Live at the PIAA wrestling championships: Day 1

HERSHEY -- We're live at the Giant Center, where the six mats in front of me are abuzz with wrestling action.

Twenty-one YAIAA wrestlers will compete today in in the first of three days of competition. The Class AA prelims are up now, followed by the Class AA first-round consolations and, later, the Class AAA prelims.

I'll try to post some live results as they come in. Stay tuned for updates.

*****

7:10 -- There's still the first-round consolations to come tonight in Class AAA, but we're going to wrap up our live blog for now. We'll be back here in Hershey at 1 p.m. tomorrow for more of the state wrestling championships, starting with the Class AAA quarterfinals. Hope to see you then.

7:04 -- Freet drops a tense, 3-1 decision to Bethel Park's Adam Lazenga.

That means four YAIAA wrestlers in Class AAA will head into tomorrow's quarterfinals, scheduled for 1 p.m. They are: New Oxford's Jordan Conaway (103), South Western's Cameron Throckmorton (125), West York's Billy Randt (145) and Dallastown's Phil Sprenkle (189).

6:45 -- Dallastown's lone representative, Phil Sprenkle, looks good in his 8-2 decision over Hempfield Area's Nikos Garofola at 189 pounds. One more YAIAA wrestler to go in the prelims, and that's Susquehannock senior heavyweight Zach Freet.

6:27 -- Bad news for Spring Grove's Wisner brothers. Both bow out in their prelim matches.

Dylan Wisner gets pinned at 1:28 of his 152-pound match against Lasalle's Shane Springer, while Logen Wisner drops a 7-2 decision to Parkland's Wade Rivera at 160 pounds.

Not a great showing so far in Class AAA for York-Adams wrestlers. They're 3-5 so far, with two grappers to go.

5:49 -- Mixed results for another pair of York-Adams wrestlers. Central York's Matt Newman drops a 17-2 technical fall to Garnet Valley's Joseph Marino at 140, while West York's Billy Randt scored a pin in his 145-pound match.

5:01 -- At 130 pounds, Kennard-Dale's Victor Bracey drops a 6-2 decision to Mason Popham of Unionville. He'll head to the consolation bracket.

4:45 -- Red Lion's Dylan Nguyen drops an exciting decision to Blue Mountain's Brandon Choate, 17-11 at 119 pounds. At the same time, South Western's Cameron Throckmorton is on another mat and makes short work of Williamsport's Leroy Harman, earning a 13-2 major decision at 125.

4:13 -- Conaway makes short work of Wyo Valley West freshman Kyle Krasavage, scoring a pin at 1:26. The junior is considered one of the favorites in this weight class, and he looked like it.

"I don't think last year I was totally ready," Conaway said of last season state championships, when he lost his preliminary bout. "This I think I was a little more ready. ... Mentally I'm a lot better than last year."

3:55 -- We're back. The Class AAA preliminaries are about to begin, so we'll bring you updates accordingly. First up is New Oxford's Jordan Conaway at 103 pounds.

1:58 -- That'll do it for now from the Giant Center. The triple-A prelims begin at 4 p.m., and we'll be back with updates then. In the meantime, it's off to write and enjoy the fine boxed lunches the good folks at Hershey have prepared for us.

1:52 -- The first round of AA consolations just wrapped up. Suburban's Stan Williams earned a narrow, 5-4 decision over Delone's Joseph Kreiner, while Fairfield's Dylan Ferguson was pinned quickly in his consolation bout.

1:23 -- Still no luck in the consolation rounds for YAIAA grapplers. Suburban's Jordan Knuab just dropped a 4-3 decision to Commodore Perry's Brandon Collins at 152 pounds.

Three more area wrestlers still to go in the Class AA consolations, all at 215. Delone's Joseph Kreiner and Suburban's Stan Williams will square off, while Fairfield's Dylan Ferguson will try to rebound from his narrow preliminary defeat.

1:09 -- Bermudian Springs Dalton Anthony also just bowed out of states. He was pinned in his 140-pound consolation match by Greenville's Cody Copeland in just 19 seconds.

12:37 -- Joseph Byers trip to states is over. Delone's 103-pound sophomore dropped a 13-3 major decision to Pius X's Anthony Bilotta in his first-round consolation match.

12:12 -- Overall, York-Adams wrestlers went 5-6 in the double-A prelims.

Just a few heavyweight matches to go here. First-round consolations should get underway shortly.

12:07 -- The final bout of Class AA preliminaries are just now wrapping up. At 215 pounds, a trio of YAIAA wrestlers all lost their preliminary matches.

Fairfield senior Dylan Ferguson nearly pulled the Green Knights second big upset of the day, but lost a 6-4 overtime decision to Burrell's Brian Beattie. The Burrell junior scored a reversal with 18 seconds to go in the third overtime period to secure the victory.

Also at 215, Delone's Joseph Kreiner and York Suburban's Stan William's dropped decisions. Kreiner fell, 6-3, to Lackawanna Trail's Eric Laytos, while Williams dropped a 8-14 decision to Charleroi's Ray Campbell.

11:35 -- Just chatted with Plummer, who said he was a little nervous for his first Giant Center bout. his goal is medal here. Judging by that first bout, I like his chances.

11:26 -- York Suburban's Ricardo Plummer looked strong in a 9-4 decision over Keystone Oaks junior Michael Kazalas. Plummer scored a few early take downs, and Kazalas pretty much kept his distance the rest of the way.

11:07 -- The upset of the day comes courtesy of Kyle Flohr. The Fairfield junior -- the fifth-seed from the Southeastern region -- rallies late to down Muncy's Zach Strickland -- the top-seed from the Northeastern region -- 6-4. Flohr was down, 4-1, with ten seconds left, but hit a tilt move and scored three back points to score a dramatic victory.

"That was the first time actually hit that move in a match," said Flohr, who actually learned the move a year ago.

Flohr, who qualified for states last year but went two-and-done, will wrestle Burrell's Travis McKillop in tomorrow's quarterfinals.

Also at 152 pounds, York Suburban senior Jordan Knaub lost a 7-6 decision to Athens' Mike Testen.

10:31 -- Bermudian Springs senior Dalton Anthony just dropped a 4-2 decision at 140 pounds to Shamokin's Derek Shingara. He drops to the consolation bracket.

9:58 -- Two more winners for the YAIAA, both at 125 pounds.

Delone senior Tyler Small scored 15-0 tech fall against Conemaugh Township's Tanner Cahill at 3:23. In the process, Small exorcised a few Giant Center demons: He lost in the first round of states his last three years here.

"It was definitely good to get that one out of the way," Small said.

Meanwhile, Biglerville's Laike Gardner survived overtime to score an exciting, 11-9 decision over Cochranton's Matt Bryer. The Canners sophomore scored a take down nine seconds into the overtime period.

"I really didn't feel like I was getting things going for a while there," Gardner said. "Every time I shot I scored, so I figured I'd get it out of the way fast."

Gardner's plan for the rest of the day? He was heading back to his hotel to do some marketing homework.

9:23 -- Two local grapplers took part in the 103-pound prelims with mixed results.

Bermudian's Brad Farley, one of top-ranked 103-pounders in the state, scored a pin at 1:21 of his match with Beth-Center's Zach Swarrow. The pair exchanged reversals, before Farley cranked Swarrow into a pin.

Farley, a sophomore, said he was a bit nervous before his first state match, but those nerves didn't seem to show. Farley will face Benton's Matt Welliver in tomorrow's quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Delone Catholic's Joseph Byers dropped a 7-4 decision to Smethport's Nate Schwab in their opening match.