Skip to main content

Chambersburg meets Wilson in District 3 wrestling


Chambersburg's wrestling team competed in the Wilson Duals Tournament in early January, but by random draw did not face the host Bulldogs.

The Trojans went 5-0 to win the event, while the Bulldogs were 4-0. Both teams were disappointed they weren't able to meet, because they were clearly the best teams in the event.

Funny how things work out: In the first round of the District 3 Class AAA team wrestling championships, Chambersburg (9-3), the No. 11 seed, will battle No. 6 seed Wilson (14-3) on Tuesday at Cedar Cliff at 6 p.m. The winner will wrestle again that night in a quarterfinal against the winner of No. 3 Cedar Cliff (19-1) vs. No. 14 Elco (14-3).

"It should be a great match," Chambersburg coach Matt Mentzer said. "They are strong where we are strong, and we match up pretty evenly. There should be a lot of close, competitive matches."

The Trojans opened the season against the top three teams of the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division - Central Dauphin, Cumberland Valley and Mifflin County - and were 0-3. But they won their final nine dual meets.

The last time these teams met in the District 3 tournament was a barnburner in a 2012-13 semifinal, when Chambersburg pulled out a 30-29 victory.

The Bulldogs have two wrestlers ranked in the state by Pa. Power Wrestling - Keaton Eidle (26-6 at 152) and Tommy O'Brien (26-5 at 160), both ranked No. 16.

The Trojans can counter with three listed in the rankings - Aaron Rump at 132 (No. 12, 25-7), Garrett Kyner at 138 (No. 18, 26-5) and Drew Peck at 182 (29-4 at 182).

"Until they get to around 170, they don't bump around too much," Mentzer said of Wilson. "They're similar to us - they pencil the names in and say, 'Let's go.'"

The rest of the expected Chambersburg lineup includes Seth Runshaw at 106 (21-10), Spencer Runshaw at 113 (22-7), Cole Grove at 126 (18-11), Drake Brenize at 145 (18-11), Colin Runshaw at 152 (18-11), Matt Strunk at 160 (4-13), Dalton Grace 195 (14-9) and Phillipe Lozius at 185 (5-5). Greg Wallace (16-7 at 170) will be out of the lineup.

Notes: First-round losers are eliminated, while quarterfinal winners and losers will compete at Spring Grove on Thursday, starting at 5 p.m. ... The championship and the third-place match will be Saturday at Milton Hershey at 1:30 p.m. ... This is the Trojans' third time in districts and they have a 3-2 overall record ... Waynesboro, which finished 12-4, just missed qualifying for districts ... The Indians were No 17 in the final power rankings with a mark of .640372; Red Land earned the No. 16 spot at .647372.

District 3 Team Wrestling

CLASS AAA

Tuesday's Matches

FIRST ROUND

At Central Dauphin

(1) Central Dauphin (16-0) vs. (16) Red Land (13-5), 6

(8) Penn Manor (8-2) vs. (9) Cocalico (12-2), 6

Quarterfinal, first-round winners, to follow

At Exeter Township

(4) Exeter Twp. (17-2) vs. (13) Manheim Central (11-3), 6

(5) Spring Grove (10-1) vs. (12) Milton Hershey (14-3), 6

Quarterfinal, first-round winners, to follow

At Cumberland Valley

(2) Cumberland Valley (11-2) vs. (15) Warwick (15-3), 6

(7) Northern York (9-1) vs. (10) Big Spring (12-5), 6

Quarterfinal, first-round winners, to follow

At Cedar Cliff

(3) Cedar Cliff (19-1) vs. (14) Elco (14-3), 6

(6) Wilson (16-3) vs. (11) Chambersburg (9-3), 6

Quarterfinal, first-round winners, to follow

CLASS AA

Wednesday's Matches

QUARTERFINALS

At Boiling Springs

(1) Boiling Springs (10-1) vs. (8) Annville-Cleona (9-3), 6

(4) Newport (18-2) vs. (5) Bermudian Springs (18-2), 6

Semifinal, quarterfinal winners, to follow

At Northern Lebanon

(2) Northern Lebanon (14-1) vs. (7) Camp Hill (10-3), 6

(3) Hamburg (16-2) vs. (6) Biglerville (13-6), 6

Semifinal, quarterfinal winners, to follow