Click here to subscribe today or Login.
HERSHEY — Wrestling now for the third time at Giant Center, Shane Noonan is very comfortable.
Some would even say that the Hazleton Area senior is very confident.
The 220-pounder certainly looked on top of his game on Friday, the second day of the PIAA Class 3A Championships as he pinned his only opponent of the day, Paolo DiSanto from Plymouth Whitemarsh to reach the state semifinals. The win also means that Noonan will finish no worse than sixth in the state.
“It’s pretty good. I’m pretty comfortable now. I just had to do my stuff,” said Noonan, who was a state qualifier last year and also wrestled in the arena last February at the state duals tournament. “It feels great (to secure a medal), but again it’s not my final goal. My final goal is to be on top of the podium.”
Noonan is the first from the Wyoming Valley Conference to reach the state semifinals since his former teammate Jimmy Hoffman did so in consecutive years in 2016 and 2017. Noonan is the only wrestler from the WVC still in medal contention in Class 3A after Dallas’ Steven Newell and Shawn Henniger were both eliminated after losing twice.
In the semifinals, which begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, Noonan will meet Selinsgrove’s Nate Schon in a rematch of a bout won 9-6 by Noonan in the finals of the Coal Cracker Tournament in January. On the other side of the bracket, defending champion Hunter Catka from Sun Valley was upset in the quarterfinals.
Although he’s confident, Noonan knows he take anything for granted against the Schon, a sophomore for the Seals.
“I just have to wrestle my best and do my stuff. I can’t let those kids get in my head so they get the advantage,” Noonan said about his upcoming semi. “I feel like I’m in his head right now because I beat him last time, but you can’t let that stuff get to you.”
Newell and Henniger were also in the quarterfinals, but lost to tough opponents to fall into the third round of consolations. Newell, a 182-pounder, fell 5-0 to Mt. Lebanon’s Luke Stout — a returning fourth-place medalist — in a match where the Mountaineer couldn’t get anything going.
Henniger, the Dallas heavyweight, was pinned in the first period by Central York’s Michael Wolfgram, also a fourth-place medalist a year ago.
The two Mountaineers couldn’t rebound in the third round of consolations, also known as the blood round. Newell faced Peters Township’s Brandon Matthews and dropped a 3-1 decision with the only takedown of the match coming in the third period.
The senior ends his brilliant career with a school-record 153 career victories, three district titles and as a two-time state qualifier, among many other accomplishments.
“What stands out for me is that he’s a fantastic kid. He’s the one that’s upset more than anybody about this,” Dallas coach Mike Richards said. “He’s a great kid, a great athlete, a great student. He works harder than everybody else. That’s what I’m gonna remember about him more than anything.”
Henniger also saw his career conclude in the blood round after getting pinned by Coltin Deery from Garnet Valley in the first period. The 285-pounder, who was a district champion as a junior and runner-up this season, overcame the odds as district runner-up to reach the regional final, and he even won a match on the big stage in his only career appearance.
“I said to him, ‘To win a match at states and get to the blood round, what else can you ask for?’ ” Richards said of the conversation with his heavyweight after the loss. “A medal would be nice, but you rode that horse as long as you could, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
West Scranton’s Jeremy Seymour, who lost to Newell in the district final at 182, won his third round consolation bout and joins Noonan as the district’s medalists in Class 3A.