Poway’s Jacob Vale returns to Pennsylvania to compete in Surge

Two years ago, Jacob Vale left Pennsylvania to head west.

Vale went the whole way to the West Coast to California, where he wrestles for Poway High School.

He made it back to the area to compete at 132 pounds on Sunday.

“We knew about it. We were real on and off,” Vale said about committing to wrestle in The Surge. “Then, we were like alright let’s go. My mom is real supportive.”

Vale, who went to Lower Dauphin before the move, joked he wasn’t expecting it to be as cold in his return and that he was still adjusting to the time zone changes.

The time zone changes might have had a factor as he started the tournament with a tough 6-5 loss to Wyoming Valley West’s and No. 4 seed David Krokowski. However, Vale didn’t stay down.

He opened the consolations with an 11-1 major decision over Seneca Valley’s Caden Leighty. Vale followed with a 3-0 shutout of Hamburg’s Kyle Vernon to set up a match with No. 2 seed Colin Leonard of Northern Lebanon, who finished eighth in state last year.

Vale topped Leonard 4-1 to reach the consolation quarterfinals.

He took on Canon-McMillian’s Kenny Hayman. Hayman scored the lone point of the match and Vale’s tournament was finished.

“I’m grateful that I could come over here,” Vale said. “I’m happy that I could come over and wrestle here. It’s really nice to see all my friends.”