ATHENS ADVANCES FOUR TO SEMIFINALS OF BEDFORD TOURNAMENT; THREE ALIVE IN WRESTLEBACKS

By: Tim Birney  /  January 28, 2022

BEDFORD, Pa. — Athens advanced four wrestlers to the semifinals, has three alive in wrestlebacks, and sits in fourth place after Day 1 at the rugged Thomas Chevrolet Tournament.

Powerhouse Chestnut Ridge leads the 31-team field with 132 points, well ahead of runner-up Bethlehem-Center, which has 82 points, and third-place Burrell, which has 81. Athens has 79.5 points, while Greenville is in fifth with 78.5 points, Northern Garrett is in sixth with 76.5 points, Penn Cambria is in seventh with 76, and Huntingdon is in eighth place with 75.5 points.

Seniors Gavin Bradley, Karter Rude, and Kaden Setzer, along with junior Jake Courtney are in the semifinals, while sophomore Josh NIttinger, freshman Caleb Nason, and senior Collin Rosh are alive in the consolation bracket.

Bradley, who is ranked No. 1 in the state at 113 pounds, is the second seed in the 120-pound bracket.

Bradley opened Friday with a 44-second fall over Greenville’s Liam Richardson, then, after building a 10-1 lead, decked Aaron Ickes of Chestnut Ridge in 2:00.

He will face third-seeded Ross Dull of Chestnut Ridge in the semifinals. Dull narrowly escaped the quarterfinals with a 6-4 overtime win over sixth-seeded Davis Stepp of Bethlehem-Center.

At 132 pounds, Setzer, the third seed, opened with a pin of North Star’s Braden Livingston in 2:37.

In the quarterfinals, Setzer scored a pair of third-period takedown to break a 2-2 tie in a 6-4 win over sixth-seeded Niko Ferra of Burrell.

Setzer will face second-seeded Kyle McCollum of Beth-Center in the semifinals.

At 138 pounds, Courtney, the second seed, opened with a 19-2 technical fall of Bedford’s Camryn Steinbuch in the pigtail round, then forged an 11-1 major decision, thanks in large part to a third-period takedown and two sets of swipes, over Chestnut Ridge’s Mason Weyant in the round-of-16.

In the quarterfinals, Courtney scored a takedown of 10th-seeded Ayden Sprague of Williamson in the middle of the first period, and turned him for a fall at 1:25.

Courtney will face third-seeded Chad Weist of Tussey Mountain in the semifinals.

At 152 pounds, Rude, the third seed, decked Milton’s Aidan Keiser in 25 seconds in the round-of-16.

In the quarterfinals, Rude scored a takedown of sixth-seeded Tanner Trybus of Cambria Heights in the first 30 seconds, then turned him three times to build a 10-0 lead after the first two minutes. Rude scored a quick takedown in the second period, and turned Trybus for a fall at 2:17.

Rude will face second-seeded Jack Moyer of Chestnut Ridge in the semifinals.

At 189 pounds, Rosh, the 11th seed, decked Trey Looney of Northern Garrett in 56 seconds in the pigtail round, but lost via second-period fall to sixth-seeded Austin Wagner of Penn Cambria in the round-of-16.

In the consolation bracket, Rosh pinned Southern Huntingdon’s Noah Rice in 2:47, then he scored an escape midway through the third period to take a 7-6 lead on West Greene’s Johnny Lampe, and finished off the 11-7 win with two takedowns in the final 54 seconds.

Rosh will face eighth-seeded Nick Presell of Chestnut Ridge in the “blood round.”

At 215 pounds, Nason, the ninth seed, scored a reversal midway through the first period, and turned into a fall in 1:17 against eighth-seeded Mason Raymond of Penn Cambria.

In the quarterfinals, top-seeded Mikey Sipps of Williamson scored a 15-0 technical fall of Nason in 4:00.

In the consolation bracket, Nason will face Chestnut Ridge’s Alex Crist in the “blood round.”

At 285 pounds, Nittinger, the 13th seed, decked Southern Huntingdon’s Jeremiah Barron in 60 seconds in the pigtail round, then lost via third-period fall to fourth-seeded Gunner Singleton of Huntingdon in the quarterfinals.

Nittinger bounced back in wrestlebacks with a pin of Chestnut Ridge’s Matt Davis in 2:18. He followed that up with a 6-1 decision of Beth-Center’s Josh Deems.

Nittinger will face Milton’s Paul Rohland in the “blood round.”

At 172 pounds, senior Cameron Whitmarsh went 2-2 on the day.

Whitmarsh won his pigtail-round match by fall in 18 seconds over Northeast Bradford’s Dominic Clark, but lost via first-period fall to second-seeded Aaron Bowers of Northern Bedford in the round-of-16.

In his first wrestleback bout, Whitmarsh scored takedowns late in the first and second periods to build a 4-0 lead of Central’s John Pulcine. Whitmarsh took Pulcine down again midway through the third period, then turned him for a fall at 4:48.

Whitmarsh’s day came to an end when Greenville’s Bennett Hayne took him directly to his back for a fall at 1:47.

At 145 pounds, freshman Keegan Congdon went 1-2 on the day. After losing by first-period fall in the pigtail round, Congdon decked Southern Huntingdon’s Aiden Hollibaugh in 2:03. He was eliminated via second-period fall in his next bout.

Also at 145 pounds, senior Lucas Forbes lost via fall in the pigtail round, then issued a medial forfeit in his first wrestleback bout.

Action begins Saturday at 10 a.m.