HERSHEY >> The idea of a slow and steady rise to a state power pretty much went out the window for Faith Christian Academy, with the freshman class it brought in, in the offseason.
A year ago the Lions won their first dual at their fourth PIAA Duals, and that was in the first round of consolations.
A year later, Faith is ranked No. 1 in the state by Pa Power Wrestling, and Thursday, in the first round, the Lions punched a ticket to their first state Class 2A quarterfinals with a 55-10 romp over Reynolds. Pennridge and La Salle College lost first round duals in the Class 3A tournament.
The meteoric progress for the Lions will be matched with a seismic second round matchup with the No. 2 ranked team, Notre Dame Green Pond.
Faith Christian Academy’s Jason Singer chases a takedown against Reynolds’ Brayden McCloskey at 189 pounds. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
“If you want to be champs, you have to beat everybody else,” Faith coach Ben Clymer said. “It doesn’t matter who you wrestle or when you wrestle, this half of the bracket or whatever. We’re excited to have this experience in the Giant Center and our mindset is that we want the best guys and the kids all think the same way. They think about wanting the best guys and aren’t afraid if they get bumped to a tougher match.”
Against Reynolds, an eight-time PIAA Duals champ and most recently in 2021, Faith (10-1) imposed its will from the get-go.
Adam Waters (172 pounds) started things with a technical fall, followed by a decision by Jason Singer (189) and Mark Effendian (215).
Faith Christian Academy’s Adam Waters. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
Faith’s two losses, by major decision and forfeit, sandwiched a major by Kole Davidheiser (107), and the 18-10 deficit after six matches was as close as Reynolds got the rest of the way.
“We came out here thinking we wanted to dominate this thing,” Faith’s Chase Hontz said. “A few of us were feeling the weight cut, but I think we came out and showed ourselves pretty well.”
Gauge Botero (121) and Arment Waltenbaugh (127) tallied 11 points and two bouts later, Hontz (139) clinched the contest with a 37-second pin.
Faith Christian Academy’s Arment Waltenbaugh scores near-fall points against Reynolds’ Greyden Gustas. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
Max Stein (145) teched and Cael Weidemoyer (152) and Luke Sugalski (160) pinned to close it out for the Lions.
Only two wins were decided by decision, with Mason Wagner (133) winning, 2-1 in tiebreaker, the closest bout of the afternoon.
“For a lot of the guys, it’s their first time down here on the floor and they looked comfortable,” Clymer said. “In the match I saw the same composure and they continued to build each match. In the handful of matches that went the distance I thought our pace continued to build and I think that points to composure.”
The Lions will wrestle again at noon, Friday.
Faith Christian Academy’s Kole Davidheiser. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
For Pennridge, the loss was hard to swallow the way it went down in a 34-32 loss to District 7’s third-place finisher, Hempfield.
The Rams led 10-3 after three bouts and were about to go up 10 when Colby Martinelli (107) was called for a slam on a return with eight seconds remaining in a bout he lead 12-8. Hempfield’s Nico Kapusta could not return to action, giving the Spartans six points instead of three to Pennridge.
“One big mistake cost us,” Pennridge coach Brian Kuhns said. “Take that away, we win the match. We were confident the last two matches we’d get the wins regardless who they sent out. We’ll learn from it and I don’t think it was intentional, but it is what it is. When you have an opportunity to get six when you’re losing with (eight) seconds left, you take it.”
Pennridge’s Colby Martinelli scores a takedown against Hempfield’s Nico Kapusta. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
Hempfield clinched the dual with two bouts to go and forfeited to Ryan Gallagher (160) and Talen Hogan (172). Obviously without that nine-point swing from the slam, those bouts would’ve been contested with two of the Rams best wrestlers.
Pennridge will wrestle Cumberland Valley in the first round of consolations at 10:30 a.m., Friday.
“We’ve had a lot of adversity all season,” Kuhns said. “It didn’t go our way but we’ll regroup and come back out. We’re here to win as many matches as we can.”
Pennridge’s Ryan Rowe locks up with Hempfield’s Ryan Steffey in a 12-3 win at 189 pounds. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
La Salle drew a tough first-round opponent in Central Dauphin. The Rams won 11 of 13 bouts for a 59-12 victory. Andrew Brennan (285) and Dominic Parenti (114) earned pins for the Explorers.
