(Photo provided courtesy of Quakertown wrestling.)
GAJ BRINGS HOME GOLD
Quakertown’s Collin Gaj Crowned King at 145-pounds
By Glenn Kaiser
Hershey, PA-The long three days for wrestlers and coaches in Chocolate Town, USA at the Giant Center has concluded. Seven SOL grapplers earned medals during the best wrestling state tournament in the country, the 2023 PIAA (AAA) Individual Championships. Only one was able to finish their vision quest, Quakertown’s Collin Gaj. Gaj finished off his sophomore season with a pristine and perfect 49-0 record enroute to a state title at 145-pounds for the Panthers.
Gaj had to dethrone a two-time state champ in Waynesburg Central’s Mac Church to complete his mission. In a somewhat awkward fashion, Gaj gained an early lead in the match, due to Church’s clearly illegal hands to the face, more than once, a second call with a thumb to the eye may have sparked Gaj on to a solid 7-1 decision for the title. During his title run, Gaj disposed of bronze medalist Matt Repos of Central Dauphin in the semifinals 5-3. Gaj, along with silver- medalist Mason Ziegler at 121-pounds, pushed Q-town into a tie (with Central Mountain) for sixth place in the team race with 60-points. Bethlehem Catholic won the AAA title again with 139 points. A top-ten finish for the Panthers was definitely a team goal, in fact a top-5 or higher finish was obtainable if Calvin Lachman (215) had medaled, as most predicted. Ziegler was dominant as well during his run to the finals, as he beat Daniel Boone’s Dean Houser 5-2 in his semi tussle. Ziegler could not get much going in his championship bout, losing 4-0 to Williamsport’s Cael Nasdeo.
Lachman never rebounded from his too early of a match with Nazareth’s Sonny Sasso in their 215-pound quarterfinal match. He was ousted in a consolation overtime contest, losing in sudden victory 6-4 to Penn Trafford’s Owen Ott. Unfortunately, several other SOL hopefuls were eliminated in the wrestle-backs as well. However, other SOL wrestlers came home with extra weight, not just from their eating, but with their efforts that resulted in hardware in their bags.
Pennridge, as a team, finished with a top-20 placement at 17th and will look to improve on their position and medal count next year with their young squad. The Rams captured two-medals after placing two wrestlers in the semifinals, Colby Martinelli (107) and Talon Hogan (172). Martinelli wrestled back for the bronze, and he did it in fashion after getting dinged on the head during his consi-semi bout, which he won 4-3 over Altoona’s Braiden Weaver. He dropped a 10-5 decision to Abington Heights senior Luke Sirianni in the semifinals in a match that could have gone either way. Martinelli remained on fire however, scorching Santino Sloboda (Butler) in the consi-final with a major decision 12-1.
Two other District One grapplers secured medals at 107 in Max Tancini (Perk Valley) 6th and Ridley’s Curtis Nelson was 8th (who Martinelli bested for the Southeast Regional title). Hogan won his last match in the Giant Center 9-4 over BECA’s Luke Thomas to bring home the 5th place medal at 172-pounds. Hogan, unfortunately, got tossed and decked early in his semifinal by Cannon-Mac’s Matt Furman, but he kept it together to notch a win on his way out of the Giant Center.
Council Rock North’s Eren Sement was able to regroup and tear through the consolation bracket to win the bronze at 127-pounds, winning five straight matches. Sement won his second bronze medal here in Hershey with his 4-2 victory over Tahir Parkins from Nazareth. Sement will return to his quest for gold next season as a junior. Nazareth was the team runner-up with 102.5 points.
CR South’s Bekhruz Sadriddinov will also resume his mission next year as a senior after finishing in 5th place at 160-pounds this season. He was the only Golden Hawk to medal at the Giant Center, which was disappointing after taking five individuals to the tourney. South managed a top-25 finish as a team with four of five participants recording victories in Hershey. Connor Lenahan (107), Luke Reitter (114), Ben Brillhart (127) and Gavin Cole (152), along with Bek all return next season…keep an eye on these Golden Hawks.
Central Bucks West’s super-frosh Chris Dennis lived up to his billing in his first go-round in Hershey bringing home a 6th place medal at 114-pounds. The 114-pound weight class was loaded, and Dennis will most likely move up a weight-class or two over the next year, but he too will resume his vision quest come the 2024 PIAA Championships! Dennis won two matches in a row after dropping down into the consi-bracket. It was enough to secure a higher medal when he ousted Franklin Regionals Tyler Kapusta 2-0 in a 4th round consi-bout. Dennis was successful in the blood-round with his 7-4 tally over West Scranton’s Tyson Cook.
It appeared that D1 and SOL wrestlers gained some ground in the state tournament this year, but fact are facts. District One only matched last year’s medal count with 16. With history repeating itself, with our 5th place SE Region medalists losing the majority of their pig-tail bouts, and D1 grapplers failing to advance in preliminary matches remains a stigma. Nonetheless, I am 100 percent confident SOL and D1 wrestlers exceed all expectations next year…
Train hard and dream big in 2023-24!
To view the complete results from the PIAA (AAA) Individual Wrestling Championships, please click on the following link: http://live.pa-wrestling.com/pdfs/2023_PIAA_State_AAA_results.pdf
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