BRADLEY EXECUTES GAME PLAN IN SEMI-FINAL WIN; WILL WRESTLE FOR PIAA GOLD
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | March 11, 2022 | Photo courtesy Tim Birney
HERSHEY — Athens senior Gavin Bradley executed his game plan and pulled
out a 4-1 decision over Faith Academy Christian freshman ace Gauge
Botero Friday night to advance to the 113-pound finals of the PIAA,
Class AA Wrestling Championships here at The Giant Center.
“We had a game plan, and Gavin stuck to it,” said Athens coach Shawn Bradley. “He did what he needed to do.
“(Botero)
is good,” noted Shawn Bradley. “We went back in between sessions and
watched 10 or 15 matches and that kid was wrestling hammers the whole
time. He had a great schedule, and he was ready to go.
“Gavin did what he to do,” added Shawn Bradley. “It was a great performance.”
Bradley
got in on a single-leg about 10 seconds into the match. With 24 seconds
remaining, following a 86-second scramble, the match was re-started due
to a stalemate call.
“That was one of the best scrambles I’ve seen from Gavin,” said assistant coach Jay White.
“That
was great because in the quarterfinals, the coach behind us was yelling
‘he can’t scramble, make him scramble.’ Well, I guess he can scramble
after that one,” laughed Shawn Bradley.
After the re-start, Bradley got in on another single-leg, and finished this one to take a 2-0 lead after the first two minutes.
Botero
chose bottom to start the second period, but Bradley, who is very
strong on top, chose to cut him, closing the gap to 2-1.
Bradley
scored another takedown with 21 seconds remaining in the second period
to take a 4-1 lead heading into the final two minutes.
Bradley chose neutral to start the third period, instead of taking top.
“That
kid scores a bunch of his points from bottom,” said Shawn Bradley. “He
almost beat the No. 1 kid in the country from the bottom … turned the
kid, scored five and almost beat him.
He’s dangerous on bottom.
“We
had two takedowns and were up 4-1, we didn’t need to prove anything,”
he noted. “We just needed be smart and get another takedown.”
Midway
through the third period, Bradley was in on a single-leg, but the
official whistled for blood time for Botero before he could finish it
off.
“When we had the blood time, I told Gavin ‘don’t shut down,
get another takedown,’” said Shawn Bradley. “He didn’t get one, but he
wrestled hard. They both wrestled hard … there weren’t any takedowns in
the final minute, but it was action-packed.”
Bradley, who recorded his 150th career win in the quarterfinals, is 38-1 on the season.
Prior to the season, many pundits expected Bradley to win a state title, or at least reach the state finals.
Shawn Bradley said those same thoughts were on the mind of Gavin Bradley prior to the quarterfinals and semifinals.
“That’s what I spent the last two hours (before the match) trying to do, was simplify that.
“I
told Gavin, ‘it’s not about the state finals. It’s a wrestling match.’
If that match is in the summer, I expect the same outcome,” he said.
“I
told Gavin ‘just wrestle six minutes,’” noted Shawn Bradley. “In the
quarterfinals, he’s thinking ‘what happens if I lose?’ … you can’t do
that, this is too big of a stage, and these kids are too good.
“You
just have to score points, and if you score points, good things will
happen,” he continued. “If not, you could leave it up to the referee, or
a freak takedown.
“You’ve seen him wrestle 100 times, he goes a
millions miles an hour — it’s all go, no brakes,” added Shawn Bradley.
“That’s the way he wrestles, if he stays that way, it’s going to take a
really great effort to beat him.”
Bradley will wrestle a familiar adversary in the finals in Montoursville junior Brandon Wentzel, who is 41-3 on the season.
Wentzel,
who has a first- and third-place finish at States, topped Bradley, 5-3
in the finals of the District 4 Championships, while Bradley, who has
finishes sixth, seventh, and second at States, won 11-8 last week in the
finals at the Northeast Regionals.
Wentzel advanced to the finals with a 3-2 win in ultimate rideout over West Perry senior Deven Jackson.
Does wrestling the same opponent three weeks in a row play to Bradley’s favor?
“I think it works both ways,” said Shawn Bradley.
“Hopefully,
Gavin doesn’t care who he wrestling tomorrow. He was waiting to see who
won, I told him ‘it doesn’t matter, just go out and wrestle.’
“He’s
wrestled both those kids and they are both super-tough,” noted Shawn
Bradley. “It’s the PIAA state tournament, you’re going to wrestle a
hammer in the state finals.
“(Wentzel) has one loss at Hershey in
his career,” added Shawn Bradley. “Gavin has to go out tomorrow and
wrestle his match, and not let Brandon control the tempo or the
positions. If he wrestles his match and his positions, it will come out
the way he wants.”
The finals are set for Saturday at 2 p.m.
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