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Montgomery’s Deem 1 of 24 locals to advance

Over and over Devon Deem drilled one defense from the top position in the last couple weeks to be ready for Friday night. He knew he was going to see the Sayre’s Jacob Bennett for the third time this season eventually.

The two had wrestled a pair of dogfights this season, including a two-point match two weeks ago in a dual meet. But Deem and his Montgomery coaching staff had an idea of how to limit points against Bennett. It boiled down to stopping his dangerous switch from bottom.

Deem’s work paid off on the first night of the District 4 Class AA wrestling tournament Friday night. He controlled Bennett in the bottom position, and used his new-found control to pile up points like snow in the corner of a grocery store parking lot. Deem’s 18-2 technical fall in 5 minutes, 21 seconds put him into this morning’s 152-pound championship semifinals. He is one of 24 local wrestlers who qualified for today’s semifinals.

Southern Columbia took control of the team race by putting nine of its 10 wrestlers into today’s semifinals. The Tigers, looking for their third consecutive team title, lead the field with 82.5 points. Line Mountain is second with 54 points. Montoursville (53) and Muncy (47.5) both put five wrestlers into the semifinals, the most among area teams, along with Canton.

“Off the whistle he always hits that great switch,” Deem said. “He’s got some crazy hips and he’s willing to do anything to get out on bottom, and I think I found a way to defend it.”

Deem and Bennett first met at the inaugural Matness at the MACC tournament which Montgomery hosted in December. Two weeks ago they met in a dual meet, and in both instances they traded points like they were a grenade with the pin pulled.

So with time to prepare for their next meeting, Deem went to work on controlling just how many points he would give up. Having scored 23 combined points in the first two meetings, Deem knew he could continue to do just that.

And by stopping Bennett’s switch, it immediately put Deem in position to score.

“As soon as I stop the switch, his hips are the opposite way and I can toss that figure-four in and I can crank it right over,” Deem said. That’s how I got six or nine of my points.”

Deem was as pleased with his earlier preliminary win over Mifflinburg’s Cody Rokavec as he was with the win over Bennett. But the two wins Friday night were enough to build some momentum heading into this morning’s semifinals where he’ll face Southern’s eighth-ranked, and top-seeded, Wes Barnes.

“I want to be tested,” said Deem, who improved to 27-5. “My first match was OK, but this one I felt a lot better and I feel a lot more better prepared. But there’s great competition here in every bout you wrestle, and that’s what I love.”

Milton’s Kyler Crawford found himself in quite the predicament in the first minute of his 132-pound quarterfinal with Warrior Run’s Noah Hunt last night. He was on the edge of giving up a takedown, but of even more concern, he was close to exposing his back as Hunt worked a bow and arrow.

But underneath the scrum, Crawford had a cradle locked up and was trying to muscle Hunt to his back. Ninety-nine percent of wrestlers in Crawford’s position last night would have bailed, sacrificing the two points to avoid giving up the big move. But that thought never crossed his mind.

Instead, he stayed with cradle, and he eventually was able to roll Hunt to his back for a quick four-point move. It was one move which set off an avalanche of points from Crawford, a returning state qualifier. His eventual 16-0 technical fall over Hunt was one of the most surprising results of the night.

But it was surprising because Crawford won — although, he did lose to Hunt, 14-2, a year ago. But it was the margin, and the way he controlled the match, which were shocking.

“Over the summer I worked my butt off,” Crawford said. “I did a lot of lifting and a lot of really, really tough workouts. I think that gave me the confidence to feel better this year. And in that position, I didn’t feel uncomfortable there. I didn’t feel like I was in danger. I felt fine.”

The 13th-ranked Crawford is going to have quite the gauntlet of wrestlers to go through if he wants to win his first district championship, and Hunt was the first of that brutal run. He’ll face Canton sectional champion Hayden Ward in this morning’s 132-pound semifinals. A win there and he would face either fifth-ranked Bryce Vollman of Muncy, or 20th-ranked Troy Bingaman of Mifflinburg.

But it’s the kind of run he’s better prepared to handle this season than he was a year ago. He wrestled last night with confidence oozing from his pores, and conviction in every movement he made. And after dominating effort in his only bout of the night, he accepted hearty congratulations from Milton coach Josh Anspach, assistant Zack Bennett, and his dad, Bob.

“Just going through all this last year has helped for this year. I’m not as nervous this year because I’ve been here before,” Crawford said. “Hunt’s a great opponent and it’s going to boost my confidence for the rest of the tournament.”

Hughesville’s Caiden Puderbach was trying everything he could to escape the grasp of Jersey Shore’s Liam Goodrich in their 120-pound quarterfinal. The sophomore was trailing Goodrich, a returning regional qualifier, by a point with under 45 seconds to go, but Goodrich always seemed to find a way to latch on to an ankle.

