PIAA WRESTLING: 3 area wrestlers come home from states with medals

HERSHEY >> The line between wrestling for a Pennsylvania state title and having to fight for a place in the consolation rounds is a thin one, as two area wrestlers discovered Saturday morning.

James Buchanan senior Casey Glunt went all the way to a tiebreaker before absorbing a 5-4 defeat to John Jakobsen of Stroudsburg in a Class AAA 182-pound semifinal bout at Giant Center in the PIAA Championships. At 126, Shippensburg sophomore Chandler Olson fell just short, 4-2 in his semifinal against Luke Karam of Bethlehem Catholic.

When the tournament concluded Saturday night, three Franklin County wrestlers earned places – Glunt captured third place, Olson finished in sixth place and Chambersburg senior David Rump took seventh place at 138.

Glunt appeared to be better on his feet against Jakobsen, who did not attempt one serious shot. Four times, the Rocket ace got in deep on single-leg shots and three times Jakobsen was able to fight him off.

After a scoreless first period, Glunt took down and fell victim to Jakobsen's wicked cradle for a nearfall. But he rolled out of that and came up with a reversal to tie it 2-2. Jakobsen escaped before the end of the period and again to start the third to hold a 4-2 advantage.

But Glunt finally connected on a takedown, switching from a single to a double-leg shot to tie the match with 18 seconds left. Jakobsen got a restart with 0:11 left, but Glunt was able to hold on.

Glunt came agonizingly close to ending it in the first overtime period, but again Jakobsen countered well on a takedown attempt. Glunt chose down for the first tiebreaker and was not able to get free. In the next period, Glunt let Jakobsen up, hoping for a winning takedown that never came.

But Glunt did come back to win his consolation bout, 6-3 over Gregg Harvey of Boyertown, with the key move a takedown right into a tilt in the second period for a 4-1 lead. He finished off a 4-1 tournament effort with a 3-1 win over Evan Wilson of Central Bucks East for third place.

Olson carried much of the action against Karam on his feet, but, despite numerous shots from both sides, was never able to penetrate far enough to get to Karam's legs.

Late in the first, after Olson faked a quick shot at the whistle, Karam came right back in and scored on a single-leg attack for a takedown with 0:12 left. Karam escaped early in the second and the period ended with Olson in a 3-0 deficit.

In the third, Karam rode well with a leg ride until Olson broke free and reversed with 25 seconds left to make it 3-2. He quickly let Karam go, but couldn't get in for a tying takedown attempt.

In his first consolation match, Olson was tied up 9-2 by Ethan McCoy of Greater Latrobe. In the bout for fifth place, Olson fell 3-1 to Lucas Miller of Boyertown.

In his 138 fourth-round consy match, Rump faced Demetri D'Orsaneo of Owen J. Roberts. It was a 1-1 statemate, with Rump fighting off several deep shots by D'Orsaneo. Finally in overtime, D'Orsaneo was able to lift Rump's leg up and convert for a 3-1 victory.

But the Trojan senior came back strong in the match for seventh place, handing Dan Ritz of Crestwood a 3-1 defeat.