HERSHEY — The 2026 PIAA AA State Wrestling Championships got under way Thursday morning at the Giant Center in Hershey and both Clearfield Bison wrestlers survived the opening day and will take part in session two, which begins Friday morning at 8:00 AM.
The senior duo of Colton Bumbarger and Colton Ryan each won their opening match, Bumbarger in the preliminary round and Ryan in the first round. Bumbarger was the beaten in the first round and will be in the second round of consolations in his next match.
Ryan (33-10), the Northwest Region third place finisher, dominated in his first bout at 160, winning by major decision 12-2 over Midd-West’s Evan Maneval (36-14), the Northeast Region runner-up. It was Ryan’s first states win, as in his first trip, in 2025, he went 0-2.
Ryan scored the opening takedown just 11 seconds into the match to take the early lead. A Maneval reversal and Ryan escape had the score 4-2 heading into the period two.
Ryan had a big second period to seal the deal. Starting on bottom, he escaped to a 5-2 lead early in the period. He scored another takedown shortly afterwards and a minute later, 4-nearfall points gave Ryan a 12-2 lead head into the final set of two minutes. Maneval chose neutral to start the period, but there was no scoring and the bout ended 12-2 in favor of Ryan.
Saturday morning’s quarterfinal opponent for Ryan will be Berks Catholic sophomore Layden Acevedo (38-6), who survived his opening match with a 4-1 overtime win over Alek Palko (36-11) of Jefferson Morgan. The win for Acevedo, the Southeast Regional champ, was also his first states victory.
At 160, Bumbarger’s first win in his first ever state match gave him win number 100 for his career. Bumbarger (31-14) defeated Liam Jones (31-13) of Burrell 5-2 for his milestone win. Bumbarger did all of his scoring in the second period after a scoreless opener. He earned a stall point early, the added a reversal and 2-point nearfall to build up a 5-0 lead. Jones picked up an escape at the very end of the second and third periods for his two points.
In his next match Bumbarger ran into the Northeast Regional champ, Dalton Schadel (30-8) of Line Mountain. It was only 3-1 after one period, and only 6-2 after two periods, but Schadel poured it on in the third, outscoring Bumbarger 8-2 to pick up a major decision 14-4. This is Schadel’s third state championship appearance.
In the wrestlebacks on Friday, Bumbarger will meet Bishop McCort senior Jackson Butler (40-11). Butler, who lost his first round match, won his first consolation match Thursday. Butler placed eighth is the state two years ago at 145.
Bishop McCort, with nine quarterfinalists, narrowly leads Faith Christian Academy 51-48 in the expected two-team race for the title.
Full PIAA AA results can be found HERE.
Clearfield results:
Preliminaries
152 – Colton Bumbarger dec. Liam Jones (Burrell), 5-2
Championship Round 1
152 – Dalton Schadel (Line Mountain) maj. dec. Colton Bumbarger, 14-4
160 – Colton Ryan maj. dec. Evan Maneval (Midd-West), 12-2
Clearfield wrestlers in bold.
