HERSHEY — Undefeated junior heavyweight Colby Whitehill became the seventh Brookville Area High School state wrestling champion with a 5-2 win over No. 1-ranked Jake Ryan of Mount Union in the final gold medal bout of the PIAA Class AA Championships in the Giant Center Saturday afternoon.
Three other District 9 titlists also climbed on the podium.
Kane 160-pounder Alec English finished second while the Brockway duo of Anthony Glasl at 126 and Garrett McClintick at 160 placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Whitehill, who placed eighth last year, engineered a 3-0 lead against Ryan (39-2) in the second period by escaping and taking down the District 6 and Southwest Region champ.
Two breakaways by Ryan, the second near the midway point of the third period, made it close, but Whitehill thwarted his late takedown attempt and was rewarded with the clinching two-pointer for his 39th win.
The Raider, who was ranked No. 2 in the state by PA Power Wrestling after winning D-9 and Northwest Region crowns, is one of six champions who boast spotless records.
Ryan, also a junior, was fourth at 220 last year.
English (35-2) was denied a gold medal by returning champion Thayne Lawrence of Frazier in another duel of region titlists.
Lawrence, a junior who reigned at 152 last March, worked takedowns in each period for a 7-2 victory over English, a two-time NW Region king.
District 10 made the NW Region showing respectable with 15 placewinners, but the lone champ was Greenville senior 220-pounder Jacob McMaster (46-0) claiming his third state medal. He was eighth at 195 in 2017 and third at 220 last year.
McMaster defeated Dominic DeLuca of Derry 6-2 in overtime after offsetting the SW Region titlists’ opening takedown with two escapes. McMaster took DeLuca to his back for two-and-two in the sudden victory.
Three D-10 hopefuls had to settle for silver medals.
Four-time NW champ Beau Bayless (120) of Reynolds, three-time NW titlist Tye Varndell (132) of Cambridge Springs and Kenny Kiser (138) of Saegertown lost by decisions in the finals.
Reynolds, which won the PIAA Class AA Team Duals in February, had three other placewinners and finished with 68 points for fourth place.
Thanks to six placewinners, District 4 power Southern Columbia easily walked away with the team trophy, piling up 121 points.
St. Joseph’s Academy of District 6 came in second with 95.5 points, and Notre Dame-Green Pond was third with 80 points.
Pairs of wrestlers on two Clearfield County teams that compete in D-6 brought home hardware.
Sophomore 126-pounder Brock McMillen, the SW Region titlist, became Glendale’s first state champion with a 3-2 win over Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt’s four-time PIAA medalist Chase Field. The Viking standout lost in the finals at 113 last year.
Junior teammate Cory Johnston placed sixth at 220.
West Branch’s placewinners were seniors Derek Yingling, fifth at 182, and Tyler Denochick, seventh at 126.
The Outstanding Wrestler Award, selected by the media, went to Pope John Paul II senior Ryan Vulakh, who posted two falls and two technical falls en route to the 152-pound title. The Districts 1/12 and SE Region champ defeated Freedom’s Trent Schultheis 20-5 in the finals for a 35-0 record.
TEAM SCORING (Top 50 of 134, plus all Districts 5, 6, 9 and 10 teams)
1. Southern Columbia, 121 points; 2. St. Joseph’s Academy, 95.5; 3. Notre Dame-Green Pond, 80; 4. Reynolds, 68; 5. Saucon Valley, 64; 6. Chestnut Ridge, 60.5; 7. Greenville, 54; 8. Freedom, 50.5; 9. Forest Hills 48.5; 10. Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt, 47; 11. (tie) Glendale and Biglerville, 42; 13. Union City, 40; 14. Hopewell, 39.5; 15. Pope John Paul II, 39; 16. Derry, 37; 17. Kane, 35; 18. Quaker Valley, 33; 19. Brookville, 32; 20. Burrell, 30; 21. Mount Pleasant, 29; 22.(tie) Frazier and Montoursville, 27.5; 24. Penn Cambria, 27; 25. (tie) Athens and Troy, 26.5; 27. (tie) Mount Union, McGuffey and Wilson, 26; 30. Pequea Valley, 25; 31. North Star, 24.5; 32. Saegertown, 23; 33. West Branch, 22; 34. Cambridge Springs, 21; 35. Brockway, 21; 36. (tie) Boiling Springs and Elizabeth Forward, 20; 38. Ellwood City, 19; 39. Penns Valley, 18.5; 40. Meyersdale, 18; 41. (tie) Bedford, Everett and Mahanoy, 17; 44. (tie) Towanda and Upper Dauphin, 16; 46. (tie) Sharon, Titusville, Benton and South Park, 14; 50. (tie) Bentworth, Wyncote Bishop McDevitt, Hamburg, Palisades and Valley, 13. 55. Eisenhower, 12; 56. (tie) Northwestern; 11; 57. (tie) Conneaut, Harbor Creek and Portage, 10; 62. (tie) Berlin Brothers Valley, 9; 65. (tie) General McLane and Westmont Hilltop, 8; 70. (tie) Philipsburg-Osceola and Southern Huntingdon, 7; 77. (tie), Marion Center, 6; 82. (tie), Slippery Rock, 5; 85. (tie) Bald Eagle Area, Bellwood-Antis, Coudersport, Northern Bedford, Port Allegany, Sheffield and Tyrone, 4; 98. Blairsville, 3.5; 104. (tie) Huntingdon and Mercer, 2; 111. (tie) Commodore Perry and Tussey Mountain, 1; 115. (tie) Curwensville, Moshannon Valley, Bishop McCort, Cambria Heights, Central Cambria, Girard, Maplewood and Redbank Valley, 0.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
(District-Place, Region-Place, Grade and Record in Parenthesis)
106 – Sheldon Seymour (4-1, NE-1, 11, 36-0), Troy, dec. Levi Haines (3-1, SE-1, 9, 40-1), Biglerville, 5-4.
