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HISTORIC WIN: Montoursville wins first ever District 4 Class AA Duals title, beating Hughesville

By Jon Gerardi 12 min read

MILTON -- There were plenty of smiles on Montoursville's wrestlers faces and the coaches as they looked at their gold medals and held the championship plaque. While being interviewed after the championship bout, Montoursville coach Matt Yonkin couldn't help but crack a smile.

What made Yonkin and his wrestlers so happy? The fact that, for the first time in program history, Montoursville's wrestling team won the District 4 Class AA Duals title. It's also the first title for a Lycoming County team in Class AA competition.

Montoursville earned its historic victory with a 45-20 win over Hughesville in the final, pitting the two top seeds in the tournament against each other.

"It's so hard to believe. It means a lot, it really does, it means a lot. We've had some amazing teams over the years full of incredible talent and we've never won this," Yonkin said. "We've always come up short. To kind of break through and get that first title, it's big, it's really important for this team."

Montoursville and Hughesville were both eyeing their first-ever District 4 Class AA Duals title on Saturday at Milton, and it was the Warriors who achieved the feat. Both teams, however, are state-bound as they placed in the top 2.

"I'm super proud. I'm going to say there's not a ton of people that had us penciled into the finals. We're a team with not a ton of superstars, we have a bunch of guys who just fight for each other," Hughesville coach Troy Charles said. "This senior class I said the other day, they're a once-in-a-lifetime class and not because they're good wrestlers but because they're great kids."

Montoursville and Hughesville went back-and-forth to begin the championship final. Blaize Vogel put Montoursville up 5-0 after he secured a 15-0, 3:56 tech fall at 139 but the Spartans won three straight from 145-160. Kile Hartman bested Karter Stone by decision, 8-5, in a tight match to make it a 5-3 deficit. Keagan Smith earned a tech fall over Ryan Meredith, 17-1, 4:12, to give Hughesville an 8-5 lead and then at 160, it was an extremely close matchup between Mason Mordan and Hayden Harvey.

Neither Mordan or Harvey was giving up many chances to their opponent as the two were knotted up at 1-1 through three periods. In the overtime period, both opponents locked up from a standing neutral position through 60 seconds but neither secured a point. Mordan secured a point in the second 30-second overtime period and then was able to use a leg sweep to get Harvey down and ride out the win by decision, 2-1 UTB.

"The Harvey kid is a great wrestler. So that's a really big win. Mason is that kind of kid where he's a guy who maybe didn't have the success he wanted in middle school and he committed to just embracing the grind," Charles said. "He's improved a ton over the last three years and he had a couple of big wins this year. Where that training, we're starting to see it pay off."

That win put Hughesville ahead, 9-5.

Rather than get rattled, Montoursville was as calm as could be and kept wrestling how it knew how. After that three-match run by the Spartans, Montoursville proceeded to win six of the next seven contested bouts to put the dual away.

"We've had some tight matches this year," Yonkin said. "You look at some of our dual meet schedules against Towanda and Bishop McDevitt, we went down there and we had Montgomery. We had some tight matches, so we're comfortable in those situations."

At 172, Gage Wentzel of Montoursville needed just 24 seconds to pin Royce Gordner to put Montoursville back ahead, 11-9. From there, Montoursville never trailed again.

Owen Kleinman secured a major decision at 189 against Wyatt Gavitt, 13-4, for a 15-9 Montoursville lead. Hughesville's Luke Stutzman secured an 8-2 decision at 215 to cut the deficit to 15-12, but that's the closest Hughesville came to rallying back and tying or taking the lead in the dual for the title.

Landon Morehart secured a fall in 54 seconds at 285 and at 107, state-ranked Brande Eisenhour pinned Ethan Wodrig in 1:31.

"Eisenhour had a real nice big fall there that made a difference," Yonkin said.

Eisenhour's pin gave Montoursville a 27-12 lead with three bouts to go, a 15-point lead which meant that Hughesville needed to not only win out from there, but secure at least one fall and two techs to win.

Coltyn Wagner pinned Jarret Whitmoyer at 114 in 29 seconds and clinched Montoursville's historic season. Saturday was Wagner's first competition back since mid-December.

"Getting Coltyn Wagner back in our lineup today is a good day for the heart, that boy's been through a lot," Yonkin said. "For him to come back and be kind of a hero today with three real important wins and three important falls team wise is huge and you cap it off with Teli and Kennedy, that's what those guys do."

Bobotas pinned Casey Mook in 31 seconds before Chase Shaner won at 133 by forfeit to close out the dual.

"That's another one where we don't match up super well with them, but any win that we can get is going to be a good win and it's going to be a tough win, right?" Charles said. "All of their guys are good and we're going to have to wrestle our best to get a couple wins there. I thought we put together some wins, but we just didn’t have the firepower to match up with them unfortunately."

