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WVC peer Austin Harry of Lake-Lehman was knocked out of the medal race.
Meyers’ Vito Pasone, front, battles Bethlehem Catholic’s Zeke Moisey at 119 pounds. Pasone lost a 7-5 deicison.
Ed Boardman/for the times leader
Lake-Lehman’s Austin Harry, bottom, wrestles Michael Fleck during a consolation round match at 119. Harry lost 10-3.
Ed Boardman/for the times leader
HERSHEY — A few years ago, Vito Pasone might have suffered a dramatic loss and been devastated.
When it happened Friday at the PIAA Class 2A Championships, it showed how much he has grown as a wrestler.
The Meyers junior won twice at Giant Center on Friday to guarantee himself a medal, but he also lost twice. He will wrestle at 12:30 this afternoon looking to grab a seventh-place medal at 112 pounds when he faces Bermudian Springs’ Brad Farley.
“I put all I had into it, I just came up short,” Pasone said. “I’m just going out there to do my best and whatever happens, happens. Just as long as I feel I wrestled my best.”
Pasone and Lake-Lehman’s Austin Harry were the only two Class 2A wrestlers from the Wyoming Valley Conference that advanced to the state tournament. Harry couldn’t get past his first opponent on Friday and was eliminated early without a medal in the 119-pound division.
The hardest part of Pasone’s day was losing in the quarterfinals.
He was leading 4-3 before getting caught and stuck on his back with just 14 seconds left in the match.
“It was real tough (to come back) and that’s showing where his maturity is starting to click in,” Meyers coach Ron Swingle said. “It makes you realize that you’re not going to win all of them and it shows how much character he has and how much mental toughness he has to separate something bad that happened and focus on what you have coming up.”
The match was excruciating for the Mohawks standout, but he shook it off and went back out on the mat about two hours later to defeat South Side Beaver’s Nathan Reckner, 5-4, to avoid elimination. He earned that victory with an escape with three seconds left in the bout to advance to the third round of consolations.
“You can never relax. Everyone here is tough, everyone’s looking for a win,” Pasone said. “You relax for that little – what was it, three seconds that I did? – and you get caught. So anything happens.”
In the third round of the losers bracket, which plays a part in what medal a grappler can earn, Pasone never led in the match against Bethlehem Catholic’s Zeke Moisey. But the BC freshman, who won 7-5, was wrestling defensive in the third period and was hit with two cautions, two stall calls and was fortunate not to have been penalized further.
Harry dropped a 10-3 decision to Wilson’s Michael Fleck in the second round of consolations.
Fleck notched the victory by picking up three sets of back points.
“He was tough on top. Then in the third period, he pretty much just laid there and I couldn’t do anything,” Harry said. “I’m definitely going to be back next year and work hard all summer to make sure that I place next year.”
The Black Knight 119-pounder had a goal to win two matches during the weekend and walk away with a state medal as a ninth-grader.
Unfortunately, his expectation wasn’t fulfilled.
The optimistic view for Harry is that he got to the state tournament in his first year, picked up a victory and appears to have a long, successful career ahead.
“It’s a good experience, but you can’t ever be satisfied – always got to want more,” Harry said. “I guess it’s good just to be a state qualifier, but I was hoping to be on that podium as a freshman.”