ATHENS ADVANCES THREE TO SEMIFINALS OF CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIPS
By: Tim Birney / February 25, 2022 / Photo: Lance Larcom
WILLIAMSPORT — Athens advanced three wrestlers — seniors Karter Rude and
Gavin Bradley, and junior Jake Courtney — into the semifinals of
Saturday’s District 4, Class AA Wrestling Championships.
The
Wildcats also have three grapplers — senior Kaden Setzer, sophomore Josh
Nittinger, and freshman Caleb Nason — in the consolation bracket.
Athens
is in fifth place in the team standings with 28 points. Benton leads
the team title chase with 49 points, with Montoursville second at 39,
Canton third at 32.5 points, and Southern Columbia in fourth at 31
points.
Rude, the second seed at 152 pounds, forged a 13-3 decision over seventh-seeded Evan Brokenshire of Benton in the quarterfinals.
Rude will square off with third-seeded Chase Wenrich of Lewisburg in the semifinals.
At
113 pounds, second-seeded Gavin Bradley decked 10th-seeded Kris
Kalbarchick of Mount Carmel in 1:22 to advance to the semifinals.
Bradley will square off with third-seeded Brady Struble of Mifflinburg in the semifinals.
At 138 pounds, Courtney, the fourth seed, pinned fifth-seeded Lane Schadel of Line Mountain in the quarterfinals.
Courtney will take on top-seeded Cameron Milheim in the semifinals.
Setzer,
the fourth seed at 132 pounds, was knocked into the consolation bracket
via pin by fifth-seeded Caiden Puderbach of Hughesville in the
quarterfinals.
Setzer, who had right knee heavily protected after
his injury default in last Saturday’s 132-pound finale, will take on
11th-seeded Sam Persun of South Williamsport in the first round of
wrestlebacks.
Nittinger, the ninth seed at 285 pounds, pulled out a 4-2 decision over eighth-seeded Andrew Wolfe of Benton in the round-of-16.
Nittinger was knocked into the consolation bracket by top-seeded Emmanuel Ulrich of Mifflinburg inn the quarterfinals.
Nittinger takes on 10th-seeded Jared Gunther of Towanda in wrestlebacks Saturday morning.
Freshman
Caleb Nason, the 10th seed at 215 pounds, dropped an 8-2 decision to
seventh-seeded Cale Bastian of Milton in the round-of-16.
Nason will take on eighth-seeded Cole Yonkin of Montoursville in the opening round of wretlebacks Saturday morning.
Actin begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.
About the Author
Tim Birney
Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.
Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.
River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).
