WRESTLING: Shippensburg's Chandler Olson, Chambersburg's Garrett Kyner claim district titles

HERSHEY >> Garrett Kyner spent the bulk of the wrestling season trying to peak for the postseason.

That strategy has clearly paid off.

Saturday afternoon, the Chambersburg junior won a tournament championship for the second straight week, and this time it was the District 3 Class AAA Tournament. He defeated Levi Witmer of Spring Grove 8-1 in the 132-pound final to put an emphatic end on a well-wrestled weekend.

"I put in a lot of extra work for this," Kyner said, "trying to perfect some things I thought I needed here and at states."

Kyner was not alone on the top of the podium. Shippensburg sophomore Chandler Olson, who was a district runner-up a year ago, took it one step farther this time, scoring four points in the final seconds to beat Owen Wherley of South Western in the 126 final.

In all, Franklin County went 5-1 in the morning semifinals, and the five finalists are a record number. A total of six area wrestlers qualified for the PIAA State Tournament.

Also making the finals were Chambersburg's David Rump (138) and Drew Peck (170) and James Buchanan's Casey Glunt (182). Greencastle-Antrim 285-pounder Jared Starliper placed fourth.

Kyner struck for a double-leg takedown in the first period and switched to a reversal and 4-0 lead in the second. He then frustrated Witmer and gave up a stalling point before reversing Witmer to his back late.

"I felt pretty good on my feet and I got off bottom well this week," Kyner said. "I won my first match here and you feed off of that and keep going."

Trojan coach Doug Rine said, "Blue (Kyner) had a good tournament. The way he was sliding and gliding around the mat is the way he has to wrestle to win these matches."

Olson allowed a second-period escape to Wherley and had a tough choice to make for the third, trailing 1-0.

"My coach wanted me to take neutral because (Wherley) is really tough on top," Olson said. "But I thought I could get out, so I took down."

It appeared the choice might backfire, because Wherley's leg ride controlled Olson for most of the period. But on a restart with 32 seconds left, Olson got a quick start, turned in for a reversal and was awarded two nearfall points in the final 15 seconds.

Olson said, "I was trying to create space to be able to get out of that ride, and I finally got it on that restart. It felt good to get those back points, too."

The most entertaining final of the night was at 182. JB's Glunt put his 30-0 record on the line against Cedar Cliff's tough Josh Colello (40-4). Colello had the advantage early, using two single-leg shots for takedowns and a 4-1 lead.

"I don't know why I come out flat," Glunt said. "It takes me a while to get going and by that time he was in on my leg. I lost the match on my feet by giving up two takedowns."

But it was far from over. Trailing 4-2 after two, Glunt gave up an escape, but then scrambled for a takedown. He let Colello up and took him down again to tie it 6-6 with 42 seconds left. Colello scored an escape with 16 seconds left, then Glunt used an upper body throw to take Colello down to his back ... but it was ruled that he stepped over the line.

Rocket coach Matt Gordon was not happy.

"I thought Casey was in," he said. "It's tough for him to lose a match this way. It's not just that he didn't win a district title, but I don't want it to take away his momentum for states."

Glunt said, "I was locked up, so I couldn't tell."

At 138, the Trojans' David Rump gave a good account of himself, pushing Central Dauphin's favored Zach Elvin for six minutes in a 5-3 defeat. After being taken down, Rump reversed with a slick petersen ("I had his arm, but it just loosened when I pushed for back points," Rump said).

An escape and another takedown for Elvin in the second gave him the needed points. Rump did earn a stall point in the third, but he couldn't get free again.

Rump said, "My concern was on my feet, and that's where he scored his points. He had a nice sweep."

Peck met his match at 170 – Jared Siegrist of Manheim Central was dominant in a 7-0 victory. He took Peck down three times and rode him for the majority of the bout.

"Drew just never got started against that guy," Rine said.

Peck said, "He's just better than me right now. He moved around a lot and I couldn't get into my tie, but he got into his ties instead."

