SHILLINGTON >> He can’t deny the expended effort paid off in a big way.
Chase Stehman achieved a personal goal Saturday during the District 3-AAA Section 1 Tournament. The Daniel Boone senior claimed the 120-pound sectional championship to cap two days’ action at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School, his first in a scholastic career split evenly between Birdsboro and Boyertown High School.
Stehman scored gold with a 6-2 decision of Wilson’s Dominic Jurado, starting the Blazers toward a three-medal outing that culminated in a seventh-place team finish. Running his season record to 26-1, he cited one key component in his successful showings to date.
“It was hard work, extra work … the kind you don’t want to put in,” Stehman said. “I try to keep on scoring and be in non-stop action.”
Daniel Boone’s Canton Dolla won gold at Saturday’s District 3-AAA Section 1 wrestling tournament. (Jeff Stover – MediaNews Group)
He’s also driving for another personal mark: Reaching the 100-win plateau before his high-school time comes to an end. He came out of the weekend with 89 and is shooting to close the gap during next weekend’s South Central AAA Regional tournament and the PIAA finale two weeks later.
“That’s all I’m working for,” he said. “It was one of my dreams since I was age five. That and getting a place at states.”
In the championship final, Stehman spotted Jurado a first-period takedown, answering with an escape and takedown for a 3-2 lead. Starting from the bottom in the second, the Boone senior escaped and took Jurado down to build a 6-2 lead.
That score remained unchanged through the third. The championship finish by Stehman put him one better than last year’s runner-up sectional showing.
“Non-stop movement, pushing forward with a lot of action,” was Stehman’s recall of the bout. He’s thrived since joining the Blazer mat program during his junior year.
“Boone is more like family,” Chase said. “I fit in right away. I knew a lot of the guys from club wrestling.”
Boone’s other gold medalist, Canton Dolla, exceeded the time-worn truism about “it’s not over until time runs out.” In his championship duel with Cocalico’s Grant Swann, the final outcome wasn’t decided until several seconds after the final ticks.
It initially appeared Swann overturned Dolla’s 2-1 lead with a last-millisecond takedown. A post-match review, however, determined the drop wasn’t scored before time expired, giving Dolla (22-7) a gold medal instead of silver.
“I knew he didn’t have the two because of his positioning,” Dolla said. “I saw the clock was at 0:00, but he kept wrestling.”
“Dolla went the whole six minutes to squeak by,” DB head coach Jim Hogan added. “The referees awarded the reversal after time ran out.”
Dolla’s sectional title was a career first for him. He placed second during his freshman and sophomore seasons.
“I’m excited to get the championship,” he said.
J.T. Hogan became Boone’s third medalist by qualifying for the 145-pound championship bout against Garden Spot’s Gunner Gehr. The Blazer sophomore (29-2) ended up on the short side of a 4-3 verdict against Gehr, the tournament’s eventual Outstanding Wrestler.
“He did a nice job getting to the finals,” Coach Hogan said of J.T., who scored sectional gold as a freshman.
Boone’s seventh-place team finish was bolstered by the trio of Josh Smith (152), Colby Pyle (170) and Kyle Bernet (285). They were all finalists in their respective weight classes, though their placements fell below regional qualification.
Smith and Pyle were sixth, and Bernet came home fifth after pinning Cedar Crest’s Owen Kreider in 3:46.
“It was bittersweet,” Coach Hogan said of the weekend’s result. “We had guys get some wrestling in, and they’re building for the future.”
NOTES >> Purshotma Singh (113), Michael Elphick (138) and Colin Leahy (220) were eliminated in Saturday’s early session. All three had qualified by going 1-1 during Friday’s action. … The top four placers in each weight class qualified for next weekend’s South Central AAA Regional tournament at Spring Grove. Boone’s three medalists were all regional qualifiers last year, each going 1-2 in their brackets. … Exeter finished as the team champion, its 212 points ahead of runner-up Garden Spot (196.5) and third-place Wilson (186). The Eagles had four individual champions among their six medalists and 10 finalists. … Garden Spot’s Gunner Gehr, the 145-pound champion, was named the tourney’s Outstanding Wrestler. Gehr had a quarterfinal-round pin and sudden-victory decision in the semifinals in addition to his decision over Boone’s Hogan in their title bout.
