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Crestwood’s Mike Mirra (top) grapples with Dallastown’s Phil Sprenkle during 189-pound consolation action of the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships. Sprenkle won a 3-1 decision.
ED BOARDMAN/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
With a collegiate career at Division I Bloomsburg on the horizon, Mike Mirra has solidified himself as one of the top 189-pounders in Pennsylvania.
The Crestwood star just ran into an unlucky draw during the PIAA Class 3A Championships.
He ran into a half of the bracket with a defending state champion in Central Dauphin’s Kenny Courts and an unbeaten wrestler in Upper Moreland’s John Bolich.
Mirra saw his season come to an end on Friday after back-to-back losses to wrestlers ranked second and fourth, respectively.
There’s no telling where he could have finished in another bracket, or even with a different draw, at 189.
“Where we fall in the bracket, may have been the toughest class in the state. It’s a phenomenal, phenomenal weight class,” Comets coach J.J. Konigus said. “He’s going to go on to bigger and better things and maybe we’ll see him as an All-American someday … I think you’re going to see a bright future for him down at Bloom.”
Mirra, who ended his season with a solid record of 36-8, dropped his quarterfinal match Friday afternoon to Bolich, ranked second in the state by the PA Power Rankings. After losing to Bolich by fall in 1:35, Mirra then dropped into the consolations and fell 3-1 to Dallastown’s Phil Sprenkle, who finished fourth in the state last year and was ranked third by the same outlet.
“Mike wrestled a great season,” Konigus said. “Losing 3-1, that’s a tough one to swallow.”
Mirra, who is a two-time District 2 Class 3A champion and a regional champion in 2010, ends his stellar career with 121 victories.
FASTEST FALLS
The quickest pin recorded on Friday during the Class 2A tournament was by Bentworth’s Dylan Demain in the second round of consolations at 160 pounds, where he earned a victory in 52 seconds.
The fastest fall in the championship rounds came from Claysburg-Kimmel’s Ty Dively in the 125 Class 2A quarters with a fall in 1:02.
The fastest pin overall on Friday came from Bradford’s Mark Havers in the 152-pound Class 3A quarterfinals. Havers won in 16 seconds.
UPSETS ROAR
Lackawanna Trail’s Eric Laytos was the first returning state champion to fall in the tournament when he was pinned in the 215-pound Class 2A bracket Friday morning.
The Lions star rebounded to stay alive for a medal with a win in his consolation match.
Also in 2A, only two unbeatens fell in the quarterfinals, and one might have been expected.
Williams Valley’s Ben Ancheff (285 pounds) lost in the ultimate tiebreaker to the defending state champion, John Rizzo from Richland.
Entering Friday night’s semifinals, eight undefeated grapplers in Class 2A remained.
In Class 3A, the only undefeated wrestlers to fall were those who were pitted against others with no losses. Those falling from the unbeaten ranks in 3A were Southwestern’s Cameron Throckmorton (130) and Bethel Park’s Nick Bonaccorsi (171).