Starliper narrowly lost his semifinal match, 3-2 to Austin Maguire of Warwick. He reversed for a 2-0 lead, but gave up a locked hands point and then was switched with 28 seconds left.

In the consolation semifinals, things looked grim again when New Oxford's Brock Hartman got a takedown with 40 seconds left for a 2-1 edge. But Starliper scored five points on a petersen to earn his trip to states.

"It just happened to be there, so I went for it," he said of his winning move. "It was a good feeling when I heard the coaches saying to just stay where I was and let the clock run out."

NOTES >> Chambersburg's Aaron Rump (113) and JB's Cameron DeLucia (106) both went 2-1 for the day and finished in fifth, one win away from state qualification ... The Trojans finished sixth in the team standings ... Cumberland Valley won the team race despite having only one champion ... States are March 5-7 at Giant Center.

District 3 Class AAA

Saturday's Results

Team Standings

1.Cumberland Valley 131, 2.Central Dauphin 112.5, 3.Exeter Twp. 83, 4.South Western 71, 5.Penn Manor 68, 6.Chambersburg 67, 7.Spring Grove 56, 8.Solanco 55, 9.Gov. Mifflin 48, 10.Cedar Cliff 38.5, 15.James Buchanan 30, 29.Shippensburg 18, 31.Greencastle-Antrim 29, 55.Waynesboro 1.

Championships

106 — Chris Wright (CD) p Dalton Rohrbaugh (SG), 1:11; 113 — Austin DeSanto (Ex) d Devin Schnupp (Warwick), 6-3; 120 — Tyshawn White (CD) d Brett Kulp (Ex), 6-4 SV; 126 — Chandler Olson (Ship) d Owen Wherley (SW), 4-1; 132 — Garrett Kyner (Chbg) d Levi Witmer (SG), 8-1; 138 — Zach Elvin (CD) d David Rump (Chbg), 5-3; 145 — Patrick Duggan (CV) d Jonathan Ross (N.York), 7-2; 152 — Lucas Ortiz (Conestoga Vall) d Ethan Stever (Ex), 3-2; 160 — Bailey Shutt (L.Dauphin) d Jonah Barley (PM), 7-3; 170 — Jared Siegrist (Manheim Central) d Drew Peck (Chbg), 7-0; 182 — Josh Colello (C.Cliff) d Casey Glunt (J.Buch), 7-6; 195 — Tommy Rayhart (Big Spr) d Francis Duggan (CV), 1-0; 220 — Seth Janney (SW) p Matt Reinhart (Reading), 2:47; 285 — Bo Spiller (Sol) d Austin Maguire (Warwick), 7-1.

Local Results

Semifinals

126 — Chandler Olson (Ship) d James Harkness (Ex), 7-5; 132 — Garrett Kyner (Chbg) d Xavier Musti (C.York), 4-1; 138 — David Rump (Chbg) d Dylan Chatterton (C.York), 5-1; 170 — Drew Peck (Chbg) d Jack Habowski (Lamp-Stras), 9-5; 182 — Casey Glunt (JB) md Dayne Ross (CV), 12-1; 285 — Austin Maguire (War) d Jared Starliper (G-A), 3-2.

Consolation Third Round

106 — Cameron DeLucia (JB) d David Wells (M.Hershey), 7-0; 113 — Aaron Rump (Chbg) d Jose Morales (CoVal), 4-3.

Consolation Semifinals

106 — Jordan Harsh (PM) d DeLucia (JB), 5-3 SV; 113 — Zurich Storm (NewOx) d A.Rump (Chbg), 5-1; 285 — Starliper (GA) d Brock Hartman (NewOx), 6-2.

Consolation for Third Place

285 — Keith Miller (GM) p Starliper (GA), 2:56.

Consolation for Fifth Place

106 — DeLucia (JB) d Brandon Loperfido (Hempfield), 2-0 SV; 113 — A.Rump (Chbg) md Brandon Rodriguez (Dover), 11-1.