The Boyertown wrestling team poses with the PIAA runner-up trophy after finishing second at the PIAA Class AAA Team Championships on Feb. 13. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)
HERSHEY >> Boyertown’s latest visit to Chocolate Town U.S.A. was a memorable and enjoyable one.
Not even a finish one step below the top could dim the Bears’ euphoria over the outcome of their participation in the PIAA Team Championships this weekend.
Boyertown coach Pete Ventresca and Gregg Harvey walk away after shaking hands with Bethlehem Catholic following the championship of the PIAA Class AAA Team Duals Saturday at Giant Center. Bethlehem Catholic won 37-12. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)
A first-ever qualification for the Class AAA title match put to rest the quicker exits Boyertown made from the state duals the past two years. It was a satisfaction that couldn’t be dimmed by a 37-12 loss to Bethlehem Catholic in the championship pairing.
“The difference is having been here the last two years, and the disappointment of losing early,” team captain Jordan Wood said. “Now we made the state finals, and we’re the first team from Boyertown to do that.”
Unlike their previous mid-February trips to the Giant Center, which ended in the third round of consolations, the Bears were in it for the long run this time. The three-time District 1 champs got over the quarterfinal-round hump that tripped them up before, rolling up a 37-20 win on Canon McMillan Friday afternoon. Their dominating run continued in the evening session as they doubled up District 11 runner-up Nazareth, 38-19.
But it couldn’t duplicate that against Bethlehem Catholic, which came in as the District 11 duals champion. The Golden Hawks opened a 21-point lead through the first seven matches — six of which were decided by margins of four points or less — and used a pair of technical falls at 160 and 170 to build a match-clinching 31-3 lead with four weights to go.
“Their (BC) kids wrestled well,” Boyertown head coach Pete Ventresca said while clutching the runner-up team trophy. “That had to be their best match of the year, and it was a tough time for them to have it.”
Boyertown’s Jordan Wood pins Bethlehem Catholic’s Jase Crouse at 220. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)
BeCaHi had a decided 29-7 point edge through the first seven weights — starting at 106 and running through 145 — though their first-period differential at those weights was 8-3. Their closest victory in that span was at 113, where Ryan Anderson’s third-period escape off a bottom start was the difference in a 1-0 duel with Jakob Campbell.
J.T. Cooley had Boyertown’s best chance to break that surge, wrestling Jarred Papscy to a 1-1 draw in regulation at 138. But Papscy took the Bear junior down 25 seconds into the overtime frame for the victory.
“We knew we were in for it,” Venrtresca said.
Hunter Vogels snapped the Hawks’ run at 152, getting a 7-3 win on Ryan Zeiner. It proved a brief respite, though, as BeCaHi racked up tech-falls at 160 and 170 for the clinching lead.
Gregg Harvey came through for the Bears with a 3-1 decision of Adam Soldridge at 182, scoring an escape and takedown in the third period to erase Soldridge’s initial 1-0 lead. Jordan Wood then followed with the match’s lone pin, needing just 49 seconds to pin Jase Crouse at 220.
The Hawks punctuated those Bear points with one-point decisions at 195 and 285. Their final point margin in the 11 bouts not decided by pin or tech-fall was 40-22; their biggest individual margin of victory the 6-1 decision Stephen Maloney scored at 145.
“(Friday) we won a lot of close matches,” Wood said. “This is something we’ll look at. We’re looking forward to finishing first in the (Southeast) region and states.”
Boyertown’s Hunter Vogels works against Bethlehem Catholic’s Ryan Zeiner at 152. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)
Boyertown’s run through the early matches started with a 61-12 romp over District 9 champion Clearfield. BeCaHi, in turn, was dominant against District 2 champ Tunkhannock (56-11) and District 3 second seed Central Dauphin (38-13) prior to its finals-securing 33-30 win over District 7 top seed Belle Vernon — the final score made close by the Hawks opting to forfeit the final two weight classes.
“Getting to the finals was a great thing. We enjoyed it,” Ventresca said. “It was a great trip. We couldn’t have expected more.”
With the dual-match portion of their schedule now complete, the Bears (22-1) now turn their attention to the post-season individual tournaments. The run starts next weekend when they host the Pioneer Athletic Conference Championship, followed on successive weekends by the District 1-AAA West competition again at Spring-Ford and the Southeast AAA Regional at Souderton … then a return trip to Hershey.
“At states, we should see a lot of these teams,” Ventresca said. “It should be great.”
“We see now what we have to do against the best kids from the west side of the state,” Wood added.
NOTES >> The AAA third-place match saw Belle Vernon edge Nazareth, 30-28. … The AA title was claimed by Brookville (Dist. 9 champ) in a 33-24 victory over Saucon Valley (Dist. 11 champ). Reynolds (Dist. 10 champ) took the third-place match from Boiling Springs (Dist. 3 runner-up), 45-21. … Council Rock South, the team Boyertown topped for its third district-duals title last weekend, bowed out in the third round of consolations to Central Dauphin, 48-16.