113 – Jackson Arrington (6-1, SW-2, 9, 41-4), Forest Hills, dec. Kole Biscoe (4-3, NE-3, 9, 46-7), Southern Columbia, 10-3.
120 – Ryan Crookham (11-1, SE-1, 9, 49-2), Notre Dame-Green Pond, dec. Beau Bayless (10-1, NW-1, 12, 36-7), Reynolds, 3-0.
126 – Brock McMillen (6-1, SW-1, 10, 43-1), Glendale, dec. Chase Shields (3-1, SE-1, 12, 29-4), 3-2.
132 – Joshua Jones (11-1, SE-1, 12, 46-4), Saucon Valley, dec. Tye Varndell (10-1, NW-1, 12, 42-1), Cambridge Springs, 7-3.
138 – Jacob Ealy (7-1, SW-1, 12, 42-2), Hopewell, dec. Kenny Kiser (10-2, NW-1, 11, 40-5), Saegertown, 7-5.
145 – Andrew Cerniglia (11-1, SE-2, 11, 45-6), Notre Dame-Green Pond, major dec. dec. Gabe Miller (3-1, SE-1, 12, 43-1), Pequea Valley, 14-0.
152 – Ryan Vulakh (1/12-1, SE-1, 12, 35-0) Pope John Paul II, tech fall over Trent Schultheis (7-1, SW-1, 10, 36-5) Freedom, 20-5 (5:10).
160 – Thayne Lawrence (7-1, SW-1, 11, 29-3), Frazier, dec. Alec English (9-1, NW-1, 12, 35-2), Kane, 7-2.
170 – Jared McGill (6-1, SW-1, 12, 40-0), Chestnut Ridge, dec. Christian Clutter (7-1, SW-2, 43-4), McGuffey, 8-2.
182 – Dayton Pitzer (7-1, SW-1, 9, 43-1), Mount Pleasant, dec. Bryson Miller (7-4, SW-3, 12, 30-10), Freedom, 3-1.
195 – Gaige Garcia (4-1, NE-1, 11, 47-0), Southern Columbia, dec. Kolby Franklin (6-1, SW-1, 9, 44-6), St. Joseph’s Academy, 5-2.
220 – Jacob McMaster (10-1, NW-1, 12, 48-0), Greenville, dec. Dominic DeLuca (7-1, SW-1, 12, 39-2), Derry, 6-2 (SV).
285 – Colby Whitehill (9-1, NW-1, 11, 39-0), Brookville, dec. Jake Ryan (6-1, SW-1, 11, 39-2), Mount Union, 5-2.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE
106 – Gary Steen (10-1, NW-1, 10, 40-2), Reynolds, dec. Joey Fischer (7-1, SW-1, 10, 38-2), South Park, 2-1 (TB-2).
113 – Ryan Michaels (7-1, SW-1, 11, 43-2), Elizabeth Forward, major dec. Nathan Holderbaum (5-1, SW-5, 11, 31-13), Chestnut Ridge, 14-0.
120 – Nate Smith (3-1, SE-2, 11, 43-8), Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt, dec. Hunter Thompson (10-2, NW-3, 12, 42-6), Titusville, 1-0.
126 – Bronson Garber (3-2, SE-2, 12, 42-5) Upper Dauphin, dec. Tyler Cymmerman (7-1, SW-2, 10, 40-8), Derry, 7-2 (SV).
132 – Kaden Cassidy (5-1, SW-1, 11, 38-2), Bedford, dec. Zach Witmer (6-1, SW-3, 10, 33-9), St. Joseph’s Academy, 7-6.
138 – Erik Gibson (SW-2, 9, 44-5), Forest Hills, dec. Marckis Branford (11-2, SE-1, 12, 41-6), Wilson, 14-7.
145 – Caleb Dowling (6-1, SW-, 11, 43-6), St. Joseph’s Academy, dec. Gavin Garcia (4-1, NE-1, 9, 27-3), Southern Columbia, 3-0.
152 – Keegan Rothrock (6-2, SW-3, 11, 38-10) St. Joseph’s Academy, dec. Mason Karpinski (10-1, NW-2, 12, 47-5), Greenville, 3-2.
160 – Matthew Arciuolo (11-1, SE-1, 11, 41-5), Saucon Valley, dec. Tyler Stoltzfus (6-1, SW-2, 11, 42-8), St. Joseph’s Academy, 3-2.
170 – Derek Brown (6-1, SW-3, 12, 38-5), Penn Cambria, pinned David Galasso (NE-1, 4-2, 12, 38-7), Athens, 2:02.
182 – Gavin Henry (10-1, NW-1, 12, 42-4), Union City, major dec. Austin Walley (7-2, SW-2, 11, 36-5), Ellwood City, 11-2.
195 – Colin Fegley (11-1, SE-1, 12, 43-2), Mahanoy, dec. Hunter Tremain (5-1, SW-3, 12, 43-6), North Star, 7-6.
220 – Preston Zachman (4-3, NE-3, 11, 46-9), Southern Columbia, major dec. Cameron Wood (4-2, NE-1, 11, 42-5), Montoursville, 10-2.
295 – Jalen Stephens (5-2, SW-3, 10, 41-5), Meyersdale, dec. Lear Quinton (4-1, NE-1, 11, 43-8), Southern Columbia, 3-1.
Complete results courtesy PA-Wrestling.com can be found here.