Templin and Daugherty repeated as champions, swapping weight classes. Templin, who won at 215 last year, scored a third-period takedown off a counter to ice a 7-2 victory over Donegal’s Garcia at 189.Gallo was joined atop the podium by teammate Deshawn Jones (145), Manheim Township’s Zach Landis (152) and Leighton Underwood (172), and Manheim Central’s […]
Templin and Daugherty repeated as champions, swapping weight classes. Templin, who won at 215 last year, scored a third-period takedown off a counter to ice a 7-2 victory over Donegal’s Garcia at 189.Gallo was joined atop the podium by teammate Deshawn Jones (145), Manheim Township’s Zach Landis (152) and Leighton Underwood (172), and Manheim Central’s Noah Templin (189) and Brodie Daugherty (215).He came to his feet into a bear hug, jacked Jimenez into the air and brought him to the mat to his back.
“I thought we had a good chance of punching a lot of guys in (to districts),” Evans said. “It’s a nice way to peak going into the district tournament. It just goes back to these guys’ preparation, their hard work and their fun personalities all year.”Jones utilized four takedowns to major McCaskey’s Avery Voglebacher 13-5 for the 145-pound title.“I was a little banged up all year,” he said, “so I hadn’t been wrestling great.”Landis scored a fall in his first match, then topped No. 4 seed Chase Harnish of Penn Manor 8-1. He pinned top-seeded Kai Laszakovits of Elizabethtown in the semifinals, earning a finals matchup with McCaskey’s Jessiah JimenezLandis scored a reversal in the second period to go up 5-2. When Jimenez chose neutral in the third, Landis took Jimenez to his back for a fall in 4:29“Watching last year without wrestling, it made me even hungrier to do it this year,” he said.In a matchup of returning champions Luke Hitchcock — who posted his 100th career victory in the semifinals — scored a takedown on Elizabethtown’s Francis Burke with seven seconds left, then cradled Burke with two ticks left for a come-from-behind, 7-5 victory at 133.He was one of six L-L League wrestlers to bring home gold as wrestlers from the Mid-Penn Conference flexed their muscles, winning seven titles at Hempfield High School.Foutz defeated CD’s Franco Perri, 10-0. Detwiler downed Hershey’s Mason Webb 5-1. Burd majored Central’s AJ Hondru 13-4. Gassert rolled up a 15-3 major over Donegal’s Winters at 285.Gallo broke open a scoreless match with a second-period reversal, then stopped Gordon’s attempt to reverse back.Gallo won the 121-pound title at the District Three Class 3A Section Two Championships Saturday, pinning fellow freshman Nicholas Gordon from Palmyra midway through the second period.Daugherty, who won at 189 last year, pinned his way through the 215-pound class, wrapping up the Indians’ Viselli in 3:02.“It’s a way different experience coming from middle school,” said Gallo.“I kind of stepped over and reversed a half,” said Gallo, who opened with a fall in the quarterfinals and out-pointed Central Dauphin’s Pierce Lemmons 11-7 in the semifinals.Landis got the opening takedown, but Jimenez reversed out of a pinning combination and trailed 3-2 after a period.Banged up as a carryover from an injury at last year’s league tournament, an injury that ended his season.
Despite going 0-for-4 in the finals, Donegal won the unofficial team title, outpointing Central Dauphin 176-166.5; it’s unofficial because District Three no longer supports, nor sanctions, the recognition of team champions at the sectional level.In addition to silver medalists Brady Allessi (172), Sergio Garcia (189), Daniel Viselli (215) and Owen Winters (285), Donegal also advanced bronze medalists Quinn Weymers (145) and Caidyn Leaf (160), and fourth-place finishers Zane Gardner (107) and Leelan Baughman (139).He scored a fall and a major decision to advance to the final, where he defeated Allessi 9-4, icing the victory with an escape and takedown in the third period.Hempfield freshman Joey Gallo brought a solid resume to his first varsity season, winning multiple PJW tournaments as a youth wrestler and being a two-time Elizabethtown Optimist Tournament finalist in junior high, including winning a title as a seventh-grader.Landis picked the best time to have his best tournament. Coming off a fourth-place finish in the league tournament, Landis came into sectionals as the fifth seed at 152.“Eight guys and two alternates, so a total of 10 in the top five,” said Indians coach Nick Evans.Central Dauphin crowned three champions. Thunder Beard teched Penn Manor’s Caden Boland 16-0 in 3:23 at 114.The two had split two bouts this season, Jimenez winning 7-2 in the dual meet, Landis taking a sudden victory, 4-1 win at leagues.CJ Ferree, also a returning champion, took Manheim Central’s Barrett Keiffer down with 32 seconds left for a 9-6 victory at 139.Way different, sure, but the results are often similar.“I think it was pretty tight,” he said of his half.Other titlists were Palmyra’s Jason Foutz (107) and Tyler Detwiler (127), Hershey’s Christian Burd (169) and Middletown’s Joseph Gassert at 285.“I hadn’t been wrestling to my full potential,” Landis said, “but I started figuring out his style. I felt pretty confident going into the finals.”In a total team effort, the Indians advanced eight to the District Three championships (also the South Central Regional) at Spring Grove next Friday and Saturday.“I fired off a shot; it wasn’t a great shot, but I built back into it,” said Landis.It was, indeed, really tight.Coming off a runner-up finish at leagues, Underwood entered the tournament as the top seed.James White (127) and Hudson Fenicle (133) placed fifth and are on the bubble should one of the four qualifiers ahead of them be unable to compete.
