Mar 5, 2015 4 min read

HERSHEY – Count Anthony Welsh as a yes vote on expansion.

The junior from Beth-Center became the first wrestler in state history to advance from the preliminary round to the quarterfinals in the newly expanded 20-man bracket of the PIAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Welsh posted two victories Thursday to advance to today’s Class AA quarterfinals, which begin at 9 a.m.

Welsh opened the tournament with a 10-3 decision over Zach Graver of Palmerton, then followed with a 7-1 upset of Mike Millero of Reynolds, a Northwest Region champion who had a 33-10 record before running into Welsh.

Welsh was one of eight local Class AA wrestlers to advance in the winners’ bracket. Jefferson-Morgan went 4-for-4 as Gavin Teasdale (106), Brendan Howard (120), Bill Bowlen (182) and Ian Wolfe (Hvy) moved on. South Fayette’s Mike Carr (138), Jared Walker (160) and Brett Beltz (182) also advanced with first-round victories.

Austin McDermitt of Burgettstown won his preliminary round bout, lost in the first round, then won in the consolations. He can still finish as high as third at 120 pounds. Shane Ging of South Fayette lost twice and was eliminated at 132. Welsh’s teammates, Jason Stay and Nico Brown, each won consolation bouts and can finish as high as third at 160 and 182, respectively.

The top eight wrestlers in each class earn a medal and more are fighting for them after the PIAA decided to expand the tournament for this season. Welsh was a fourth-place finisher in the Southwest Region Tournament and was paired with a fifth-place finisher in the Northeast in Graver.

With the 16-man tournament, Welsh would probably have drawn Millero in the first round. The expanded bracket allowed him a warm-up bout Millero did not get.

“It helped me to wrestle that bout because it got the nerves out,” said Welsh, who raised his record to 34-5. “You feel better getting that first match in before (wrestling Millero). He didn’t have a match in and I was feeling comfortable.”

Welsh will wrestler Derek Dragon of Lake Lehman, a third-place finisher in the Northeast with a 41-5 record, in the quarterfinals.

“I’m just going to try and come out and dominate the match as much as possible,” said Welsh. “Last year, I was one win away from placing. This year, I’m trying to get that medal.”

Welsh was one of three preliminary round winners to reach the quarterfinals.

Teasdale, a freshman, needed just 24 seconds to pin Jules Hicklin, a sophomore from Sharon who was a preliminary round winner.

“I wanted to make the match go as quick as I could,” said Teasdale, now 43-0. “I just went out and wrestled as well as I know how to.”

Next up is Jaret Lane, a freshman from Southern Columbia who was a Northeast runner-up with a 37-4 record.

Howard roared out a 4-1 lead and ended up with a 7-5 decision over Caleb Bordner of Tri Valley, a senior who finished third in the Southeast Region. Howard avenged an earlier 6-3 loss to Bordner in the finals of the Bedford Tournament.

“I looked at all the video I could find on him,” said Howard, a WPIAL champion and regional runner-up. “That’s how I knew what he did (on the mat). I had some nerves. When I got through warm-ups, I felt great.”

Howard will wrestle Brian Courtney of Athens, a Northeast champion with a 43-0 record.

One of the more unusual situations came in Bowlen’s first-round match against Michael Collins of Pope John Paul II, a third-place finisher in the Southeast Region. Bowlen won, 4-3, but the official raised the wrong arm at the end of the match. The official then raised Bowlen’s when made aware of his mistake.

“I said, ‘Are you kidding me?'” said Bowlen a regional runner-up with a 35-6 record. “I thought maybe I did something.”

Bowlen broke a 3-3 tie in the third period with an escape and kept Collins at bay the rest of the way.

“I never wrestled him before and I didn’t find anything about him on the web,” said Bowlen. “You want to wrestle your style but you don’t know what they’ll be doing.”

Bowlen gets Garrett Hoffman (43-0) of Montoursville in the quarterfinals.