BRADLEY WINS THIRD STRAIGHT TITLE, QUALIFIES FOR STATES FOR FOURTH TIME; RUDE PUNCHES TICKET TO HERSHEY FOR FIRST TIME
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | March 5, 2022 | Photo courtesy Matt Patton
WILLIAMSPORT — Senior Gavin Bradley became the second wrestler in Athens
program history to qualify for the PIAA Championships four times here
Saturday, while senior Karter Rude punched his ticket to Hershey for the
first time.
Bradley avenged his only loss of the season — a 5-3
setback in the District 4 finals last week — with a wild 11-8 win over
top-seeded Branden Wentzel of Montoursville in the 113-pound finale to
win his third consecutive Regional title.
“Gavin is going to wrestle hard for six minutes, or however long the match is no matter what,” said Athens coach Shawn Bradley.
“I
think he fixed some stuff tonight,” he noted. “He stayed in position,
and position is huge in wrestling. Last week, he gave up position a
couple of times, and Wentzel is a tough kid — he capitalized on it.
“He stayed in position a lot better, got to his offense, and gutted it out when he had to,” Bradley added.
Bradley
scored a takedown with 1:11 remaining in the first period to take a 2-0
lead, but Wentzel recorded a reversal with 21 seconds left to tie it at
2-2.
Wentzel registered an escape off the second-period whistle
for a 3-2 lead, but Bradley answered with a pair of takedowns for a 6-4
lead with 41 seconds remaining.
Wentzel scored an escape late in the second period, then hit for a takedown early in the third period for a 7-6 lead.
Bradley
escaped with 1:25 left in the third period to tie the bout at 7-7, then
connected on a pair of takedowns, including one with 12 seconds
remaining to seal the victory.
Previously, Gavin Bradley, who
pinned Wyoming Area’s Garret Pocceschi in 74 seconds in the
quarterfinals Friday, sewed up his trip to Hershey with a pin of South
Williamsport’s Kayvan Shams in 2:38 in the semifinals.
Rude, the third seed at 152 pounds, opened the tournament Friday night with a 5-2 win over Honesdale’s Joey Gianetti, 5-2.
Rude
punched his ticket to States in the semifinals with a 5-0 win over
second-seeded Cooper Price, who was 28-1 entering the bout.
“Coming
into this year, Karter (Rude) had never even placed at Districts,” said
Bradley. “This year, he takes second at Regionals, and he beats a kid
who is undefeated in the semis. That’s cool.”
Rude’s quest for a Regional title came up short with a 9-1 loss to top-seeded Devon Deem of Montgomery in the finals.
“He closed the gap on Deem, and Deem is tough,” said Bradley.
“Karter has wrestled some really good kids in that weight class this year, the top three, four, five kids in the state.”
Bradley believes Rude is primed for good things in Hersehy.
“Karter is peaking just at the right time,” he said. “He’s right where he needs to be right now.
“Karter
is a great athlete,” noted Bradley. “The keys for him are head
position, his hands are super-heavy, and he’s got great attacks.
“And,
his gas tank this year is really good this year,” added Bradley. “In
the past that was the biggest issue, how do we get him to push through
hard situations? We don’t have to ask that anymore, he’s pushed through
hard situations every day.”
Junior Jake Courtney and sophomore
Josh Nittinger, who both lost pigtail-round matches, were eliminated
with losses in their first wrestleback matches Saturday morning.
“They
both had great seasons,” said Bradley. “When you come down here, you
have to fight through some tough kids to advance. They both battled,
came up a little bit short in both matches, but they battled.
“I
think both kids will take a big step forward next year, and they’re
going to have to because they’re going to be our leaders,” he added.
Nittinger dropped a 4-1 decision to Meadowbrook Christian’s Gunner Treibley.
“I
think Josh wrestled more matches than anyone in this tournament,” said
Bradley. “He wrestled almost 50 matches, which is awesome. He showed me a
lot this year as far as working hard, and wanting to learn.”
Courtney dropped a 6-5 decision to Line Mountain’s Lane Schadel.
“Jake
has to take that next step, he’s right there,” said Bradley. “He beat
some really good kids this year. He has to take that next step, know
he’s good enough, and just prove it.”
Action at the PIAA Class AA Championships begins Thursday morning at the Giant Center in Hershey.
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