If there have been better results for the Allegheny Mountain Wrestling League in the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championship in recent memory, there haven’t been many.
Evan DeLong of Kane, Nick Budd of Port Allegany and Kyle Bova of Coudersport all won twice on Friday, advancing to the state finals in their respective weight classes.
“It’s fantastic,” Coudersport coach John Bishel said. “All the coaches are very excited. We would have liked to seen (Alex) Gular pull through too. I don’t know the last time we’ve had three AMWL kids in the same year. They’ve done us proud.”
Budd had perhaps the most impressive road, beating defending state champion Nazar Miroenko of Mifflinburg 6-2 in the quarterfinals at 285.
“We’ve been telling Nick all year, he’s so athletic, so strong that if he’s physical and goes after kids they can’t defend it,” said Port Allegany coach B.J. Greenman. “Nick pretty much had control of the match and the kid put his head down and kind of gave up. That’s always good to see as a coach.”
In the semis, Budd had a tougher time, but battled to a 4-3 win over Austin Buttry of Chestnut Ridge.
“He wrestled a lot more tense than we would like him too,” Greenman said. “He didn’t want to make a big mistake, which is understandable in the state semifinals. He stayed in good position and scored when he had the opportunity which is what it takes to win close matches.”
Budd will face Sam Breese of Lakeview in the finals.
Bova, meanwhile, earned a pair of 7-2 wins over Boe Bonzo of Freedom and Ty Herzog of Northern Lehigh at 152.
“I’ve been around this game for a long time and to see someone special like Kyle, I guess you just recognize it,” said Coudersport coach John Bishel. “The kid has done everything it takes to get here. To be honest, I would have been disappointed if he didn’t make it to the finals.”
Waiting for him is Austin Matthews of Reynolds, the same wrestler who knocked him off in the Northwest Regional finals. Bishel said before Thursday that Bova wanted another crack at him, and now he does, with a state title on the line.
“Kyle is very excited and can’t wait to get to tomorrow (today),” Bishel said.
Delong, meanwhile, earned a tight 4-3 win over Jeric Kasunic of Benton in the quarterfinals and then another one-point win, 7-6 over Ty Schoffstall of Tri Valley in the semis at 160.
Gular, meanwhile, dropped his semifinal and consolation matches after an exciting 2-1 (double-OT) win over Dustin Conti of Jefferson Morgan in the quarterfinals.
He will wrestle for fifth-place today. “I think Alex’ emotions just kind of got to him a little bit,” Greenman said. “When Alex is on, he’s unstoppable and he didn’t make any mistakes in his quarterfinal win.”
Karl Lightner of Smethport, meanwhile, just missed out on the medal stand after dropping both his quarterfinal and consolation matches.
The action gets underway today with the Parade of Champions at 1:45, with championship and consolation matches starting at 2 p.m.
“To have four in the semis and three in the finals from the AMWL is just remarkable,” Greenman said. “A little league from no where Pennsylvania is just remarkable. It’s something I haven’t seen.”
Until now.