Montoursville defeated Line Mountain convincingly in the quarterfinals on Saturday, 57-11, to advance to the semifinals. Hughesville beat Williamson, 43-29, to advance and Montgomery beat Mifflinburg, 30-29, in an extremely close dual coming down to the last match to advance.

That's where Montgomery met up with rival Hughesville in the semifinals. Hughesville won that match in a close contest as well, 31-29, to get to the final and secure a spot to states.

"Montgomery's always good and always well coached. We knew it was going to come down to a couple of toss-ups and today they just happened to go our way," Charles said. "That doesn't always happen, it's the nature of the sport. I was just really happy to see our guys all in for every guy. It was everyone for everyone."

In the semifinals, Montoursville defeated Towanda to secure a state tournament berth. Neither Towanda or Montoursville won more than two consecutive matches throughout that dual, as it came down to key bonus points. Of Montoursville's eight wins, all but two secured bonus points as David Kennedy had a tech fall win at 127, Harvey pinned Jace Gunther at 160, Wentzel pinned Chase Geurin at 172, Eisenhour had a fall at 107, and both Wagner (114) and Bobotas (121) secured tech fall victories.

Against Montgomery, Hughesville used some key wins in the middle weights to help secure the victory. Montgomery won five of six bouts from 107-139. The Spartans would secure six wins out of seven from 145-285, however.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Montoursville 45, Hughesville 20

139: Blaize Vogel (M) tech fall Wesley Harvey, 15-0, 3:56. 145: Kile Hartman (H) dec. Karter Stone, 8-5. 152: Keagan Smith (H) tech fall Ryan Meredith, 17-1, 4:12. 160: Mason Mordan (H) dec. Hayden Harvey, 2-1 TB2. 172: Gage Wentzel (M) pinned Royce Gardner, 0:24. 189: Owen Kleinman (M) maj. dec. Wyatt Gavitt, 13-4. 215: Luke Stutzman (H) dec. Gabriel Vanderwall, 8-2. 285: Landon Morehart (M) pinned Colton Woolever, 0:54. 107: Branden Eisenhour (M) pinned Ethan Wodrig, 1:31. 114: Coltyn Wagner (M) pinned Jarret Whitmoyer, 0;29. 121: Teli Bobotas (M) pinned Casey Mook, 0:31. 133: Chase Shaner (H) by forfeit.

THIRD-PLACE FINAL

Montgomery 40, Mifflinburg 25

139: Brandt Harer (Mo) pinned Seth Hartman, 0:19. 145: Max Furman III (Mo) dec. Lane Kenamond, 1-0. 152: Cameron Woltz (Mo) pinned Wesley Smith, 2:44. 160: Oliver Patte (Mi) by forfeit. 172: Raiden Felix (Mo) maj. dec. Cyrus Douty, 19-11. 189: Coy Bryson (Mo) tech fall Landon Moser, 19-4, 3:41. 215: Landon Tucker (Mi) tech fall Evan Hugar, 17-2, 3:38. 285: Ethan Hugar (Mo) pinned Cadyn Huffman, 2:44. 107: Manny Stoltzfus (Mo) tech fall Keagan Shoemaker, 20-4, 3:25. 114: Liam Seeley (Mo) tech fall Landen Shemory, 16-1, 1:35. 121: Jack Gramly (Mi) pinned Porter Hall, 3:13. 127: Bradley Wagner (Mi) tech fall Gaige Reynolds, 18-1, 1:31. 133: Benjamin Straub (Mi) dec. AJ Kroft, 4-0.

CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS

Montoursville 39, Towanda 28

127: David Kennedy (M) tech fall Tanner Vanderpool, 17-2, 2:46. 133: Gage Evans (T) pinned Brody Bower, 2:43. 139: Blaize Vogel (M) dec. Reese Sluyter, 6-3. 145: Riley Vanderpool (T) pinned Karter Stone, 2:46. 152: Rylee Sluyter (T) tech fall Ryan Meredith, 17-2, 5:28. 160: Hayden Harvey (M) pinned Jace Gunther, 1:19. 172: Gage Wentzel (M) pinned Chase Geurin, 0:29. 189: Sawyer Robinson (T) pinned Walker Wood, 0:56. 215: Owen Kleinman (M) dec. Zach Lantz, 8-1. 285: Mason Higley (T) tech fall Landon Morehart, 19-2, 4:39. 107: Branden Eisenhour (M) pinned Mason Harbst, 1:43. 114: Coltyn Wagner (M) tech fall Jayden Stranger, 18-0, 3:10. 121: Teli Bobotas (M) tech fall Curtis Maynard, 16-1, 4:57.

