HERSHEY >> He doesn’t have the same level of experience wrestling at Hershey’s Giant Center as other local grapplers.
But Brandon Meredith is proving to be a quick study. As such, the Spring-Ford sophomore ranks as one of the more successful contestants coming out of the first day of the PIAA Championships’ Class AAA competition.
Boyertown’s Tommy Killoran takes Hollidaysburg’s Hunter Gill down leading to a 3-0 win in the 285-pound first round match. (Nate Heckenberger – For Pa Prep Live)
Meredith made his state-level debut a memorable one, scoring a 6-4 decision on North Allegheny’s Jacob Downing. The Spring-Ford sophomore (35-7), coming off a championship run in the Southeast AAA Regional last weeekend, faces East Stroudsburg South freshman Patrick Gould, the Northeast region’s runner-up, in Friday’s quarterfinal action at 106.
Though he had no scouting report on Downing, who came out to Hershey out of a fourth-place showing at the Southwest Regional, Meredith didn’t see that as a disadvantage.
“It’s helpful,” he said. “I don’t know what they have, and they don’t know what I have. It’s easier to go out and wrestle someone you don’t know anything about.”
Instead, Meredith focused on the style that helped him qualify for his first trip to states after not getting out of the regional his freshman year.
“I want to stay on offense, even when I’m up. I don’t want to let my guard down … to wrestle as hard as I can,” he said.
As for the potential awe of performing in the spacious Giant Center arena — circled by banks of seats filled with spectators — Meredith was able to draw advice from assistant coach Tom Hontz, well-versed on the Giant Center atmosphere.
“He told me to go out and have fun,” Meredith said. “There are no guarantees. You don’t know how many more times you’ll be out there.”
Meredith (35-7) was one of the few bright spots for the local contingent competing at Hershey. Only four of 16 wrestlers from the PAC-10 advanced through first-round championship marches to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Boyertown’s Gregg Harvey holds against Waynesburg Central’s Colin Mccracken for a 3-2 win in the 182-pound first round bout. (Nate Heckenberger – For Pa Prep Live)
Gregg Harvey, no stranger to wrestling at the Giant Center — he’s been here three times for the PIAA Class AAA Duals tournament, and twice before in individual tournaments — added to his superiority over Waynesburg Central’s Colin McCracken by posting a 3-2 decision.
“This is my third trip to Hershey for the individual championships,” he said, “so I’m pretty used to this environment. I was comfortable with my performance. I went out and did my thing … getting my offense going, keeping the match at my pace.”
Tommy Killoran, another alumnus of Boyertown’s “Fab Five” state-medal fraternity from 2015, was another picture of comfort in his first-round 285-pound opener with Hollidaysburg’s Hunter Gill. The Bear senior (40-7) blanked Gill 3-0 to join Harvey and 113-pound teammate Jakob Campbell — a 3-2 winner over Hempfield Area’s Vince Distefanis in their 113-pound opener — in the gold-medal hunt.
“It’s nice to get that first win out of the way, to get the match in,” Killoran, a champion at every level of the post-season from PAC-10s to regionals, said.
Boyertown’s Lucas Miller stayed alive in the 126 consolation bracket by edging Chambersburg’s Aaron Rump, 1-0. Spring-Ford senior Steve Rice did the same at 170, though in a more-decisive 15-4 major decision.
Friday’s second round of consolations will see Boyertown’s Matt Wilde (106), Spring-Ford’s Hunter Mitch (120), Methacton’s Bryce Reddington (145), Owen J. Roberts Xavier Ferrizzi (195) and Daniel Boone’s Jesse Enck (220) all trying to keep going toward medals despite having their first losses.
NOTES >> Friday’s AAA action will start at 2 p.m. with quarterfinals and second-round consolations. Third-round consolations follow at 5 p.m. … Class AA will dominate the second-day schedule with quarterfinals and second-round consolations at 9 a.m., third-round consis at 11:45 a.m., semifinals and fourth-round consolations at 7:30 p.m. and fifth-round consis at 9:30 p.m. … Pottstown’s Bryant Wise earned a place at states for a third time as regional runner-up at 145 but did not compete due to injury.
