The smell of success: Furman in semifinals
Gerrit Nijenhuis of Canon-McMillan is tangled with Carter Starocci of Cathedral Prep in the 152-pound quarterfinals of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Friday. Nijenhuis lost a 5-1 decision.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter Logan Macri of Canon-McMillan is turned by Julian Chlebove of Northampton in the 126-pound quarterfinals of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Friday. Chlebove won a 5-1 decision.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter Colin McCracken of Waynesburg turns Hunter Catka of Sun Valley in the 195-pound consolation round in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey Friday. McCracken won by fall in 4:14.
HERSHEY – Shhh.
Don’t tell anyone but Brendan Furman has a secret when wrestling in big tournaments.
He wears the same singlet, but that’s not really the secret. It’s that the Canon-McMillan senior hasn’t washed the singlet since he competed in the Powerade Christmas Tournament.
By now, it’s gotten a little, ahem, ripe.
It could get more so. Furman has left a trail of pins in the heavyweight division of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Furman stuck Hunter Gill in just 40 seconds in Friday’s quarterfinals while the Holidaysburg senior was signalling for injury time. Furman finished him before the referee saw Gill’s plea for help.
Furman’s pin was the second of the tournament and took just 1:53 of combined time. More important, it propels Furman into today’s semifinals at 9 a.m. against Niko Camacho of Bethlehem Catholic in what is expected to be the showcase bout of the weight class.
The finals are at 7 p.m.
Furman was the only one of three C-M wrestlers who came out of the quarterfinals with a win. Junior Logan Macri was stopped by Julian Chlebove, a defending state champion from Nazareth, 6-0. Freshman Gerrit Nijenhuis dropped a 5-1 decision to Carter Starocci of Erie Cathedral Prep. Both came back in the wrestlebacks to win and can still finish as high as third place. Colin McCracken of Waynesburg also remains alive for a third-place finish, battling through the consolations after losing in the first round.
Furman is hoping to become Canon-McMillan’s first state champion since 2014 when Macri’s brother, Dalton, won at 126 and Solomon Chishko took gold at 145. Canon-McMillan has 19 state champions and 21 more when Canonsburg High School is added.
Furman said he has no intention of washing the singlet until the tournament ends.
“I want to keep the momentum going,” he said.
Furman’s wins in this tournament ran his record to 45-3 and his career mark 136-33. Furman took control of the match against Gill, taking him down 13 seconds in, letting him up, then taking him to his back and pinning him.
“I didn’t want to underestimate him,” said Furman. “I wanted to go out there and get to my attacks.”
Furman and Camacho wrestled in the consolation finals of the Beast of the East tournament in December and Camacho came away with a 5-3 decision.
“It was a good match,” said Furman. “I took a bad shot and he swung behind me (for a takedown). It’ll be a good match.”
Macri couldn’t get any effective shots in on Chlebove, who had a takedown in the first period, then turned Macri to his back for three nearfall points that put the match out of reach.
“He’s tough, doesn’t let you get to your offense,” Macri said. “He was down-blocking and I didn’t commit to my shots.”
Nijenhuis has wrestled Starocci since youth leagues, mainly at tournaments. After a scoreless first period, Starocci hit a four-point move to secure the win.
“I felt I had the potential to be in the finals,” said Nijenhuis. “I needed to lay off the bad shots. He got one good shot on me. I funked him a little too late and paid for it.”
McCracken pinned Hunter Catka of Sun Valley in 4:14 then followed it with a 3-2 decision over Blake Barrick of Big Spring to move into the fourth round of the wrestlebacks.
“I learned early to not be hesitant in this tournament, that when you see a chance, take it,” McCracken said. “You have to wrestle each match like it’s the last one.”
Matt Oblock of Canon-McMillan had his run in the tournament end with a 6-3 loss to Jakob Campbell of Boyertown in the second round of consolations.