Mar 12, 2017 4 min read

Gavin Teasdale, the junior from Jefferson-Morgan, won his third PIAA wrestling title and remained undefeated in his career.

Brendan Furman finally put it all together and snapped a two-year drought of state champions from Canon-McMillan.

Max Murin of Central Cambria won his second Double-A title by knocking off a defending state champion to do so.

All were outstanding accomplishments that could define this year’s state wrestling tournament.

But the most spectacular outcome of the tournament had nothing to do with a winner but everything to do with a loser in Saturday’s finals at the Giant Center in Hershey.

That’s when Spencer Lee’s quest to become a four-time undefeated PIAA champion dissolved in the 126-pound Triple-A finals in front of nearly 8,000 fans. Lee, who like Teasdale is an Iowa commit, was trying to become only the 13th wrestler in PIAA history to win four titles and the sixth in state history to do it without a loss.

But Austin DeSanto, a senior from Exeter who was a two-time state medalist and lost to Lee in last year’s finals by a 15-0 technical fall, crushed those dreams with a 6-5 victory that will live on in the history of this event. It was unquestionably the biggest upset since the state tournament moved to the Giant Center in 2003. One could make the argument that it was the biggest upset in this tournament’s history.

I’ll go one more step. It was the greatest bout in the tournament’s history.

Two other possibilities were Wade Schalle’s third-period pin of Trinity’s John Chatman in the finals of the 154-pound weight class at Penn State’s Rec Hall in 1969 and Jeremy Lengle’s spladle that pinned Jason Betz of Warrior Run in the semifinals at 125 pounds in 1995 at Hersheypark Arena. Schalles, a senior from Hollidaysburg, was trailing 5-2 at the time of his pin. Lengle, from Pine Richland, lost to Jefferson-Morgan’s Travis Makel, 9-7, in the finals.

DeSanto’s win came with a disputed and controversial ending, the ingredients from which great stories are made.

Lee was the darling of this tournament. Fans followed his career ever since he transferred to Franklin Regional from Saegertown after his father got a new job in Pittsburgh. He quickly reached legendary status, helping Franklin Regional to two PIAA Class AAA team titles while building his undefeated resume.

Lee was considered the lock of locks to win a fourth title and everything seemed fine as he pinned his first two opponents and shut out a third.

But Lee had a secret. His father said after the loss to DeSanto that his son had torn the ACL in his right leg a month ago but still wanted to wrestle. He wore a knee brace but his wrestling seemed normal.

Lee had a 2-0 lead midway through the match but seemed to be tiring. A takedown by DeSanto left Lee with a 3-2 lead with 1:11 to go. Lee escaped but DeSanto took him down with 29 seconds left to tie the match to bring another roar from the crowd. DeSanto let Lee up then got the takedown call at the buzzer. For 10 agonizing seconds, the officials discussed the call, then raised DeSanto’s hand.

Almost immediately, social media exploded with the news. A photo was posted that appeared to show DeSanto’s takedown came after time expired.

Lee left Hershey with his pride hurting as much as his knee. The most amazing stat of his career – and one that probably will never be matched – was that Lee trailed in a bout only once in his scholastic career, for a fraction of a second, and it cost him a fourth state title and undefeated career.

Incredible.

Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com