Smethport’s James Duffy was the lone Big 30-area wrestler to advance to Friday morning’s Class AA quarterfinals at the 2015 PIAA Championships, with four of the other five area matmen who made the trip to Hershey still alive in the consolation rounds.
Shrugging off an early injury timeout, Duffy (34-1) didn’t waste any time in hitting full speed, building a dominating 14-2 lead over Newport’s Colby Stroup before getting the win via fall at 4:56 in their first-round match. Next, the Hubber junior will wrestle three-time PIAA qualifier Zach Fry (32-5) in a matchup of two of the state’s top 145-pounders. Fry, a junior from Hughesville who entered the tournament as the second seed from the Northeast regional, holds the No. 2 spot in the latest Off The Mat Class AA statewide rankings, while Duffy, the Northwest champ, is rated seventh.
The news wasn’t as good for the other local top seed, with Cameron County heavyweight Jack Karsten dropping a 4-2 decision to North Schuylkill’s Nathan Gadinski. The Red Raider senior rebounded with a 3-1 win over Zach MacLeod to improve to 34-2 on the season, and will face Northeast No. 3 seed Dylan Brennan (Troy, 29-9) in this morning’s second round.
Duffy’s Smethport teammate, junior 138-pounder Adam Shunk, will also be in action in the consolation brackets, along with Ridgway senior Ryan Geyer at 195 and Port Allegany junior Ethan Budd at 220.
Shunk (27-7) took his opening-round match into overtime before losing a 3-1 heartbreaker to Derrick Claar (Chestnut Ridge), but used some last-second dramatics of his own in his consi win over Ligonier Valley’s Dalton Clark. Scoring one takedown with 0:03 left in the first period and another at 0:14 of the second, Shunk added a reversal in the third to secure a 6-3 decision.
Geyer (26-8) needed just 24 seconds to pin Robert Scherer (Burrell) in the preliminary round, but a 10-0 loss to Southeast top seed Alek Hummel (North Schuylkill) sent him into the consis, where he blanked Cole Swackhamer 7-0 (Brandywine) to stay alive.
Budd (31-2) used an escape and quick takedown to forge a 4-2 second-period lead over Southeast No. 2 seed Dan Scheib in their first-round match, but the Tri-Valley freshman responded with a two-point move of his own just before the buzzer and another in the third for an 8-5 win. Budd, the third seed out of the Northwest and the sixth-ranked 220-pounder in the state, will face Southeast No.4 Nate Mentzer (Biglerville) in his consi opener.
His Port Allegany teammate, senior 113-pounder Casey Vollmer (27-7), dropped a pair of decisions, falling to Caleb Holley (Boiling Springs) in 4:32 in the prelims and Willy Girard (Williams Valley) in 2:16 in first-round consis to finish his Gator career at 104-32.
Eight other District 9 Class AA wrestlers remain in the championship bracket in addition to Duffy, led by the Brookville trio of Gavin Park (106 pounds), Taylor Ortz (120), and Jimmy Miller (152), along with Brockway’s Ryan Carlson (113) and Mason Lindenmuth (132), Curwensville’s Shae Bloom (138), Redbank Valley’s Keshon Truitt (160), and Keystone’s Tyler Beal (285).
Class AA quarterfinals and second- and third-round consis at Hershey’s Giant Center are slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. today, with the semifinal session and fourth- and fifth-round consis at 6:30 p.m.
