Four from YAIAA advance to semis at the PIAA wrestling championships
Here's an early dispatch from the PIAA wrestling championships... --------------------------------------------------- HERSHEY -- The novelty of wrestling in the Giant Center has worn off for Kennard-Dale's Chance Marsteller. On Friday it was back to business -- and back to the form that has made the Rams' 152-pound freshman a must-see in his first trip to the PIAA wrestling championships. Marsteller secured his spot in Saturday's final day of competition, storming to a 15-6 major decision against Central Mountain's Tyler Buckwater in a PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal at the Giant Center. "Yesterday, I felt a little bit excited for my first match," Marsteller said, referring to his opening-round pin of Abington Heights' James Fruehan. "Now it's like alright, it's time to roll." Marsteller finished strong Saturday. He turned a close match with Buckwater -- it was 6-4 after two periods -- into a comfortable win with a flurry of third-period takedowns. "After the third or fourth takedown, I realized I broke him," Marsteller said. "He stopped attacking." Marsteller will try to make history Saturday by becoming the heaviest freshman ever to win a PIAA Class AAA title. Marsteller will be joined in Saturday morning's triple-A semis by three YAIAA seniors: New Oxford's Jordan Conaway (112) and the Spring Grove pair of Trey Duncan (145) and Neal Grudi (171). All four earned decisions in their respective quarterfinals. Overall, the YAIAA went 4-2 in quarterfinal bouts Friday. South Western's Max Good (125) and Cameron Throckmorton (130) both crashed out, with the latter dropping a highly-anticipated battle of unbeatens with Nazareth's Zach Horan, 3-2. Good and Throckmorton lost their ensuing consolation bouts, ending their state medal hopes. Dallastown's Phil Sprenkle (189) is now the only YAIAA grappler still alive in wrestlebacks. We'll have much more later on GameTimePA.com and in tomorrow's York Sunday News.