JOHNSTOWN — Faith Christian and Bishop McCort meet in the Class 2A final at the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships at 1st Summit Arena for the third year in a row at 3 p.m.
The three-time defending champion Lions rallied from an early deficit to beat District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt 39-17 in one Saturday morning semifinal.
Bishop McCort knocked off District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge 47-21 in the other semifinal.
It was a memorable win for three Faith Christian competitors. Joe Bachmann and Cael Weidemoyer earned career wins No. 100 in Faith Christian’s 39-17 win over Bishop McDevitt in the semifinals. Mark Effendian also became the program’s career wins leader with a pin at 285 for victory No. 159.
Saucon Valley’s tournament ended with a 37-23 loss to District 4 champion Montgomery in Saturday morning’s first-round consolations.
But coach Chad Shirk liked how the young Panthers competed in the last eight days.
“It was a really good experience for our kids,” he said. “Obviously, you don’t want to lose dual meets, but I thought we battled.
“We were outmanned in some weight classes, but I’m excited with how we competed. I think we had a really good season. We had some down points during the season, but we got hot at the right time at districts to put ourselves in position to compete against some of the best teams in the state.”
Mack Santoro welcomes his battle with Montgomery’s Brandt Harer at 145. Harer, a three-time state finalist (two-time champion) with 202 career wins, won 16-4, but Santoro competed hard and wrestled smart, according to Shirk.
“Hopefully, he takes some confidence from that,” Shirk said. “We could have bumped things around, but he said he wanted to go after Harer, so I was impressed that he battled for five minutes.”
Saucon Valley (16-5) closes out its dual-meet season Wednesday at Quakertown.
PIAA Class 2A Team Wrestling Championships
Saturday at 1st Summit Arena, Johnstown
FINAL
Faith Christian vs. Bishop McCort
127:
133:
139:
145:
152:
160:
172:
189:
215:
285:
107:
114:
121:
THIRD-PLACE MATCH
Bishop McDevitt vs. Derry Area
SEMIFINALS
Faith Christian 39, Bishop McDevitt 17
114: Braiden Lotier (BM) maj. dec. Cruz Little, 19-8
121: Flynn Arnestad (FCA) dec. Aiken Smith, 4-0
127: Freddy Bachmann (FCA) tech. fall Zane Crouse, 19-4, 4:00
133: Liam Lawler (BM) maj. dec. Nathan Yoder, 14-3
139: Camden Baum (BM) dec. Reece Movahed, 9-2
145: Greyson Music (BM) pinned Lincoln Botero, 4:19
152: Joe Bachmann (FCA) maj. dec. Easton Comp, 11-2
160: Shane Wagner (FCA) dec. Nicky Negron, 2-1 TB-2
172: Nick Singer (FCA) tech. fall Johannes Gilfoil, 19-1, 4:23
189: Adam Waters (FCA) pinned Ethan Miller, 1:03
215: Cael Weidemoyer (FCA) tech. fall Ryan Lengal, 18-3, 3:45
285: Mark Effendian (FCA) pinned David Smith, 2:45
107: Riley Crandall (FCA) dec. Blake Klipp, 9-8
* Faith Christian lost a team point after the 114-pound bout
Bishop McCort 47, Chestnut Ridge 21
FIRST-ROUND CONSOLATIONS
Montgomery 37, Saucon Valley 23
107: Dominic D’Ambola (SV) tech. fall Ian Marquette, 15-0, 3:11
114: Gabe Oberheim (M) pinned Gavin Chunko, 2:10
121: Liam Seeley (M) pinned Gabe Baer, 0:50
127: Carter Chunko (SV) pinned Carter Finck, 0:41
133: Carden Wagner (M) tech. fall Mason Wenhold, 18-2, 3:26
139: A.J Kroft (M) maj. dec. Zach Rygiel, 11-0
145: Brandt Harer (M) maj. dec. Mack Santoro, 16-4
152: Trace Furman (M) pinned Ashton Beckowski, 0:18
160: Josh Knoebel (M) dec. Eli Szlachtianshyn, 40
172: Raiden Felix (M) dec. Taylor Rohn, 4-2
189: Brit Ash (SV) dec. Gage Furman, 9-6
215: Liam Stoneback (SV) dec. Evan Hugar, 4-1 SV
285: Ezekiel Deily (SV) pinned Keigan Clark, 1:46
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