Goodrich avoided a stalling call the first time he did it, already having a warning against him. But the second time, Puderbach pushed the subject, trying harder and harder to get away. It forced a stalling call which tied the match with 35 seconds to go. But Puderbach went right back to his high energy effort to get out from bottom and forced another stall call with 17 seconds to go to post an 8-7 win.

Puderbach was one of two Hughesville wrestlers to reach today’s semifinals, joining 138-pounder Luke Gorg, who beat state qualifier Ian Coller of Line Mountain, 7-4, in the quarterfinals. Puderbach faces returning state runner-up Kole Biscoe in this morning’s semifinals.

“I just kept trying to do whatever I could to get out,” Puderbach said. “Part of the thought process was either get out, or get the stall call. It feels great to win this, but I gotta be ready for (Saturday).”

DISTRICT 4 CLASS AA RESULTS

Team standings: 1, Southern Columbia, 82.5; 2, Line Mountain, 54; 3, Montoursville, 53; 4, Muncy, 47.5; 5, Benton, 40.5; 6, Canton, 40; 7, Mifflinburg, 36.5; 8, Athens, 31; 9, Midd-West, 24; 10, Central Columbia, 22; 11, Wyalusing, 18; 12, Milton, 17.5; 13, Towanda, 15; 14, Hughesville, 14; 15, Troy, 13; 16, Jersey Shore, 12; 17, Meadowbrook Christian, 11; t-18, Lewisburg, 10.5; t-18, Montgomery, 10.5; 20, Sullivan County, 8.5; t-21, Mount Carmel, 8; t-21, South Williamsport, 8; t-21, Shamokin, 8; t-21, Warrior Run, 8; 25, Danville, 6; 26, Bloomsburg, 4; 27, Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech, 2; t-28, North Penn-Liberty, 0; t-28, Northeast Bradford, 0; t-28, Sugar Valley, 0; t-28, Williamson, 0; 32, Sayre, -1.

Team key: Athens, At; Benton, Be; Bloomsburg, Bl; Canton, Ca; Central Columbia, CC; Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech, VT; Danville, Da; Hughesville, Hu; Jersey Shore, JS; Lewisburg, Le; Line Mountain, LM; Meadowbrook Christian, MC; Midd-West, MW; Mifflinburg, Mf; Milton, Mi; Montgomery, Mg; Montoursville, Mo; Mount Carmel, MC; Muncy, Mu; North Penn-Liberty, NP; Northeast Bradford, NEB; Sayre, Sa; Shamokin, Sh; South Williamsport, SW; Southern Columbia, SC; Sugar Valley Rural Charter, SV; Sullivan County, Su; Towanda, To; Troy, Tr; Warrior Run, WR; Williamson, Wi; Wyalusing, Wy.

First round

106: Cade Wirnsberger, MC, bye; Blake Sassaman, Da, dec. Jacob Courtney, At, 8-6; Branden Wentzel, Mo, maj. dec. Seth Seymour, Tr, 14-1; Kyle Ferster, MW, bye; Aidan Kritzer, LM, bye; Bobby Gardner, SW, pinned Ayden Sprague, Wi, 3:33; Ethan Kolb, Be, pinned Brady Moyer, VT, 1:27; Isaac Landis, Ca, bye.

113: Gavin Bradley, At, bye; Brady Feese, SC, dec. Dylan Granahan, Be, 6-4; Kaden Majcher, WR, pinned Braydon Garverick, NP, 2:55; Conner Heckman, MW by; Kaiden Wagner, Le, bye; Bailey Ferguson, Ca, pinned Jake Leonardo, Bl, 3:21; Tyler Hawley, To, dec. Dylan Linn, Mf, 12-5; Scott Johnson, Mu, bye.

120: Kole Biscoe, SC, bye; Kaden Setzer, At, pinned Blake Snyder, Mg, 1:21; Liam Goodrich, JS, bye; Caiden Puderbach, Hu, bye; Gable Strickland, Be, bye; Blake Wirt, LM, pinned Mykee Nowell, To, 2:30; Colton Eckroth, VT, dec. Chase Crawley, Mu, 5-2, tb; Sheldon Seymour, Tr, bye.

126: Jacob Blair, Mu, bye; Aidan Steininger, MW, pinned Aiden Garcia, At, 3:27; Mason Leshock, LM, pinned Broc Lutz, Mo, 1:05; Gabe Andrus, JS, bye; Nick Woodruff, Wy, bye; Colton Chipeleski, CC, pinned Collin Bozza, Sh, 1:31; Caden Temple, Be, pinned Patriot June, NP, 3:13; Gabe Gramly, Mf, bye.

