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HERSHEY – Wrestling coaches always teach their athletes to never stop wrestling in a match no matter what the scenario.
While that’s easier said than done for a lot of wrestlers, a pair of Wyoming Valley Conference grapplers did just that and didn’t give up to pull out late victories in the PIAA Class 2A Championships on Thursday morning to reach the quarterfinals.
Tunkhannock’s Dave Evans and Hanover Area’s D.J. Erickson both notched late-second victories in their only bouts of the day to advance in the championship round.
Evans, a 120-pounder, worked a reversal with two seconds remaining to win his first round match, 5-4, and Erickson, a 152-pounder, locked in a headlock for a takedown with 27 seconds to go for a 2-1 victory in his bout.
“You gotta have a lot of heart here. You gotta be able to stay in those close matches,” Erickson said. “There’s a lot of urgency. You just gotta throw everything out the window and go get whatever points you can. You gotta do what ya gotta do.”
Joining Evans and Erickson as winners in Class 2A on Thursday were Lake-Lehman’s Bob Long (132) and Hunter Burke (145) and Tunkhannock’s Gavin D’Amato (145), who are all in the consolation rounds.
Evans, a junior, trailed Saegertown’s Alex Kightlinger 4-2 to start the third period. After being awarded a point for stalling to cut the lead to 4-3 – and being ridden out for most of the period – Evans knew he had to do something and was running out of time. Finally, with just a few ticks left on the clock, he got a leg free, hit a dump and got the two points for the reversal and the victory.
“With 16 seconds left I looked at my coach and he said ‘pressure back into him’ and I said ‘OK,’” Evans said. “He was strong. He kept pulling me up on the arm, and I wasn’t listening to what my coach was saying. I was just doing what I wanted to do and then I pressured back into him and got the win there.”
Erickson, a senior, entered the third period against North Star’s Alec Supanick with no score. Supanick got a point 45 seconds into the period for an escape. But as time was winding down, Erickson still couldn’t manage the takedown. Then he saw an opening for a headlock and moved quickly getting the points late in the period then riding out his opponent for the final seconds for the win.
“You just gotta find that inner strength and the killer instinct. You gotta get that win. The win is the most important priority,” Erickson said. “I was definitely looking for other things (besides the headlock). It’s just hard to get a beat on some of these kids.”
Both regional champions from last week, Evans and Erickson also picked up wins at the state tournament last year before leaving without a medal. In this morning’s quarterfinals, Evans will meet Boiling Springs’ Caydin Wickard in the round of 8, while Erickson will wrestle Trenton Harder from Bermudian Springs in the quarters; both will be eying up a berth in the state semis later in the evening.
“I definitely can’t let the pressure get to me,” said Evans, who made the quarterfinals last year in Class 3A. “Last year, I knew if I won I’d be on that podium so there were definitely a lot of nerves in me. I’m trying to go as far as I can this year. I don’t care who’s there. I’m just gonna wrestle my match and take it one at a time.”
Burke won his pigtail round bout, but then fell in the first round to returning state runner-up Caleb Dowling from St. Joseph’s.
D’Amato and Long rebounded from losses in the preliminary round to win their first consolation round bouts to stay in contention for a medal, and both looked good in the victories. D’Amato won by major decision over Lehighton’s Chris Whiteman, while Long pinned Southern Columbia’s Patrick Edmondson after losing to him twice previously this season.
“This time around it was seriously like if I don’t win this match, my wrestling career is over and that really hit hard. He just came off a big loss and I was like, if I’m ever gonna beat him it has to be now. And then it happened, and what a great feeling,” Long said. “He tried taking me straight back in a mat return and I just stepped over him and put him right on his back. He stayed there for about five seconds and the ref called the fall.”
Hanover Area’s Joey Rowley (120) and Lake-Lehman’s T.J. Meehan (220) both went 0-2 on Thursday and were eliminated from the tournament.
