Led by Hunter Gimbor’s gold medal performance, five local wrestlers advanced on to the District 3-AA wrestling tournament. The five got there by finishing in the top five at the Section II tournament held in Hamburg on Feb. 13 and 14.
Gimbor earned his first place finish in the 138 pound weight class. Kutztown’s Kody Reichart (220) and Brandywine Heights’ Colin Conrad (285) each finished second. Cole Swackhamer (195) of Brandywine Heights took third place, and his teammate, Trevor Gimbor (106), was fifth.
Hunter Gimbor began his gold medal trek with a 37 second pin of Luke Ruffner of Tulpehocken in the quarterfinals of the 138 pound weight class. He followed that up with a 10-0 victory over Chris Kosinski of Trinity. That put him in the championship bout against Quinn Blatt of Northern Lebanon. Gimbor came away with a 3-1 victory.
At 220 pounds, Kody Reichart began with a pin of Jason Price of Columbia in 1:03. In the semifinals, Reichart pinned Joe Martin of Trinity, sending him to the championship bout. There Kody lost to Matt Vines of Northern Lebanon in overtime, 5-4.
At 285 pounds, Colin Conrad received a bye in the quarterfinals, then pinned Thomas Phillips of Columbia in just 29 seconds of their semifinals round bout. In the championship bout, Robert Dunbar of Wyomissing defeated Conrad in overtime, 3-1.
At 195 pounds, Cole Swackhamer got his tournament underway by pinning Phil Donner of Kutztown in 2:32. Swackhamer was derailed in the semifinals, where he lost to Brandon Light of Annville-Cleona, 9-7. That sent him to the consolation round where he pinned Hunter Wallace of Northern Lebanon in 2:40. Then in the third place bout, he pinned Donnie Broomell of Pequea Valley in 2:40.
At 106, Trevor Gimbor opened up his tournament with a pin of Nick Card of Lancaster Catholic in just 25 seconds. But he met his match in the semifinals where he lost a 4-2 decision to Luke Pipa of Trinity. That sent him to the wrestleback bracket where he lost to Zach Renninger of Annville-Cleona, 2-0. Gimbor was still alive though, wrestling in the fifth place bout to keep his season alive. He did just that when he earned a 1-0 decision over Caleb Bentley of Trinity.
