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Warrior Run’s Reagan, Cameron Milheim reach state finals in Hershey

CHRIS MANNING/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Warrior Run's coaches react during a match at the PIAA Class AA wrestling championships in Hershey on Friday.

Warrior Run nearly had the trifecta on Friday at the PIAA Wrestling Championships, which would’ve been a first in the tournament’s history. They were one takedown away from seeing all three Milheim brothers reach a state final in one season.

Reagan Milheim (139) and Cameron Milheim (152) both won their semifinals match, but Kaden Milheim (145) came up one point short in his semifinals.

“It’s pretty cool,” Warrior Run coach Jeremy Betz said. “I’m sure its more cool for them. It’s a neat experience, I’m sure, they won’t forget. I anticipate that they’ll all go on to wrestle in college and I’m hoping one day they’ll all be at nationals wrestling together, but this is a pretty cool experience for them, on the same team, wrestling at the same time.”

Reagan used some third period magic to beat Faith Christian’s Chase Hontz 2-1 in the semis.

Hontz led 1-0 after getting a third period escape, and had ridden Reagan out in the second. It looked like he would win the low scoring match, but with a minute to go Reagan got a takedown at the edge of the mat for the 1-point lead.

CHRIS MANNING/Sun-Gazette Corrrespondent Warrior Run's Cameron Milheim wrestles at the PIAA Class AA wrestling championships in Hershey.

“You just can’t get down on yourself,” Reagan remarked. “I don’t even really remember what happened. Basically, I think it was just a go behind.”

Reagan then had the hardest ride of his career, holding Hontz down for a minute to get the win.

“I was confident riding him because I think I’m a good ride,” he said.

That last 20 seconds Hontz was starting to put Reagan in danger, but Reagan stayed strong.

“I was hooking up my ankle and keeping my hips up,” explained Reagan.

CHRIS MANNING/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Warrior Run's Reagan Milheim wrestles at the PIAA Class AA wrestling championships on Friday in Hershey.

His coach Jeremy Butz exploded out of his seat pointing at Reagan when the clock hit zero.

“Reagan’s gritty,” said Betz. “I mean, he was dead to rights on a takedown, I’m not sure how he came out the top, but ended up getting it. He got into a scramble in the end, didn’t panic, maintained position, so it was a real good win for him.”

Reagan used another third period takedown to a break a 1-1 tie to beat Burgettstown’s Joey Sentipal in the quarters.

He’ll get Wyoming Area’s Anthony Evanitsky in the finals in a rematch of the Northeast Regional finals.

After a close win to start the tournament Cameron was dominant on Friday.

He majored North East’s Steffan Lynch 18-7 in the quarters, then got an 11-3 major on Lackawanna Trail’s Max Bluhm, a Northeast Regional opponent, in the semifinals to reach the finals.

“I think that gave him a little confidence, and he opened up a little bit at the end, so he looked good, he’s scoring points in the match,” said Betz. “It’s fun watching him wrestle.”

Cameron had a 2-0 lead after the first period, then upped it to 6-1 in the second en route to the victory.

“It feels great,” he said. “I went out and dominated – that’s what I did.”

Cameron beat him earlier in the year with a fall.

“He’s had a good tournament,” said Cameron. “He’s a respectable opponent, but I went out to do what I did. When on my offense, when I’m attacking, I feel like I’m one of the best kids in the country.”

Kaden jumped out to a 6-2 first period lead en route to his 14-2 major decision on Marion Center’s Gage Heilbrun to reach the semis.

However, he lost 1-0 to Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Vincent Bouzakis, with Bouzakis scoring an escape in the third period the difference.

Kaden went after him down the stretch of the match, but couldn’t get the same magic that Reagan had.

“That kids ranked, like, 15th in the country,” said Betz. “Losing 1-0, it is what it is. The kid is hard to finish on. I thought he wrestled really hard, really awesome against him.”

Kaden came back with a 4-2 win over Montoursville’s Gage Wentzel in overtime. He rallied from a 2-1 deficit to get the sudden victory takedown, and will now face Bishop McDevitt’s Ryan Lawler in the bronze medal match.

With Kaden graduating this will be the only time the three brothers are in the line-up, but it’s been a nightmare for others, particularly in the dual meet season.

“It’s been really cool,” Cameron said about the three of them. “I don’t know if there’s every been three brothers to all medal, but it’s a really cool experience.”

Tyler Ulrich (127) saw his season come to a close in the second round of consolations after a 5-2 loss to Chestnut Ridge’s Kobi Burkett.

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