Chestnut Ridge too much for Derry at PIAA tournament

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 8, 2018 | 10:27 PM

HERSHEY — Derry wrestling coach Mike Weinell knew his team faced a big challenge in the opening round of the PIAA Class AA team tournament.

He was hoping for a good showing against No. 4-ranked Chestnut Ridge.

Early on, things were going well for the Trojans, but the balanced Lions were just too strong in the upper weights and rolled to a 43-18 victory at the Giant Center.

Derry built a 15-3 lead by getting wins from Ty Cymmerson (120 pounds), Shawn Broadway (126) and Jason Baker (132) and a pin from Onreey Stewart (138).

But close wins by Scott Miller (145) and Brodie Harbaugh (170) gave the Lions the cushion they needed to put away the scrappy Trojans. Harbaugh defeated Gannon Lenhart, 3-1.

“If Gannon wins his match, the score is tied (18-18),” Weinell said. “I was proud how we fought, the kids battled. We weren't overwhelmed here. Chestnut Ridge is just very good.”

Dom DeLuca got a 1-0 win at 220 and tweaked his left shoulder landing on the mat. Weinell said DeLuca wasn't pleased because he felt his opponent didn't wrestle him.

“I told Dom he's going to get that up here,” Weinell said. “He was disgusted that the kid didn't wrestle him. You have to learn how to create openings.

“We wrestled well all the way through. I'm happy with the way we performed. We beat some good kids.”

Derry (21-4) will face Huntingdon (19-2) at 8 a.m. in the consolation round. Huntingdon lost to Boiling Springs on Thursday.

Burrell fell to Muncy, 34-30, and a controversial call proved costly for the Bucs.

The controversy occurred in the 138-pound match between Burrell's Ethan Awes and Muncy's Ethan Gush. Awes was leading 5-0 after two periods and seemed to be headed to a victory.

But the official working the match called Awes for a series of penalties, one for fleeing the mat (a technical violation resulting in a one-point penalty) and for stalling three times, the last coming at the buzzer, resulting in Gush winning 7-6.

Here's how the third period went: Gush escaped for one point and then was award a penalty point for Awes being called for a stalling a second time. Gush then got a takedown to make it 5-4. He gave Awes an escape and trailed 6-4, but Awes was called for fleeing the mat with a minute left to make the score 6-5.

The two wrestlers continued their battle for the remainder of the bout, but just before the buzzer the official called Awes for stalling one more time, giving Gush two points and the win.

If Awes won and the results remained the same the rest of the way, Burrell would have won 33-31.

Burrell coach Josh Shields had a heated conversation with the officials after the match and then approached again for a better explanation after he talked with his team.

“In a lot of dual meets, it comes down to one or two matches,” Shields said. “The 138 match is what it is. The bottom line is their studs came up with more bonus points than ours. We didn't fight hard enough to stay off our backs. They were able to score bonus points and we weren't.”

Each team had seven wins and three pins. The difference was Muncy got two technical falls and two decisions and Burrell had four decisions.

Burrell (11-6) faces Faith Christian in the consolation round Friday.

All three WPIAL teams in Class AAA won.

WPIAL champion Kiski Area (21-1) ripped Central Dauphin, 47-16, by winning the final eight matches.

Canon-McMillan (14-1) won three one-point matches and rallied to defeat Council Rock South, 36-24. Seneca Valley (18-2) had no problem with football power Archbishop Wood, 58-9.

Kiski was trailing Central Dauphin, 18-13, but the Cavaliers got two pins and technical falls to quickly grab a 35-16 lead. Noah Levett (138) and Nick Delp (160) had the technical falls, and Cam Connor (145) and Jack Blumer (152) recorded falls.

“It definitely was a good start,” Kiski Area coach Chris Heater said. “Now we have to get ready for a tough match against Nazareth.”

Canon-McMillan will face Erie Cathedral Prep and Seneca Valley gets Spring Ford at 2 p.m.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Burrell, Canon-McMillan, Kiski School, Seneca Valley