HERSHEY — Nazareth and Reynolds earned titles in the Ninth PIAA Team Wrestling Championships Saturday afternoon in Giant Center, and District 9 champ Ridgway fought through the consolation rounds to claim third place in Class AA.
Nazareth (22-2) reversed the District 11 championship match outcome with a 40-21 win over Easton (18-3) in Class AAA, while District 10 champ Reynolds (19-0) trimmed Northwestern Lehigh (23-1) in a battle of unbeatens in Class AA.
Reynolds earned its second state championship in a row after advancing with wins over 3-2 Bermudian Springs 46-13 and 7-1 Burrell 39-23.
Ridgway (24-2), which had beaten 6-2 Mount Union 37-21 in the first round Wednesday to move to the two-day event, lost 37-24 to Northwestern Lehigh Friday and rebounded with wins over 6-1 Westmont Hilltop 35-19, Bermudian Springs 31-18 and 10-2 Greenville 35-33 and Burrell 39-20.
In AAA, Nazareth tumbled District 9 champ DuBois 52-14, 3-1 Lower Dauphin 41-13 and 7-1 Hempfield 29-21 to earn its rematch with Easton, which won four consecutive state dual meet titles from 2001 through 2004 and now has lost in the finals three years in a row.
DuBois bowed out of the tourney with a 33-30 loss to 7-2 Penn trafford in the first consolation round.
District 6 champ Bellefonte fell 35-22 to 1-2 Council Rock South and 36-18 to 3-2 Cumberland Valley, which went on to upend 11-1 Upper Perkiomen 34-32 for third place.
