CR South & Pennridge Winners in PIAA 3A Team Wrestling Duals

CR South & Pennridge were both winners in Thursday’s opening round of the PIAA 3A Team Duals. Information courtesy of PA-Wrestling.com

2024 PIAA AAA TEAM CHAMPIONHSIP
CR South & Pennridge Advance to Quarterfinals

By Glenn Kaiser

Hershey, PA-The Giant Center was rocking on Thursday evening as two SOL teams advanced in the first round of the 2024 PIAA Team Championship.  Council Rock South and Pennridge both moved onto the quarterfinals Friday afternoon at 2:00pm.  Connor Lenahan (114-pounds) and Luke Reitter (121) pinned down Franklin Regional to seal their victory in first round.  Leading by just one point (25-24) heading into the final two bouts of the evening, the Golden Hawks had a sigh of relief after the Panthers pushed CRS to the brink.  There was never a doubt that this duo of Lenahan and Reitter, both with plenty of experience here in the Giant Center, would secure the victory.

After a back and forth start to the match, Gavin Cole decked Jordan Parks (FR) at 160-pounds to propel South to a 16-12 lead. That was extended with a gutty win by South’s Aidan Murray 8-5 over Henry Patts at 172 and punctuated by Bekhruz Sadriddinov’s quick fall (25-seconds) after bumping up to 189-pounds, a move that paid dividends for the Golden Hawks as they moved ahead 25-12 on the scoreboard.  After losing four-straight matches, Lenahan and Reitter did their thing, and the final result was 37-24 in favor of CR South.

Pennridge cruised past Cathedral Prep from Erie 48-13 in their opening round dual.  Quinn McBride set the tone for the Rams with an opening match win (6-5) at 127-pounds over Prep’s Keagan Oler.  The Ramblers only won three matches as the Rams ran the table with seven straight wins from 172 through 121-pounds.  Talan Hogan started the run with a fall at 172-pounds, and Cole Coffin (121) turned off the lights with a tech-fall (16-0).  The ‘Ridge notched five pins in their tune-up for the quarterfinals.  Anthony Granite had the biggest fall of them all, as he was trailing in his match initially with Regional’s Trevor Bruno, when he overpowered him to secure the pin at 4:34 of the third-period.

#1 Council Rock South will be pitted against a powerful, confident Central Mountain (D6 Champ) team that comes in as the second-ranked team, according to PA Power, in their quarterfinal match.  The Wildcats had a solid win over Boiling Springs (D3 third-place team) 35-25 in their opener.  The top three ranked teams are all in the top-half of the bracket, with Bethlehem Catholic (#3) advancing to the quarters over Central Dauphin 31-25.  BECA, the D11 champions, have been in this spot before and should await the winner of CRS/CTRL MT in the semis.   

Pennridge will take on a formidable Wilson West Lawn team (D3 third-place team) after Wilson squeaked past Connellsville (D7 Champs) 30-29 in their quarterfinal match-up.  Wilson downed Quakertown in preliminary round action Monday 38-23.  If the Rams can advance, they will be looking at the winner of the Easton (D11 runner-up)/Gettysburg (D3 Champs) match in the semis.  The quarterfinals are just what everyone has been waiting for, as two majestic matchups are set with CRS versus Central Mt. and Easton vs Gettysburg, to go along with the other key duals in this tournament.  Top-ranked individual wrestlers will be featured once again here on day two of these championships.

COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 37, FRANKLIN REGIONAL 24
127 - Tyler Kapusta pinned Christian Zimmerman, 2:50 (0-6)
133 - Pat Woloshyn dec. Nico Sarnic, 4-2 (3-6)
139 - Ajay Bhatt maj. dec. Cohen Buccicone, 14-1 (7-6)
145 - Ben Brillhart dec. Luke Ankney, 10-8 (10-6)
152 - Ethan Cartwright pinned Max Nepochatov, 3:26 (10-12)
160 - Gavin Cole pinned Jordan Perks, 1:20 (16-12)
172 - Aidan Murray dec. Henry Patts, 8-5 (19-12)
189 - Bekhruz Sadriddinov pinned Ben Hartman, 0:25 (25-12)
215 - Troy McClelland dec. Aryn Valeriano, 3-0 (25-15)
285 - Juliano Marion pinned Jeff Gessner, 2:46 (25-21)
107 - Titus Colangelo dec. Eddie Alvarez, 7-1 (25-24)
114 - Connor Lenahan pinned Mike Ruane, 3:24 (31-24)
121 - Luke Reitter pinned Sal Nassif, 3:51 (37-24)
Council Rock South wrestlers in bold.

PENNRIDGE 48, ERIE CATHEDRAL PREP 13
127 - Quinn McBride dec. Keagan Oler, 6-5 (3-0)
133 - Andrew Gammon pinned Danny Metzler, 0:33 (3-6)
139 - Anthony Granite pinned Trevor Bruno, 4:34 (9-6)
145 - Gabe Dorman maj. dec. Brady McMahon, 9-1 (9-10)
152 - Sam Kuhns dec. Brandon Byrd, 6-4 (12-10)
160 - Bo Martucci dec. Ryan Gallagher, 3-2 (12-13)
172 - Talan Hogan pinned Jaden Crockett, 2:22 (18-13)
189 - Ryan Rowe maj. dec. Corey Kowalski, 16-5 (22-13)
215 - Riley Cullen pinned Max Spaulding, 1:02 (28-13)
285 - Chase Washington pinned Alex Hagerty, 1:03 (34-13)
107 - Kevin McFadden dec. Aiden Carter, 6-2 (37-13)
114 - Colby Martinelli pinned Will English, 1:37 (43-13)
121 - Cole Coffin won by tech. fall over Amir Johnson, 16-0 4:30 (48-13)
Pennridge wrestlers in bold.

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