Wyoming Area’s Pepe wins state wrestling title

For the third weekend in a row, Wyoming Area’s Jaden Pepe faced off against Athens’ Gavin Bradley in a championship bout.

And Pepe won the match that mattered most, edging Bradley 3-2 to claim the PIAA Class 2A title at 113 pounds on Friday at Hershey’s Giant Center.

The sophomore became the first Wyoming Area wrestler to win a state championship and the first from any Wyoming Valley Conference school to accomplish the feat in 14 years.

Friday’s showdown with Bradley was a rubber match. In the Class 2A Northeast Regionals two weekends ago, Bradley got the best of Pepe with 5-3 decision to claim the title.

A week later, Pepe got the best of Bradley, scoring a 9-6 decision to win the title at the Class 2A East Super Regional.

Friday’s state championship bout was a lower-scoring affair.

Pepe scored a takedown in the first period and then added a point at the start of the second when Bradley allowed him to stand up from the bottom position.

An escape by Bradley in the third period combined with a stalling call on Pepe allowed the Athens wrestler to close within a point with 14 seconds left in the match.

It wasn’t an easy route to the final in Hershey.

In the quarterfinals Pepe got past Hickory’s Justin O’Neill with a 3-1 decision.

In the semifinals, Pepe scored a 1-0 decision over Robert Gardner of South Williamsport. The only point of the match was scored when Gardner allowed Pepe up at the start of the third period.

Pepe finishes the year 19-1 and now is a two-time state medal winner, finishing third in last year’s tournament.

The Class 3A competition takes place Saturday at the Giant Center with Hazleton Area’s Bryce Molinaro the only Wyoming Valley Conference wrestler in action.

Molinaro, the fourth seed out of the East, will face Bellefonte Area’s Ethan Rossman, the top seed out of the West, at 189 pounds. Molinaro enters with a 19-3 record, while Rossman is 22-2.