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Montoursville has five wrestlers advance to championship quarterfinals at states

By CHRIS MANNING 4 min read

HERSHEY -- Days at the PIAA wrestling championships don't get much better than the one Montoursville had on Thursday. All seven wrestlers advanced to Friday, five are still in the championship bracket, and three of them pinned their way to the quarter finals.

"I'm super proud of the guys, they're a great group of kids," said Montoursville coach Matt Yonkin. "They've worked hard, they've earned this. I'm really, really happy to see them succeed today."

The Warriors sit in fourth place as a team with 31 points, with Bishop McCort (58.5 points), Faith Christian (54.5), and Bishop McDevitt (33.5) in the top three spots.

Braiden Eisenhour (107 pounds), David Kennedy (127), and Gage Wentzel (172) all got falls in the opening round, while Aristotlis Bobotas (121) scored a major decision.

The match of the day might go to Hayden Harvey (160), though, who eked out a 6-5 decision to advance to the quarter.s

Blaize Vogel (133), and Landon Morehart (285) both earned consolation wins to keep themselves in the tournament.

"Most of our wins today were bonus point wins," remarked Yonkin. "We had a number of falls, there was a major decision in there as well, so that kind of stuff will keep us up top in the team race, which is a nice addition to the kids' individual performances."

Eisenhour started things off with a fall over North East's Kael Kimmy in 1:43. He got a takedown with 40 seconds to go in the first period, then cradled Kimmy up for the pin.

Bobotas followed with a 15-3 win over Bishop McCort's Jack Silfies.

Bobotas scored two first period takedowns to go up 6-1, then added another takedown in the second to take a 9-3 lead going into the final period.

He got a reversal for the 11-3 lead, then added more back points for the major.

Kennedy had to rally for his pin over Hickory's Brady Slicker in 2:42. Slicker got a first period takedown to take a 3-1 lead after one.

Kennedy, though, was on top to start the second, and turned Slicker for the fall.

Harvey used a fast start to beat Central Clarion's Mason Gourley 6-5 in his opening round match, taking a 5-0 lead thanks to a takedown and back points. Gourley cut it to 5-1 heading into the second period.

Gourley turned the tables with an escape, and takedown, in the second to knot things up at 5-5.

In the third Harvey took down, forcing Gourley to cut him and go for the winning takedown, which Harvey denied.

"He dug deep, and sucked it up, and really came through when he needed to," Yonkin said. "That was a big win for him. He has a tough match tomorrow, but we're just going to keep going one round at a time."

Wenzel pinned Berks Catholic's Carmine Lenzi in 5:45 for his win. He scored two first period takedowns to go up 6-1, then rode Lenzi out int he second.

In the third he got a reversal, then pinned him for the win.

In the first round Vogel lost by tech fall, 21-5, to Derry's Anthony Mucci, but then bounced back with a 5-2 win over Hughesville's Chase Shaner in the first round of consolations.

A first period takedown put Vogel up 3-0, then a reversal in the third saw him take a 5-1 lead.

At heavyweight Morehart lost by fall to Westmont Hilltop's Jonah McCoy, in 1:27, but stayed alive with a pin of Troy's Reed Palmer in 1:25 during the consolations.

"They both rebounded real well," Yonkin said. "Gaige had a real strong performance over Shaner, they've wrestled a couple of times, and it's always a good match. Landon with a nice fall here, picking up some bonus points, and advancing."

In the quarters Bobotas Weill face Hamburg's Chase Homan, Eisenhour gets Bishop McDevitt's Braiden Lotier, Kennedy gets Conwell Egan's Michael Gorrell, Wentzel will face Bishop McCort's Jayden Ofarrill, and Harvey takes on Bishop McCort's Melvin Miller.

In the consolations Vogel gets Hickory's Brody Bishop, and Morehart faces Laurel's Casey Wilson.

They'll be up bright and early with an 8 a.m. start back at the Giant Center.

"It's just rest and recovery," Yonkin said about getting ready for day two. "Be ready to go take care of our nutrition, get a good night's rest, and hopefully be able to come back tomorrow, and pick up where we left off."

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