The pain was substantial, and it came with the added bonus of the vision in his left eye being blotted out by a white dot. With next-to-half his vision at his disposal, the Warrior would be tasked with enduring overtime against a strong foe.

Endure, he did.

Harvey noticed Fugazzotto’s stance becoming a bit sloppy as the match wore on and was able to use that to his advantage, turning a single-legged shot into the match-sealing takedown in sudden victory and winning by 4-1 decision. That win clinched him a top four placement, as he went on to take fourth at states.

“It didn’t stop me,” said Harvey when discussing his eye. “I knew if I was gonna win, I had to score there. It just made me want to wrestle harder and prove that I can wrestle with any injury.”

CHRIS MANNING/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Chase Boozer competes for Muncy on Saturday at the state tournament.

“Earlier in the match, I saw that when I’d set him up, the misdirection was always there. He was staying up a lot more and giving bigger openings. I took the chance and ultimately, got the win,” he added on the match.

His run at bronze ultimately came up short, as Harvey closed out his run with a 4-2 loss in a hard-fought decision. But clinching his first career PIAA medal on Friday and picking up an additional win on top of that was special.

After closing out his debut run as sophomore on Day Two with a 1-2 finish, the Montoursville junior put in a tremendous amount of work to build on it. He bulked up from 160 to 189 in the weight room, spent numerous hours practicing with PIAA finalist Gage Wentzel and through his junior run at states, that hard work paid off in a big way.

“If I was in my shoes last year, I wouldn’t believe that I’d be taking fourth this year. I’m without words right now, it feels amazing,” said Harvey. “It just shows much work I put in during the offseason.”

It was a similar run for Muncy’s Chase Boozer, who closed out his debut run at states as a freshman with a head-turning, fourth place finish at 139. Building on an already impressive debut campaign, he showed he’s already in position to compete against the best of the best the state has to offer.

Chase Boozer of Muncy is taken down by Camden Baum of Bishop McDevitt during their semi final match during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

His losses came by a combined deficit three, the first of which came against to a wrestler ranked No. 5 in the country in Bishop McDevitt’s Camden Baum. And his three wins came against studs, most notably defeating returning state medalist Drake McClure (Bentworth) by 2-1 decision.

“My first match (on Saturday), a good win over a tough opponent,” said Boozer on the match. “I lost to him earlier this season by a point, so coming back and beating him by a point is pretty cool.”

“It’s been a tough season, but it’s been fun. It’s been a journey. Ending off with fourth place isn’t where I wanted to be, but I’ll come back next season and try to do better,” he added.

Hayden Harvey of Montoursville wins his match with Emery Johnson of Reynolds during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Hayden Harvey of Montoursville ties up with Emery Johnson of Reynolds during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette