Mar 11, 2017 3 min read

HERSHEY – Someday, Kiski’s Isaac Reid might find a way to beat Brendan Furman but it wasn’t Saturday night.

Furman, the senior from Canon-McMillan, capped a strong performance in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships by winning the heavyweight title with a 5-3 decision.

It was the fifth straight time Furman defeated Reid, but this one meant the most.

Furman became the first Big Macs wrestler to win a state title since Solomon Chishko (145) and Dalton Macri (126) did it in 2014.

“Normally, in any other match, I feel butterflies,” said Furman. “But I didn’t have any out there. He meant business. He tried some different stuff but I found my way.”

The two first wrestled in a Dec. 22 dual meet that Reid won, 3-2. Furman then beat Reid, 5-3, in the semifinals of the Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament and three more wins followed, the last one coming in the WPIAL Championships.

Furman brought a 46-3 season record and 137-33 career mark into the final. Furman seemed to find new energy for his wrestling this season, something head coach Jason Cardillo said made him a different wrestler.

“He took a lot of pressure off himself and started to enjoy the sport,” Cardillo said. “He became more offensive, style-wise. He put a lot of time and effort into it. Hats off to him for making the changes that were necessary. He scores more and he’s more funn to watch.”

Furman admitted he didn’t wrestle well in the past, going so far as to say he “choked” in the postseason.

“He just went out there and wrestled,” Cardillo said. “He didn’t freeze up. He opened up and was more of himself.”

Furman reached the finals with three impressive victories. He began the tournament as the No. 4 seed and pinned Oscar Daniels of Exeter in 1:13 in the first round. He followed that with a pin in 40 seconds of Hunter Gill of Holidaysburg, then earned a spot in the finals with a thrilling 3-1 win over Niko Camacho of Bethlehem Catholic. Furman hit a takedown with 43 seconds remaining.

Two of Furman’s teammates, Logan Macri and Gerrit Nijenhuis, also earned medals. Macri won a 6-4 decision over Zurich Storm of New Oxford for fifth place and Nijenhuis decisioned Chase Stevens of Coatesville, 4-1, for third place at 152 pounds. Nijenhuis turned Stevens for two nearfall points in the second period to secure the win.

“I found out this is no different from any other tournament. If you come in thinking, ‘I gotta do well, I gotta do well,” then you won’t wrestle to your potential,” said Nijenhuis. “I think I came in here doing that but I loosened up as the tournament went on.”

Before leaving the Giant Center, Cardillo had a message for his wrestlers.

“Take Sunday off and back to work Monday,” he said with a smile.

Colin McCracken of Waynesburg took third place at 195 with a 2-0 overtime decision against Jake Koser of Northern York.

“It was definitely tough,” said McCracken, headed to Kent State in the fall. “I had a lot of close matches. You always want to win but third place is the next best thing.”