Feb 8, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 3 min read

HERSHEY – Burgettstown couldn’t have had a better start in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A Team Tournament on Thursday at the Giant Center.

The dual meet began at 285 pounds and senior Joey Baronick got his team on the scoreboard with a first-period fall before teammate Darius Simmons overcame a 2-0 deficit in the first period to win by fall in 2:53 at 107.

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, the Bison recorded six pins to rally for a 42-27 victory.

“Our seniors did really well, but we just couldn’t get pins,” Burgettstown coach Joey Vigliotti said. “That team was better at not giving up pins than us. They fought off their backs harder than us, and I think they wanted that match more than us. It was there for the taking, and hopefully we can regroup and come back tomorrow.”

Burgettstown (15-2) won four more individual bouts, as Dylan Slovick (127) and Rudy Brown (160) earned decision victories, Parker Sentipal (133) won by major decision and Gaven Suica (139) won by technical fall, 21-5, in 4:21.

“A lot of people know who our studs are in our lineup, but if you look at the other half of our team, it’s first-, second- and third-year kids,” Vigliotti said. “I am proud of what they did. The senior studs get all the recognition, but we wouldn’t be here without those first-, second- and third-year kids.”

The Blue Devils had a 27-24 lead after Brown’s bout, but Carter Freeland (172) and Hunter Ressler (189) won by fall to provide the Bison (16-1) with an insurmountable advantage of 36-27 with one bout remaining.

Burgettstown forfeited at 215 to Clearfield’s Carter Chamberlain.

“Brodie (Kuzior) has done a lot for us this year,” Vigliotti said. “He is on a scholarship for baseball. He’s a pitcher, and if I can get him out of this season with no injuries, and he helped us a lot, good for him. He has done a great job for us and the match was out of reach for us at that point.”

Clearfield (16-1) will wrestle Bishop McDevitt (16-0) in the quarterfinals this afternoon at noon.

“I felt that heavyweight (285) was the worst starting position that we could start at,” Clearfield coach Jeff Aveni said. “They were going to get some momentum and we were going to have to try and get it back. We lost a tight one at 127. I thought we could win that match. We battled through it and got the big falls and 145 and 152.

“I made a switch there in the middle thinking, ‘If we do this, we’re going to have a chance to win the last three,’ and once we won those last two, we had it. I am proud of my guys. They wrestled hard and Burgettstown is a good team.”