Live at the PIAA wrestling championships: Day 2

HERSHEY -- We're back at the Giant Center, where some the states best wrestlers are set to go for Day 2 of the PIAA Wrestling Championships.

First up today is the Class AAA quarterfinals, where four YAIAA grapplers will compete: New Oxford's Jordan Conaway (103), South Western's Cameron Throckmorton (125), West York's Billy Randt (145) and Dallastown's Phil Sprenkle (189).

We'll also have updates later from the Class AAA consolations and Class AA semifinals.

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7:39 -- Believe it or not, folks, that's it for YAIAA action tonight. Gardner won't wrestle until the 7th/8th place final tomorrow, and Farley and Small are clear into tomorrow's finals. That will do it for us tonight from Hershey. We'll be back around noonish tomorrow for the third-and-final day of the PIAA State Wrestling Champions. Hope to see you then.

7:18 -- Small and Durso battled into a second overtime, and in that period Small scores a reveral and cranks out three back points. That proves to be the difference, and the Delone senior advances to the finals courtesy of a 10-5 victory.

Small will face Benton's Coltin Fought in tomorrow's 125-pound final.

7:13 -- Gardner drops his third-round consolation bout, losing 9-6 to Juniata's Zac Beitz. Smill tied at 2-2 early in his match with Reynolds' Dylan Durso.

7:03 -- Only two more YAIAA wrestlers to go in this round of bouts, and they're both competing now at 125 pounds: Biglerville's Laike Gardner is in action in his wrestleback bout, while Delone Catholic's Tyler Small just started his semifinal match.

6:41 -- Farley takes care of business, earning an 11-5 decision over Williams. Meanwhile, the Bermudian sophomore's door to the state championship swings wide open. In the other 103-pound semifinal, North Star's Nick Roberts -- the defending state champion in this class -- is upset by Line Mountain's Zain Retherford. He scores a late escape and holds on to beat Roberts, 4-3.

As Farley exits the mats in front of us, his coach, Dave McCollum, extends his hand for a low-five and says "One more."

6:28 -- Alright, they've rearranged the mats here, and a fresh crop of wrestlers are ready to go. Bermudian's 103-pounder Brad Farley is ready to go in his semifinal with Pen Argyl's Matt Williams.

4:03 -- We'll take a break now as the triple-A consolations wrap up. The Class AA semifinals and third-round consolations begin at 6:30 p.m., when Bermudian's Brad Farley and Delone's Tyler Small will try to seal a spot in tomorrow's finals. We'll feed you some more updates as those matches approach.

3:55 -- Only one YAIAA wrestler to go in Class AAA, and that's Dallastown's Phil Sprenkle. He looks dominant in his 9-0, major decision victory against Manheim Township's Austin Schultz at 189 pounds.

To recap in Class AAA play, two York-Adams wrestlers (Throckmorton and Randt) moved on to the semifinals. Three others (Conaway, Nguyen and Sprenkle) are are still alive in their respective consolation brackets. Two more (Dylan and Logen Wisner) lost their second-round wrestlebacks and bowed out of states.

3:38 -- Spring Grove brothers Dylan and Logen Wisner end up wrestling at the same time, on opposite ends of the floor. On one of the near mats, senior Dylan drops his 152-pound match with Carlisle's Jayshon Wilson by a 7-5 decision. As he matches back toward the locker area, he walks past his brother's mat, where junior Logen is fighting out the final seconds of his 3-0 decision loss to Bethel Park's Nick Bonaccorsi. Tough day for the Wisners. Their trip to states is now over.

3:08 -- Conaway rebounds to win his 103-pound consolation, turning in a dominant third-period and beating Clearfield's Christian Stone, 10-4. Conaway trailed 3-2 heading into the final period.

Conaway said he was disappointed by his earlier loss, saying it gives him "something to work for next year." The goal for him now becomes third-place.

As for his decision to cut Schram loose with 37 seconds left -- which gave the Canon-McMillan freshman the eventual game-winning point, Conaway thought he made the right call.

"I decided to cut him because I'm not too good riding," he said. "I think I made the right decision."

Meanwhile, Red Lion's Dylan Nguyen also won his wrestleback at 119 pounds, scoring a 10-4 decision over Meadville's Shelton Mack.

2:38 -- Earlier today, the Class AA wrestlers competed their quarterfinal bouts and second-round consolations. Two York-Adams are still alive -- Bermudian Spring sophomore Brad Farley (103) and Delone Catholic senior Tyler Small (125). Farley scored a fall at 3:21 of his match with Benton's Matt Welliver, while Small needed only 1:10 to pin Mifflenburg's Ethan Midkiff.

Three YAIAA grapplers lost their Class AA quarterfinals: Biglerville's Laike Gardner (125), Fairfield's Kyle Flohr (152) and York Suburban's Ricardo Plummer (171). Flohr and Plummer both lost their respective second-round consolations, and are done at states. Gardner won his wrestleback (a 7-4 dec. over Conemaugh Township's Tanner Cahill) to guarantee himself a Top 8 finish.

York Suburban's Stan Williams (215), who won his first wrestleback yesterday, wrapped up his state tournament by losing a 1-0 decision to Burrell's Brian Beattie.

For complete results from the double-A and triple-A competitions, click here.

2:26 -- Dallastown's Phil Sprenkle comes up short in his quarterfinal bout at 189 pounds with Council Rock North's Jamie Callender, dropping a 10-4 decision. Callender was impressive, and seemed to wear down Sprenkle by the end.

That's it for YAIAA wrestlers in the Class AAA quarterfinals, but we'll have five more wrestlers in the triple-A second-round wrestlebacks, which will begin here in a little bit.

2:10 -- West York 145-pounder Billy Randt also moves through to the semifinals, with a comprehensive 8-2 decision over Warren's Chris Dellatre. Randt scored a takedown seven seconds in, and never relinquished control.

Randt has been a revelation for a Bulldogs program not known as a state contender. With a win in tomorrow semifinals, Randt's coach, Brian Gross, said the senior could become West York first state finalist in more than 30 years.

Randt placed second this year at districts, losing to to Middletown standout Bo Candelaria in the finals. Candelaria was wrestling during Randt's match on an adjacent match, and squeaked out an overtime decision.

One more win, and Randt could have his rematch with Candelaria.

1:44 -- Throckmorton goes through. The South Western junior looked strong in his 6-3 decision against Council Rock South's Matt Rappo. Even though the score looked close, Throckmorton was able to control most of the bout. After a takedown 19 seconds into the final period, the Mustangs' 125-pounder never let Rappo get free.

Throckmorton looked tired afterward, but said his goal at states this year is simple.

"I want to win the whole thing," he said. "This is what I've worked for."

1:19 -- Perhaps the YAIAA best gold medal hope in the Class AAA bracket just got upset. The Southcentral region's top seed, Jordan Conaway, saw his late rally fall just short, and the New Oxford junior lost to Canon McMillan freshman Conner Schram by a 7-6 decision.

Conaway trailed 5-1 going into the final period, but battled back to tie the bout at 6-6 with 37 seconds to go. Out of a restart, Conaway cut Schram loose, hoping to nail a match-winning takedown. But Schram was able to hold on, and now Conaway heads to the second round of Class AAA consolations, to be held at the conclusion of these quarterfinals.