ATHENS' BRADLEY BRINGS HOME PIAA SILVER; FALLS 3-2 IN FINALS
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | March 12, 2021 | Photo courtesy Tim Birney
HERSHEY — Athens junior Gavin Bradley was unable to create the up-tempo
match he wanted in his PIAA Class AA 113-pound championship bout with
Wyoming Area sophomore Jaden Pepe, and dropped a 3-2 decision here
Friday evening at the Giant Center.
Bradley, now a three-time
PIAA medalist, finishes the season at 40-2 — both losses to Pepe — with
his silver-medal performance. Pepe finishes the season at 19-1 — his
only loss to Bradley.
“Gavin had a great season,” said Athens
coach Shawn Bradley. “He wrestled his butt off the entire season, and he
works his tail off all the time.
“He deserved to win that much,
he just didn’t do quite enough to win,” noted Bradley. “This one is
going to hurt him for a little bit. He can use that as a driving force
next year.”
Bradley pressured Pepe the entire first period, but
it was Pepe who scored a takedown on a low double-leg with 15 seconds
remaining to take a 2-0 lead into the second period.
Bradley
deferred, and Pepe chose bottom to start the second period, but Bradley
elected to start neutral, giving Pepe a 3-0 lead.
Bradley pressed
the issue for nearly the entire second period, but it was Bradley that
was warned for stalling with 24 seconds remaining. The duo remained on
their feet for the entire two minutes.
Bradley scored a quick escape at the outset of the third period to trim the deficit to 3-1.
After
two stalemates, and four whistles for going out-of-bounds, Pepe was
penalized for stalling with 17 seconds remaining to make it 3-2.
Bradley got in on a leg twice late in the match, but couldn’t finish either one off.
“(Gavin)
has to have a little better mat sense,” said Shawn Bradley. “He had two
shots on the edge … he just has to score there.”
Neither Bradley was pleased with the pace of the match.
“I’m not going to make excuses,” said Shawn Bradley. “(Pepe) won the match, he wrestled within the rules and won the match.
“Pulling
our elbows, staying still, and doing nothing the whole match, though,
it’s hard to somebody who’s not wrestling back,” he added.
“I
pushed the pace the whole match,” said Gavin Bradley. “I tried my best
to get to my stuff, but it didn’t turn out to be the match I wanted.
“He
was always moving backward,” he added. “It’s hard to wrestle someone
like that … I mean, we’re in the state finals, I think we should
wrestle.”
Gavin Bradley, who finished sixth at States as a
freshman and seventh last year, said he still has one more goal to
accomplish, and will continue working hard.
“Knowing him, he’ll probably be at practice Monday, but I need a break,” laughed Shawn Bradley.
“I
never take breaks,” said Gavin Bradley. “Sooner or later, I’m going to
get what I want, and when I do, it will all be worth it.”
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