Vikings' Luke Funck places 4th in PIAA Class AA

HERSHEY - Northern Lebanon's Luke Funck completed his junior season with a fourth-place medal at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships on Saturday.

Funck, who finished the season with a fine 42-3 record, was defeated 4-1 in the consolation final at 182 pounds by defending state champion Dakota Geer of Franklin. Geer (41-1) had been ranked No. 1 in the country at 182 before this weekend, but he was upset in the semifinals by Garrett Hoffman of Montoursville.

South Park's Greg Bulsak, who defeated Funck in the semifinal round Friday evening, went on to win the title by pinning Hoffman in 1:43 in the championship match.

"Luke had a great season," Vikings coach Rusty Wallace Jr. said. "He ended up 42-3 and his three losses came to the guys who finished 1-2-3 at that weight (Bulsak, Geer and Hoffman at the PIAA team championships). He had a very tough weight class."

Funck is the highest-placing Northern Lebanon wrestler since assistant coach Jim Collins won a title in 2001. He also collected District 3 and SE Region titles.

Funck's match concluded a highly-successful season for the Vikings, who won an L-L Section title and the District 3 team championship. NL also sent 13 of 14 wrestlers to districts, eight to regionals and six to states.

Wallace said, "All the guys here this weekend got a tremendous amount of experience. The ones who didn't place want to come back and get a medal, and Luke wants to come back and win it next year."