132: Bryce Vollman, Mu, bye; Wyatt Delamater, To, dec. Austin Aucker, MW, 9-4; Skyler Manahan, Wy, pinned Gabe Harvey, SW, 3:24; Troy Bingaman, Mf, bye; Kyler Crawford, Mi, bye; Noah Hunt, WR, pinned Jacob Burgess, Sa, :33; James Batkowski, Mo, dec. Tyler Winhofer, MC, 6-1; Hayden Ward, Ca, bye.

138: Clayton Reed, Mf, bye; Skyler Allen, To, pinned Dalton Watt, Bl, 3:07; Isaac Kester, CC, dec. Logan Bartlett, Le, 4-0; Riley Parker, Ca, bye; Colbrin Nolan, Wy, bye; Patrick Edmondson, SC, pinned Xan Oberheim, Mo, 1:43; Ian Coller, LM, pinned Jayden Renzo, Tr, :39; Luke Gorg, Hu, bye.

145: Avery Bassett, MW, bye; Gabe Packer, JS, dec. Colby Puderbach, Mg, 10-3; Brandon Gedman, SC, pinned Evan Johnson, To, 3:36; Landon Lorson, SW, bye; Mario Barberio, Mu, bye; Bryce Carl, LM, pinned Karter Rude, At, 1:54; Wolfgang Pearson, Sh, pinned Nick Wharton, Bl, 3:47; Nate Higley, Su, bye.

152: Wes Barnes, SC, bye; Christian Good, Mu, dec. Colton Ammerman, Su, 8-5; Devon Deem, Mg, pinned Cody Rokavec, Mf, 3:34; Jacob Bennett, Sa, bye; Logan Newton, Wy, bye; Max Madden, Sh, pinned Jake Dinges, Mo, 1:01; Matty Coller, LM, pinned Zach Stafursky, At, 1:16; Troy Johnson, CC, bye.

160: Nolan Lear, Be, bye; Hayden Packer, JS, maj. dec. Caden Hagerman, Da, 15-2; Riley Heim, LM, pinned Kaide Drick, Mg, 3:33; Jacob Turner, Tr, bye; Bryant Green, To, bye; Isaac Cory, Mo, tech. fall Brian Long, Sh, 15-0, 3:50; Stephen Roeder, Bl, pinned Jack Shumway, NEB, 1:40; Gavin Garcia, SC, bye.

170: Cade Linn, SC, bye; Lane Lusk, SW, pinned Mason Woodward, Tr, 2:34; Ethan Gush, Mu, maj. dec. Aven Ayala, Mi, 18-6; Will Bowen, To, bye; Timmy Ward, Ca, bye; Shane Weidner, MC, pinned Sam Crawford, WR, 5:40; Robert Wickham, VT, bye; Cael Crebs, Mo, bye.

182: Jacob Feese, LM, bye; Edward Cole, Tr, pinned Sam Hostrander, SW, 3:52; Tristen Ditzler, Mu, pinned Corey King, SV, :11; Derek Athlerton-Ely, Ca, bye; Alex West, At, bye; Mike Cook, Da, pinned Ben Marino, Mg, :25; Brady Cromley, Le, dec. Zach Shaffer, Wy, 15-8; Dylan Bennett, Mo, bye.

195: Gaige Garcia, SC, bye; Caleb Moser, Mo, pinned Ben Pernaselli, At, 1:27; Clay Watkins, To, dec. Nathan Rauch, Mi, 5-0; Bailey Hadzinikolov, Mu, bye; Dylan Devlin, CC, bye; Dominick Bridi, LM, pinned Mikey Sipps, Wi, 1:16; Damon Backes, MC, pinned Jake Casella, SW, 5:32; Garrett Storch, Ca, bye.

220: Cameron Wood, Mo, bye; Carter Sauer, MW, pinned Kade Sottolano, Wi, 5:36; Quentin Doane, Mf, pinned Hayden Robbins, Hu, :30; Jackson Chilson, Wy, bye; Trevor Williams, Ca, bye; Zach Poust, Be, pinned Brent Mitch, Mi, 5:35; Logan McWilliams, CC, dec. Alex Perez, To, 4-3; Max Tillet, SC, bye.

285: Lear Quinton, SC, bye; Gunner Treibley, MC, dec. Aaron Herlt, To, 3-1; Keagan Braund, At, pinned Hunter Minnig, MC, :35; Alexx Eveland, CC, bye; Caleb Burkhart, Hu, bye; Emmanuel Ulrich, Mf, tech. fall Logyn Choplosky, NP, 15-0, 4:30; Nevin Rauch, Mi, pinned Cael Hembury, Mu, :32; Dawson Brown, NEB, bye.

