Burrell wrestling rallies past Brookville to stay alive in state tournament

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 9, 2018 | 7:48 PM

HERSHEY — Burrell wrestling coach Josh Shields couldn't hide his excitement after the Bucs' match with Brookville.

Burrell (13-6) advanced in the consolation bracket of the PIAA Class AA team championship Friday after defeating Faith Christian Academy, 54-15, in the morning and District 9 champion Brookville, 29-27, in the afternoon.

The Bucs face District 3 champion Boiling Springs at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“I'm so proud of you guys,” Shields said addressing the team in the locker room. “That's the best I've seen you wrestle this year. Now we're two wins away from achieving our goal.”

That goal for Burrell was to finish top four in the state. The win against Brookville avenged a 39-23 loss to the Raiders at the Ultimate Duals on Jan. 20.

The Bucs reversed two close decisions. Corey Christie turned around his close loss to Cody Hetrick with a convincing 6-0 victory at 152, and Austin Mele finished off the comeback by defeating Elliot Park, 6-3. Park won the first meeting in overtime.

Burrell trailed 21-0 before a pin by Trent Valovchik at 106 turned the match. Burrell won eight of the final 10 bouts, including five in a row.

A.J. Corrado had a technical fall at 132, and Christie's win was his 100th of his career.

“Their big guns were up top, but from 106 on up, all our guys stepped up,” Shields said. “Colby Christie, one of our backups, was down 5-0 and beat one of their starters. That's what you like to see.

“Corey beat a returning state placewinner who beat him 7-4 a couple weeks ago with the match on the line. He dominated the match, and it doesn't get any better than that.”

In the win over District 1 champion Faith Christian Academy, Burrell got pins from Valovchik (106), Ian Oswalt (120), Bryan Gaul (126), Christie (152), Shaun Gates (160), Zach Rupert (195) and Mason Slahtovsky (220).

“I thought we wrestled well and put Thursday's disappointment behind us,” Shields said. “We showed up and did what we needed to do.”

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

Tags: Burrell