Strong first day for area AA wrestlers
Rasaun Culberson of South Fayette works against Gage Gladysz of Greene during their 220-pound bout at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships in Hershey Thursday. Culberson upset Gladysz, 6-4.
Dom Fundy of Beth-Center yanks on Brycein Fulmer of Towanda in the 160-pound first-round bout Thursday afternoon at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships in Hershey. Fundy won a 6-0 decision.
Gavin Teasdale of Jefferson-Morgan works his weight from the bottom against Luke Pipa of Bishop Canevin in the 113-pound first round bout at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships in Hershey Thursday. Teasdale won by 21-5 technical fall.
HERSHEY – For the newbies, or first-timers, the opening day of the PIAA Championships is supposed to be filled with nerves, awe and shaky wrestling.
Just don’t tell that to Dom Fundy and Rasaun Culberson.
Fundy, a freshman from Beth-Center, and Culberson, a senior from South Fayette, pulled off impressive wins in Thursday’s first round at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Their wins capped a strong first round in Class AA for the area. Six of the 11 area wrestlers – including defending state champions Gavin Teasdale of Jefferson-Morgan and Mike Carr of South Fayette – advanced to today’s quarterfinals (9 a.m.). Semifinals are at 7:30 tonight and finals are 2 p.m. Saturday.
Culberson, who staggered into the state tournament with a fourth-place finish at 220 in the District 7 tournament, knocked off undefeated and Northwest Region champion Gage Gladysz of Greenville, who had won 43 straight matches before running into Culberson. The match was tied 4-4 late and Culberson reversed Gladysz with just six seconds remaining.
“This was the biggest win of my career,” said Culberson. “I’m not going to lie. When I saw he was 43-0, I was nervous. He beat a kid I lost to. I didn’t think I was going to win. But I stuck to my game plan, kept my defense up and made him make a mistake that helped me get the win.”
Culberson now will face Allentown Central Catholic’s Joe Gladish, a runner-up in the Southeast Region with a 29-3 record.
Fundy, a District 7 runner-up, knocked off Towanda’s Breycin Fullmer, a senior third-place finisher in the Northeast Region, 10-1, in the 160-pound first round and marched into the quarterfinals with a 36-9 record.
“The first one is always the worst one (in tournaments),” said Fundy. “I was a little nervous. I went out there and tried to clear my mind and just wrestle the way I can. I knew if I could score on my feet, I could score on top, too. I worked hard this week. (Tony Welsh) was my practice partner. Tony was there for me.”
Fundy scored in each period and led 7-1 after two. He draws Eisenhower’s Louis Head, a Northwest Region champion with a 35-1 record, in the quarterfinals.
Teasdale, undefeated in his two-year varsity career, roared out of the gate, scoring at will on Luke Pipa of Bishop McDevitt, a sophomore who finished fourth in the Southeast Region at 113 pounds. Teasdale, 33-0 this season and 79-0 in his varsity career, won by technical fall, 21-5.
“I got a good warm-up in and got my heart rate up before the match,” he said. “I did everything right this week and that helped me perform on the mat. I’m taking it one step at a time.”
It took Carr just 4:48 for a 20-2 technical fall over Athens Nate Bradley, a fourth-place finisher in the Northeast Region, at 145. Carr, a senior, is 40-0 and 95-0 in the past two seasons.
“There were a couple things to work on,” he said. “I got a little lackadaisical with a seven-point lead, and he shot in on me. I needed to pick up the pace a little more. After that, I think I wrestled pretty well in all areas.”
Bill Bowlen of Jefferson-Morgan and Welsh of Beth-Center each won their first-round bouts. Bowlen pinned Allentown Central Catholic’s Keegan Connelly, a fourth-place finisher in the Southeast Region, in 3:08 at 195. Bowlen (36-3) wrestles Clarion’s Zack Sintobin, a Northwest runner-up with a 31-3 record, in the quarterfinals.
Welsh needed injury time for his knee but still managed a 7-6 decision over Greenville’s Gavin Wilkerson, a third-place finisher in the Northwest Region. Welsh (36-1) gets Eastern York’s Dakota Mackley, a Southeast Region champion with a 29-3 record, in the quarterfinals.
“It feels pretty good to get the first one out of the way,” said Welsh. “I need to get a feel for this out here. Nerves get to everyone. Winning the first one gets rid of the nerves.”
Local wrestlers eliminated on the first day were Manny Dovshek (113) of Bentworth; Ben Previte (152) of South Fayette; Dom Provenzano (182) of Chartiers-Houston; Brad Hucik (220) of Burgettstown; and Trevor McIntyre (Hvy) of Fort Cherry.