Quarterfinals

106: Cade Wirnsberger, MC, pinned Blake Sassaman, Da, 3:47; Branden Wentzel, Mo, tech. fall Kyle Ferster, MW, 17-2, 3:54; Aidan Kritzer, LM, dec. Bobby Gardner, SW, 8-7; Ethan Kolb, Be, maj. dec. Isaac Landis, Ca, 10-1.

113: Gavin Bradley, At, pinned Brady Feese, SC, :51; Conner Heckman, MW, dec. Kaden Majcher, WR, 6-4; Kaiden Wagner, Le, tech. fall Bailey Ferguson, Ca, 17-0, 5:41; Scott Johnson, Mu, pinned Tyler Hawley, To, 2:39.

120: Kole Biscoe, SC, pinned Kaden Setzer, At, :43; Caiden Puderbach, Hu, dec. Liam Goodrich, JS, 8-7; Gable Strickland, Be, dec. Blake Wirt, LM, 6-1; Sheldon Seymour, Tr, pinned Colton Eckroth, VT, 1:19.

126: Jacob Blair, Mu, dec. Aidan Steininger, MW, 7-3; Gabe Andrus, JS, dec. Mason Leshock, LM, 11-7; Colton Chipeleski, CC, pinned Nick Woodruff, Wy, :23; Gabe Gramly, Mf, dec. Caden Temple, Be, 3-0.

132: Bryce Vollman, Mu, pinned Wyatt Delamater, To, 1:22; Troy Bingaman, Mf, maj. dec. Skyler Manahan, Wy, 12-1; Kyler Crawford, Mi, tech. fall Noah Hunt, WR, 16-0, 4:20; Hayden Ward, Ca, medical forfeit James Batkowski, Mo.

138: Clayton Reed, Mf, pinned Skyler Allen, To, 4:49; Riley Parker, Ca, dec. Isaac Kester, CC, 6-3; Patrick Edmondson, SC, tech. fall Colbrin Nolan, Wy, 16-0, 5:53; Luke Gorg, Hu, dec. Ian Coller, LM, 7-4.

145: Avery Bassett, MW, pinned Gabe Packer, JS, 2:40; Brandon Gedman, SC, pinned Landon Lorson, SW, 2:15; Mario Barberio, Mu, dec. Bryce Carl, LM, 8-3; Nate Higley, Su, tech. fall Wolfgang Pearson, Sh, 21-4, 4:58.

152: Wes Barnes, SC, dec. Christian Good, Mu, 4-2; Devon Deem, Mg, tech. fall Jacob Bennett, Sa, 18-2, 5:21*; Logan Newton, Wy, dec. Max Madden, Sh, 10-4; Troy Johnson, CC, dec. Matty Coller, LM, 3-2.

160: Nolan Lear, Be, tech. fall Hayden Packer, JS, 16-0, 4:57; Riley Heim, LM, dec. Jacob Turner, Tr, 6-5; Isaac Cory, Mo, pinned Bryant Green, To, 1:59; Gavin Garcia, SC, pinned Stephen Roeder, Bl, 2:50.

170: Cade Linn, SC, pinned Lane Lusk, SW, 3:24; Ethan Gush, Mu, tech. fall Will Bowen, To, 17-0, 3:22; Timmy Ward, Ca, maj. dec. Shane Weidner, MC, 11-1; Cael Crebs, Mo, pinned Robert Wickham, VT, 4:59.

182: Jacob Feese, LM, pinned Edward Cole, Tr, 1:00; Derek Atherton-Ely, Ca, dec. Tristen Ditzler, Mu, 12-5; Alex West, at, dec. Mike Cook, Da, 8-5; Dylan Bennett, Mo, pinned Brady Cromley, Le, 1:11.

195: Gaige Garcia, SC, pinned Caleb Moser, Mo, :43; Clay Watkins, To, dec. Bailey Hadzinikolov, Mu, 8-7; Dominick Bridi, LM, dec. Dylan Devlin, CC, 5-1; Garrett Storch, Ca, dec. Damon Backes, MC, 7-1.

220: Cameron Wood, Mo, pinned Carter Sauer, MW, 2:32; Jackson Chilson, Wy, dec. Quentin Doane, Mf, 5-2; Zach Poust, Be, pinned Trevor Williams, Ca, 3:22; Max Tillet, SC, dec. Logan McWilliams, CC, 5-0.

285: Lear Quinton, SC, pinned Gunner Treibley, MC, 5:21; Keagan Braund, At, pinned Alexx Eveland, CC, 3:43; Emmanuel Ulrich, Mf, dec. Caleb Burkhart, Hu, 1-0; Nevin Rauch, Mi, dec. Dawson Brown, NEB, 4-1.

* – Sayre penalized one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct

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