Hughesville 31, Montgomery 29

127: Gaige Reynolds (M) pinned William Travis, 0:23. 133: Chase Shaner (H) dec. AJ Kroft, 9-2. 139: Brandt Harer (M) tech fall Wesley Harvey, 19-4, 0:41. 145: Kile Hartman (H) dec. Max Furman III, 1-0. 152: Keagan Smith (H) tech fall Cameron Woltz, 22-6, 4:35. 160: Mason Mordan (H) tech fall Raiden Felix, 17-2, 5:26. 172: Conor Knight (H) by forfeit. 189: Coy Bryson (M) tech fall Wyatt Gavitt, 21-6, 2:05. 215: Luke Stutzman (H) pinned Justin Figard, 1:35. 285: Colton Woolever (H) dec. Evan Hugar, 9-3. 107: Manny Stoltzfus (M) dec. Ethan Wodrig, 3-0. 114: Liam Seeley (M) pinned Jarret Whitmoyer, 0:17. 121: Porter Hall (M) maj. dec. Casey Mook, 16-3.

CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS

Montoursville 57, Line Mountain 11

107: Branden Eisenhour (M) pinned Benjamin Conrad, 1:49. 114: Coltyn Wagner (M) pinned David Rissinger, 1:28. 121: Ryan Aguirre (M) by forfeit. 127: Teli Bobotas (M) pinned Bradyn Schadel, 0:51. 133: David Kennedy (M) pinned Cody Mirarchi, 1:30. 139: Blaize Vogel (M) tech fall Waylon Shaffer, 15-0, 1:58. 145: Nolan Savage (LM) tech fall Hunter Gee, 17-2, 1:36. 152: Dalton Schadel (LM) pinned Ryan Meredith, 3:22. 160: Hayden Harvey (M) dec. Kohen Shingara, 6-1. 172: Gage Wentzel (M) pinned Gavin Dunn, 1:15. 189: Owen Kleinman (M) dec. Maxim Johnson, 3-0. 215: Gabriel Vanderwall (M) by forfeit. 285: Landon Morehart (M) maj. dec. Jacob Schwalm, 9-0.

Towanda 40, Midd-West 30

107: Mason Kerstetter (MW) tech fall Mason harbst, 15-0, 3:35. 114: Lane Yount (MW) tech fall Jayden Stranger, 15-0, 5:56. 121 Curtis Maynard (T) pinned Michael Viafore, 0:33. 127: Tanner Vanderpool (T) tech fall Witten Carter, 18-2, 6:00. 133: Gage Evans (T) pinned Aiden Rose, 1:12. 139: Charley Paige (MW) dec. Reese Sluyter, 8-5. 145: Matthew Smith (MW) tech fall Riley Vanderpool, 19-2, 4:00. 152: Rylee Sluyter (T) pinned Evan Maneval, 5:51. 160: Graham Yount (MW) pinned Jace Gunther, 1:31. 172: Grant Yount (MW) pinned Chase Geurin, 3:40. 189: Sawyer Robinson (T) pinned Nolan Delong, 0:23. 215: Mason Higley (T) pinned Jared Devine, 2:11. 285: Zach Lantz (T) pinned Barry Panepacker, 1:09.

Montgomery 30, Mifflinburg 29

121: Jack Gramly (Mi) dec. Porter Hall, 3-2. 127: Bradley Wagner (Mi) pinned Gaige Reynolds, 6-0. 133: Benjamin Straub (Mi) tech fallNathaniel Straub, 18-0, 2:25. 139: Brandt Harer (Mo) tech fall Lane Kenamond, 23-4, 1:03. 145: Max Furman III (Mo) maj. dec. Gradyn Shuck, 9-0. 152: Wesley Smith (Mo) by forfeit. 160: Oliver Patte (Mi) dec. Cameron Woltz, 10-6. 172: Raiden Felix (Mo) dec. Cyrus Douty, 8-2. 189: Coy Bryson (Mo) tech fall Landon Moser, 22-5, 3:43. 215: Landon Tucker (Mi) pinned Justin Figard, 0:37. 285: Evan Hugar (Mo) dec. Cadyn Huffman, 5-0. 107: Manny Stoltzfus (Mo) tech fall Keagan Shoemaker, 21-5, 2:57. 114: Liam Seeley (Mo) tech fall Dylan Parris, 19-3, 3:01.

Hughesville 43, Williamson 29

107: Zander Wilson (W) tech fall Ethan Wodrig, 4:43. 114: Walker Hyde (W) pinned Jarret Whitmoyer, 0:33. 121: Hunter Simonds (W) pinned Casey Mook, 0:43. 127: Noah Robinson (W) pinned William Travis, 2:30. 135: Chase Shaner (H) pinned Ryder Dacheux, 1:35. 139: Wesley Harvey (H) inned Kohen Flynn, 6:00. 145: Kile Hartman (H) pinned Lhandyn Nauman, 1:27. 152: Dawson Liebersohn (H) by forfeit. 160: Keagan Smith (H) pinned Steven Olson, 3:01. 172: Mason Mordan (H) pinned Devin Stone, 0:09. 189: Wyatt Gavitt (H) dec. Timothy Freeman, 13-10. 215: Luke Stutzman (H) maj. dec. Ben Freeman, 12-3. 285: Luke Sottolano (W) pinned Colton Woolever, 1:55.

