C-M’s Hayman upsets 4th seed with comeback
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Ken Hayman of Canon-McMillan tries to sit out of the hold of Patrick Noonan in the 126-pound, first-round bout of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey. Hayman rallied for a 7-5 overtime win.
Ken Hayman of Canon-McMillan tries to free his leg from Patrick Noonan in the 126-pound quarterfinal of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championship Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey. Hayman rallied for a 7-5 overtime win.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Brandon Matthews of Peters Township works for backpoints against Tyler Mousaw of Unionville in the 182-pound first round in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey. Matthews lost a 9-2 decision.
HERSHEY – Ken Hayman wrecked Patrick Noonan’s hopes for a gold medal in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships Thursday.
And in the process, Hayman took his lunch money.
Noonan probably didn’t have much of an appetite after blowing a 5-1 lead to Hayman.
The Canon-McMillan senior got a scoot-around takedown 27 seconds into overtime for a stunning 7-5 victory over the fourth seed at 126 pounds.
The win catapults Hayman, a fourth-place finisher in the Southwest Region, from the preliminary round to three wins shy of a gold medal.
Hayman takes on Braden Ricchini of Council Rock South in today’s quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Semifinals are 9 a.m. Saturday and finals are at 7:30 p.m.
Hayman will be joined by teammate Gerrit Nijenhuis (170), and Belle Vernon’s Scott Joll (182) as local wrestlers in the quarterfinals.
Hayman raised his record to 40-11 with the win over Noonan.
“I knew I just had to keep pushing him and he would break,” said Hayman, ranked eighth by the PA Power Rankings. “I can build off this, keep improving and make it to the state finals.”
The fourth-ranked Noonan built a 5-1 lead midway through the second period, thanks to a pair of takedowns and an escape.
But Hayman wasn’t deterred.
“I could see he was slow to the line every time (for restarts),” he said. “So I just kept pushing it.”
Hayman began his comeback with an escape with 23 seconds left in the second period to make it 5-2. Another escape in the third made it a two-point deficit.
“I knew I was the underdog,” said Hayman. “My coaches told me to trust in my training and everything would work out.”
Hayman got the tying takedown just before the buzzer to send it into overtime.
“I have no idea what I did,” said Hayman of the scramble that produced the winning points. “I took a good shot. I got a good strong hold and it just worked out.”
After the winning takedown, Hayman motioned to the corner then celebrated with family and friends.
“It was getting down to the wire but he’s got a lot of heart and a lot of grit,” said Canon-McMillan head coach Jeff Havelka. “Once he got on his offense, he created some opportunities. He’s good defensively, too. Sometimes he relies on that.”
Nijenhuis took an 8-2 decision from Anthony Hinson of Spring Grove but was not happy with the way he wrestled.
“Moving on is the key,” said Havelka. “I think he was frustrated. He wanted to wrestle and I think (Hinson) just wanted to keep it close. It’s going to happen. People are going to have strategies just like we do. The key is he won and moved on. Now we get ready for the next one.”
Nijenhuis, a junior, wrestles Caden Wright, a junior from Emmaus. Wright is a Northeast Region runner-up with a 27-6 record.
Joll, a senior, got to the quarterfinals with a 5-2 decision over Jake Lucas of Cumberland Valley. Joll gets top-seeded Carter Starocci of Erie Cathedral Prep, a Penn State commit and ranked No. 3 in the country by FloWrestling.
Waynesburg has three wrestlers in the consolation rounds: Cole Homet (120), Luca Augustine (152) and Colby Morris (160). Trey Howard (145) was eliminated.
Peters Township’s trio of Coltin Jezioro (152), Jeff Markert (170) and Brandon Matthews (182) found themselves in the consolation rounds after Day 1. Matthews stayed there by eliminating Trinity’s Cole Whitmer (182). South Franklin’s Quentin Franklin is still alive at heavyweight.
Costa Moore (106) of Canon-McMillan and Logan Seliga of Belle Vernon suffered two loses and were eliminated.