HERSHEY >> He’s still in the hunt for a state wrestling gold medal … an intimidating thought for some people, even more so for one who’s in his first foray at this level of competition.
Brandon Meredith, however, is not allowing that to overpower his senses this weekend.
Spring-Ford’s Brandon Meredith celebrates after beating Patrick Gould of East Stroudsburg South in overtime of the 106-pound quarterfinals Friday at the PIAA Wrestling Championships. (Nate Heckenberger – For Digital First Media)
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” the Spring-Ford sophomore said after a productive outing Friday at the Giant Center. Meredith reached the 106-pound bracket’s semifinal round with a 7-5 overtime victory over East Stroudsburg South’s Patrick Gould, one of just two area wrestlers to remain in the Class AAA championship bracket of the PIAA Championships.
Through all the stress and sweat, Meredith maintained the mental direction he brought to Hershey this weekend.
“My focus is to stay with my game plan, to wrestle as hard as I can,” he said.
Meredith and Boyertown’s Tommy Killoran, who’s enjoying a similar status at heavyweight, are the bookends for five other local grapplers who stayed in medal-round contention through the bracket’s quarterfinal and two consolation rounds. At the same time, four others from Pioneer Athletic Conference teams saw their seasons ended with their second losses of the double-elimination tourney.
Boyertown’s Jakob Campbell (113) and Gregg Harvey (182) are joined by Spring-Ford’s Steve Rice (170) and Daniel Boone’s Jesse Enck (220) in pursuit of medals awarded to the top eight finishers in each weight class. Saturday’s AAA session will align the survivors in bouts to decide the various medal types being offered.
For Meredith and Killoran, gold is within their reach. They need only win their semifinal pairings — Meredith (36-7) against Seneca Valley sophomore Louis Newell, Killoran (41-7) against Bethlehem Catholic’s Niko Camacho — to make the Parade of Champions.
“I’m going to keep wrestling my style, going after kids,” Killoran said in the wake of his first-period pin on Exeter’s Oscar Daniels. “I know they (opponents) are all tough, but if I wrestle my matches, I’ll get the wins.”
Boyertown’s Jakob Campbell struggles for positioning against Devin Schnupp of Warwick in a 3-2 loss in the 113-pound quarterfinal. Campbell wrestled back to clinch a second-straight medal. (Nate Heckenberger – For Digital First Media)
Meredith has the same plan going. It worked for him Thursday in a 6-4 decision of North Allegheny’s Jacob Downing, and it served him just as well against Gould, a freshman sporting a 32-3 record prior to facing off against Meredith.
“I was scrambling, and better on my feet,” he said. “I did my shots well and finished them.
“I was disappointed I couldn’t get off the bottom, but I’ll talk with my coaches and see what I can do.”
Killoran employed the formula that got him gold medals at all three previous stops of the postseason … getting the slap on opponents in eight of nine bouts at those tournaments.
“The opportunity was there,” he said of his quarterfinal bout with Daniels, ended in 1:28 with his first fall here. “I tossed the hips and got the pin.”
Harvey’s closing on a personal milestone was detoured by a 6-2 loss to Cedar Cliff’s Josh Colello in the quarters. But his subsequent 7-1 verdict on Dallas’ cole Dixon was his 50th of the season, matching the program record Jordan Wertz set during the 2013-14 season.
Spring-Ford’s Steve Rice celebrates after beating Council Rock North’s Josh Shalinsky to earn a medal at 170 pounds Friday at the PIAA Championships in Hershey. (Nate Heckenberger – For Digital First Media)
“Right now, I just want to come back and get third,” he said. His bid to do so will go through Lower Dauphin’s Evan Morrill in the fourth round of consolations.
Campbell (34-5) got dropped into wrestlebacks off a 3-2 loss to Warwick’s Devin Schnupp. But he got new life in his bid to win another state medal — the Bear junior placed third at 106 last year — by edging Nazareth’s Ryan O’Grady 2-1.
Rice (38-5) continued his roll in wrestlebacks, after falling to Belle Vernon’s Austin Bell in his opener. He scored a 5-3 decision of Council Rock North’s Josh Shalinsky to get in position for a medal in his second trip to Hershey.
Enck (38-4) became Boone’s first wrestler to qualify for states since Tyler Swartz in 2008, and he will be the first to medal since Chris Gallino (189) and Carmello Marreo (275) placed fifth in 1999. He pulled out a 5-4 decision on Shippensburg’s Cameron Tinner that was every bit as tense as the final score might indicate.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “I got a takedown at the end. It was unexpected … I just went after it.”
The team standings following Friday’s action showed Boyertown tied with Pennridge for eighth place, each with 28 points. Bethlehem Catholic — the team that consigned the Bears to second place in the PIAA Class AAA Duals Tournament one month ago — is first with 68.5 points and five of its six wrestlers are in the championship end of their weight classes.
NOTES >> Among the Berks Conference wrestlers remaining in medal contention were Exeter’s Austin Desanto (120) and Brett Kulp (132) and Gov. Mifflin’s Dylan Harr (195). DeSanto and Harr are still in the championship brackets of their weights. … The AAA action starts 9 a.m. Saturday with semifinals and fourth-round consolations at 9 a.m., and fifth-round consis at 11:30 a.m. Following the AA medal matches at 2 p.m., the AAA comes back to the Giant Center for its medal matches at 7 p.m.