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS

Montgomery 31, Line Mountain 25

133: Gaige Reynolds (M) tech fall Cody Mirarchi, 15-0, 2:51. 139: AJ Kroft (M) pinned Waylon Shaffer, 0;52. 145: Brandt Harer (M) pinned Urtzi Zuluaga, 0:13. 152: Nolan Savage (LM) dec. Max Furman III, 2-1. 160: Dalton Schadel (LM) tech fall Cameron Woltz, 17-2, 3:54. 172: Kohen Shingara (LM) tech fall Raiden Felix, 16-0, 2:30. 189: Coy Bryson (M) dec. Maxim Johnson, 4-0. 215: Jacob Schwalm (LM) pinned Evan Hugar, 2:02. 285: Jackson Kauwell (LM) dec. Ethan Hugar, 7-0. 107: Manny Stoltzfus (M) tech fall Benjamin Conrad, 18-1, 3:08. 114: Liam Seeley (M) tech fall David Rissinger, 16-2, 1:41. 127: Bradyn Schadel (LM) dec. Porter Hall, 7-2.

Mifflinburg 32, Towanda 29

107: Keagan Shoemaker (M) pinned Mason Harbst, 2:20. 141: Dylan Parrish (M) tech fall Jayden Stranger, 18-1, 4:45. 121: Jack Gramly (M) dec. Curtis Maynard, 8-7. 127: Bradley Wagner (M) by forfeit. 133: Benjamin Straub (M) pinned Tanner Vanderpool, 2:11. 139: Gage Evans (T) dec. Lane Kenamond, 8-2. 145: Reese Sluyter (T) dec. Gradyn Shuck, 1-0. 152: Riley Vanderpool (T) dec. Wesley Smith, 16-9. 160: Rylee Sluyter (T) dec. Oliver Patte, 4-1. 172: Cyrus Douty (M) pinned Chase Geurin, 2:00. 189: Sawyer Robinson (T) pinned Landon Moser, 2:44. 215: Mason Higley (T) tech fall Landon Tucker, 21-4, 4:41. 285: Zach Lantz (T) pinned Cadyn Huffman. 2:22.

CONSOLATION ROUND 1

Line Mountain 37, Midd-West 30

127: Bradyn Schadel (LM) tech fall Witten Carter, 16-1, 3:19. 133: Cody Mirarchi (LM) pinned Aiden Rose, 4:40. 139: Charley Paige (MW) pinned Waylon Shaffer, 2:47. 145: Matthew Smith (MW) dec. Nolan Savage, 4-3. 152: Dalton Schadel (LM) maj. dec. Evan Maneval, 11-3. 160: Kohen Shingara (LM) tech fall Graham Yount, 19-1, 3:40. 172: Grant Yount (MW) dec. Ethan Lenker, 4-0. 189: Maxim Johnson (LM) tech fall Nolan Delong, 17-2, 2:25. 215: Jacob Schwalm (LM) pinned Jared Devine, 4:26. 285: Jackson Kauwell (LM) pinned Barry Penepacker, 3:24. 107: Mason Kerstetter (MW) pinned Benjamin Conrad, 2:45. 114: Lane Yount (MW) pinned David Rissinger, 0:46. 121: Michael Viafore (MW) by forfeit.

Mifflinburg 45, Williamson 22

127: Bradley Wagner (M) pinned Noah Robinson, 2:01. 133: Benjamin Straub (M) pinned Ryder Dacheux, 1:31. 139: Seth Hartman (M) pinned Kohen Flynn, 4:33. 145: Gradyn Shuck (M) maj. dec. Lhandyn Nauman, 15-3. 152: Wesley Smith (M) by forfeit. 160: Steven Olson (W) dec. Oliver Patte, 6-0. 172: Cyrus Douty (M) pinned Devin Stone, 0:11. 189: Timothy Freeman (W) dec. Landon Moser, 5-2. 215: Landon Tucker (M) pinned Ben Freeman, 1:24. 285: Luke Sottolano (W) maj. dec. Lucas Miller, 9-0. 107: Zander Wilson (W) pinned Keagan Shoemaker, 1:22. 114: Walker Hyde (W) pinned Landen Shemory, 1:46. 121: Jack Gramy (M) tech fall Hunter Simonds, 17-0, 4:14.

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