What You May Have Missed From The South West Class 2A Regional

By Eric Knopsnyder | February 24, 2019

Here’s what you might have missed at the Southwest 2A Regional at Indiana University of Pennsylvania:

 

The Championships

Exactly half of the state’s top-ranked wrestlers in 2A were in the field, and all seven captured titles. For all of the talent and anticipated matchups in the finals, there wasn’t much drama. Thirteen of the 14 wrestlers who scored first went on to win.

 

The Exception

The only wrestler to rally from a finals deficit to win a title did it in a big way. Top-ranked freshman Dayton Pitzer was thrown to his back by Ellwood City’s Austin Walley in the opening minute. Fresh off a come-from-behind victory over No. 2 Derek Yingling of West Branch in the semifinals, Walley looked for a quick pin, but Pitzer fought of his back and got an escape before the end of the period to start his comeback.

A takedown and rideout in the second made it 5-3. Pitzer – who had beaten Walley twice already this season – escaped and took him down in the first 10 seconds of the third to take a 6-5 lead, then turned Walley for three backpoints. Walley eventually escaped, but Pitzer got the impressive 9-6 victory.

 

Dominant Performances

Ian Oswalt – The Burrell sophomore put on a clinic at 120 pounds against Amonn Ohl in the finals. Although he did come dangerously close to a defensive fall at times, there was never any doubt about the score. Oswalt scored in bunches in his 17-3 victory. His closest match in the tournament was a 7-2 semifinal victory over Penns Valley’s Baylor Shunk.

Jacob Ealy – In his 2A regional debut – Hopewell dropped down from 3A this year – Ealy put on a show. He scored at least 11 points in each of his four victories, including an 11-5 victory over freshman phenom Erik Gibson of Forest Hills in the finals. The score doesn’t indicate how dominant Ealy was. There was an epic opening-match scramble, but Ealy was firmly in control after getting two takedowns in the final minute of the first period. Gibson’s points came on five escapes.

 

 

Caleb Dowling – Speaking of takedown clinics … Dowling put on one of his own in the 145-pound final against Berlin Brothersvalley’s Tristan Pugh – and everyone else he wrestled. The St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy junior score six takedowns in the finals. He scored at least three against everyone else he wrestled in the tournament, and had three tech falls before the finals. Pugh was the only wrestler Dowling didn’t turn on the weekend.

 

The #1 vs. #2

The finals featured two matches pitting the No. 1 ranked wrestler against No. 2, and they ended with identical 8-2 scores.

At 160, Frazier’s Thayne Lawrence couldn’t get much offense going in the first period, but turned No. 2 Tyler Stoltzfus of St. Joseph’s in the second. The returning state champ really opened things up in the third, with a reversal and two more nearfall points. Stoltzfus escaped and Lawrence got another takedown in a very solid victory.

At POWERade, Chestnut Ridge’s Jared McGill needed to rally from a 2-0 deficit to beat McGuffey’s Christian Clutter 4-2 in sudden victory. No such drama was needed this time. McGill got the opening takedown and rode Clutter for 1:25 in the first, escaped in the second and added a late takedown that made it 5-0 entering the third. He traded a takedown for two Clutter escapes in the third, but was fully in control of this one.

 

The Upsets

With so many good guys, it’s hard to call many results an upset, but there were a couple that jump out at us.

Chase Chapman fall over Conner Redinger – This one happened in Friday night’s quarterfinals. Philipsburg-Osceola’s Chapman entered the tournament ranked 11th in the state, so he’s no pushover, but Redinger is a returning state bronze medalist. When Chapman rallied from a third-period deficit to pin Redinger, it created a buzz at the Kovalchik Center.

Chase Chapman 8, Garrett Cornell 6 (SV) – Chapman took down his second returning state third-place finisher in as many matches. Chapman got the opening takedown, but Cornell scored the next five points and seemed to be in control before the Mountie went feet-to-back in the final 30 seconds to take the lead. Cornell escaped to send it to OT, but a Chapman takedown sent another shock wave through the crowd. Chapman’s bid for a third straight stunner fell short in the finals, as another third-place medalist (from 2017), Bedford’s Kaden Cassidy, beat him by tech fall.

Damon Lemin 3, John Vargo 1 – Bentworth’s Vargo was a returning regional champ and state medalist. Tussey Mountain’s Lemin was someone who most outside of District 5 had never heard of. A week after losing by technical fall to North Star’s Hunter Tremain, Lemin shut down Vargo’s offensive attacks. Tied at 1 in the third, Lemin came up with a takedown, then rode out Vargo for nearly a minute for what was, arguably, the most surprising result of the tournament.

 

Redinger’s Rough Weekend

Conner Redinger came into the weekend as the top seed in a loaded 132-pound bracket. He was 30-5 on the season and had added a second WPIAL title to a resume that included a third place finish at Hershey last season.

Things didn’t go as planned, however, and he almost missed out on a qualifying for the state tournament this time around – and wouldn’t have without the expanded PIAA bracket. After being pinned by Chapman on Friday night, Redinger was taken down and put on his back in a second-round consolation match with Chestnut Ridge’s Trevor Weyandt. Redinger rebounded to pin Weyandt, then needed a sudden-victory takedown to beat Burrell’s Bryan Gaul for a spot in Hershey.

Zack Witmer, a fellow third-place finisher, tilted Redinger three times in a 10-0 victory that sent the Quaker Valley sophomore into one more tough battle. There, Redinger lost by fall to Everett’s Garret Cornell, another third-place state medalist who had been upset twice in the tournament.

As difficult as the weekend was for Redinger, he clearly has the talent to bounce back in Hershey, even though the road will be extremely hazardous coming from a sixth-place finish.

 

Posted in PA High School Wrestling News

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