebreaker, and he chose top against Pennridge’s Sam Kuhns. But Kuhns was able to sneak away for the first time, after getting ridden out the previous two minutes, 30 seconds he was under, to win, 1-0.

“It’s definitely bittersweet,” said McMillan, who qualified for states for the first time. “It was a tough last match, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I was JV as a freshman and went 1-2 at districts my sophomore year. I’m glad I could make the finals this year.”

Oxford’s Jeremy McKinney (189) placed fourth to earn his first trip to Hershey. 

West Chester East’s Max Parnis (145) dropped his semi against Sun Valley’s Brandon Carr, but wrestled back to take third.

Coatesville’s Andrij Szczesniuk (121) is headed to Chocolatetown for the first time with a fourth-place finish and Unionville’s Topher Tryon (160) pinned Pennridge’s Ryan Gallagher to claim fifth in his last chance at states.

The Ches-Mont League is sending 14 wrestlers to states, including Carr and Hunter Delaney (127) of Sun Valley. Nineteen wrestlers from Chester County will compete in Hershey, with Owen J. Roberts’ Sam Gautreau (152), Dean Bechtold (189) and Dillon Becthold (215) winning titles and Mason Karkoska (139) taking fifth.

Team Scores 

1. Quakertown (QT) 129.5; 2. Pennridge (PRG) 128.5; 3. Kennett (KNT) 114.0; 4. Owen J. Roberts (OJR) 100.5; 5. Council Rock South (CRS) 98.5; 6. Perkiomen Valley (PKV) 91.0; 7. Conestoga (CNST) 66.5; 8. Spring-Ford (SF) 59.5; 9. Strath Haven (SH) 51.0; 10. Sun Valley (SUV) 49.0; 11. Oxford Area (OX) 45.5; 12. Boyertown (BT) 42.0; 13. Council Rock North (CRN) 35.0; 14. Downingtown West (DW) 33.5; 15. Central Bucks West (CBW) 33.0; 16. Central Bucks South (CBS) 32.0; 16. Pennsbury (PBY) 32.0; 18. Neshaminy (NESH) 31.0; 18. Ridley (RID) 31.0; 20. Haverford High (HAV) 30.0; 21. West Chester Henderson (WCH) 27.5; 22. Upper Perkiomen (UPE) 26.0; 23. Central Bucks East (CBE) 24.0; 24. Pottsgrove (PG) 23.0; 25. Souderton (SOU) 22.5; 26. West Chester East (WCE) 20.5; 27. Garnet Valley (GAV) 17.5; 28. Hatboro-Horsham (HH) 17.0; 29. Chichester (CHI) 16.0; 29. Harriton (HAR) 16.0; 31. Lower Merion (LME) 14.0; 32. Unionville (UNV) 13.5; 33. Coatesville (CTV) 12.0; 33. Radnor (RAD) 12.0; 35. Methacton (MTH) 11.0; 36. Plymouth Whitemarsh (PWM) 10.0; 37. Avon Grove (AGR) 8.0; 38. Wissahickon (WIS) 7.0; 39. Upper Dublin (UDU) 6.0; 40. Bensalem (BNS) 5.5; 41. Norristown (NT) 4.0; 41. Upper Moreland (UMO) 4.0; 43. Abington (AB) 1.0; 43. Cheltenham (CHE) 1.0; 45. Academy Park (AP) 0.0; 45. Downingtown East (DE) 0.0; 45. Harry S. Truman (HST) 0.0; 45. Interboro (INT) 0.0; 45. Penn Wood (PNW) 0.0; 45. West Chester Rustin (WCR) 0.0

Championship Finals

107 — Colby Martinelli (PRG) dec. Curtis Nelson (RID) 8-5
114 — Chris Dennis (CBW) dec. Cole McFarland (HAV) 4-3
121 — Mason Ziegler (QT) maj. dec. Quinn McBride (PRG) 16-2
127 — Eren Sement (CRN) dec. Blake Boyer (KNT) 1-0
133 — Gavin Sheridan (BT) dec. Carmen Cortese (WCH) 8-4
139 — Sam Kuhns (PRG) dec. Austin McMillan (OX) UTB 1-0
145 — Collin Gaj (QT) maj. dec. Brandon Carr (SUV) 18-8
152 — Sam Gautreau (OJR) won by tech. fall over Zach Borzio (QT) 5:44 (21-5)
160 — Bekhruz Sadriddinov (CRS) maj. dec. Gavin Pascoe (PKV) 14-5
172 — Hayden McLellan (CNST) dec. Talan Hogan (PRG) 6-3
189 — Dean Bechtold (OJR) dec. Jake Allred (CNST) 6-2
215 — Dillon Bechtold (OJR) dec. Calvin Lachman (QT) 3-1
285 — Joe Collins (CBE) dec. Ben Farabaugh (SH) UTB 1-0

Consolation Finals

107 — Max Tancini (PKV) dec. Gus Smith (SF) 6-0
114 — Cole Coffin (PRG) pinned Luke Reitter (CRS) 3:57
121 — Branden Rozanski (UPE) dec. Andrij Szczesniuk (CTV) 12-7
127 — Quinn Smith (SF) dec. Hunter Delaney (SUV) 8-3
133 — Kane Lengel (KNT) pinned Nadav Nafshi (HAR) 3:03
139 — Gavin Carroll (QT) dec. Jake Neill (CBS) 2-1
145 — Max Parnis (WCE) dec. Beknazar Baiyshbekov (NESH) 10-5
152 — Dan Hansbury (NESH) won by inj. default over Kelly Kakos (PKV) 1:44
160 — Josh Barlow (KNT) dec. Shane McGurrin (PBY) 5-3
172 — Carson Pascoe (PKV) pinned Mason Richards (SF) 3:28
189 — Sam Milligan (SH) dec. Jeremy McKinney (OX) 3-1
215 — John Pardo (KNT) pinned Dominic DeMeno (PG) 4:26
285 — Bailey Shindle (KNT) pinned Collin Goetter (CBS) 4:49

Fifth-place

107 — Connor Lenahan (CRS) won by tech. fall over Akahi Heywood (RAD) 6:00 (15-0)
114 — Isaac Williams (QT) pinned Chase Sigle (DW) 5:51
121 — Zack Jaffe (KNT) dec. Pat Woloshyn (CRS) 3-0
127 — Miles Warkentine (CNST) dec. Patrick Kelly (CBW) SV-1 6-4
133 — Ben Brillhart (CRS) dec. Ashton Wittenberg (PWM) 3-0
139 — Mason Karkoska (OJR) dec. Christopher Staub (HH) 9-2
145 — Blake Bryant (CHI) dec. Andrew Lindros (CRS) 6-5
152 — Gavin Cole (CRS) dec. Trenton Allen (PG) 11-5
160 — Topher Tryon (UNV) pinned Ryan Gallagher (PRG) 3:00
172 — Ben Beckett (SOU) dec. Mason Keller (PBY) 9-8
189 — Carter Euker (PKV) dec. Hutton Smith (LME) 8-3
215 — Grant Euker (PKV) dec. Anthony Crawford (SH) 6-3
285 — Dylan Bledsoe (GAV) dec. Temitayo Seyi-David (LME) 3-1