With a 4-2 decision win in Friday night’s semifinals, Hazleton Area sophomore Gabe Benyo has put himself just one win away from a state wrestling championship.
Benyo will wrestle Northampton Area’s Brayden Wenrich in the PIAA Class 3A 114-pound championship bout on Saturday evening after wrestling his way through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds at the Giant Center in Hershey.
The championship round is scheduled to begin around 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the schedule on the PIAA website.
He won’t be the only Hazleton Area wrestler bringing home a medal this season: his brother Jake is in the consolation semifinals and can finish no worse than fifth place, while freshman Evelyn Sheer is in the same spot in the Girls 235 division, assured of no worse than a fifth-place finish.
Joining the Hazleton Area trio in the medal picture is Hanover Area’s CJ Caines, who lost in the quarterfinals Friday morning but rebounded with a win in the evening consolation session to assure himself of at least a fifth-place medal.
Gabe Benyo is one of three District 2 wrestlers that will be fighting for gold on Saturday: West Scranton’s Tommy Schechterly is in the 160 final and Abington Heights freshman Hayden Manning has reached the 155 Girls final, both wrestlers winning major decisions in their respective semifinal bouts to reach the finals.
Gabe Benyo began his day Friday afternoon with a big comeback in an 8-7 decision win over Upper Dublin’s Dom Powell.
Trailing 6-3 heading to the final period, Benyo won a point on an escape, another on a stalling violation from Powell and then scored a takedown with 27 seconds remaining to put himself ahead.
In Friday night’s semifinals, Benyo won a takedown early in the first period and then hung on to defeat Cael Muller from Notre Dame Green Pond.
It was the second time Benyo and Muller have faced off this postseason, with Benyo also scoring a win in the Northeast Regional quarterfinals last weekend.
The 114 title bout on Saturday will also be a regional rematch: Wenrich scored a 9-1 major decision over Benyo to win the regional title, entering both the regional and state tournaments as the top seed in the division.
Gabe’s brother Jake also began Friday in the championship rounds but was defeated by 121 top seed Mateo Gallegos in the quarterfinals.
Jake Benyo dropped into the consolations but scored two decision victories in his two consolation bouts Friday to put himself into the consolation semis. He’ll face Hatboro-Horsham’s Dominick Morrison on Saturday morning for a chance to reach the third-place match.
Sheer ran into the two-time defending champion in the 235 division, Panther Valley’s Brenda Banks, and was pinned in the quarterfinal round.
Dropping into the consolation round, Sheer defeated Crestwood’s Samara Bailey to reach the medal rounds, then scored a first-period pinfall to get herself to the consolation semifinals.
Caines, who was the WVC’s best finisher at states last year as a freshman, was upended by Saucon Valley’s Carter Chunko in the quarterfinals.
The Hanover Area standout made quick work of his first consolation opponent, winning a 17-1 tech fall, then scored a 4-2 decision over Zane Crouse of Bishop McDevitt to reach the consolation semis.
Caines will face Logan Stewart from Reynolds to start his day tomorrow. A win will send him to the third-place match and a loss will drop him into the fifth-place match.
Outside of Schechterly and Manning, the Lackawanna Conference has secured five additional medals after Friday’s competition.
Three of those medals will come from the Girls tournament: Delaware Valley’s Kate Prior could do no worse than fifth place in the 170 division, while Lackawanna Trail’s Cidney Schaffer and Honesdale’s Saige Olver will wrestle in the 100 and 124 pound seventh-place bouts, respectively.
Honesdale’s Nathan Schuman is in the 107 medal rounds in the Class 2A tournament, and Mason Whitney from Abington Heights is in the 133 medal rounds in Class 3A.
Saturday’s action will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the consolation semifinals in all three classifications.
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