Friday's Results:
8:45 p.m.: And the Valley gets its third finalist in Lewisburg senior Brandon Smith. Smith edged Avella's Jake Temple, 2-1 in a tiebreak to advance to his first state final. Smith (36-1) meets Saucon Valley's Ray O'Donnell 43-3 in today's 220-pound final
8:30 p.m.: That didn't take long. Milton senior Ryan Solomon, a returning PIAA champion who pinned his way to states, needed just 1 minute, 15 seconds to reach his third state final, pinning Kittaning senior Zac Croyle. Solomon, now 39-0, meets SW regional champ Garrett Vulcano (45-2) in Saturday's final
8 p.m.: Milton junior Ryan Preisch comes up short of state final at 152. He was tied 5-5 with Reynolds senior Austin Matthews before Matthews pulled away for a 16-7 win. Preisch will wrestle later tonight and can still finish as high as third.
Mifflinburg senior Ty Walter also feel just short of the title match with a 5-1 loss to Forest Hills' Cody Loaw. He can still finish third, but will wrestle again later.
7:30: Former teammates will meet for state gold on Saturday after each won their 138-pound semifinals on Friday night. Line Mountain senior Seth Lansberry and Benton senior Zain Retherford will meet Saturday for gold.
Retherford, a former PIAA champion for Line Mountain as a freshman, defeated Brock Zacherl of Brookville, 5-0, to make his second state final. Lansberry is in his first state final thanks to a 3-2 win over Sharon senior Michael Bonner.
The two have met in each of the last two weekends, with Retherford winning in the District 4 and Northeast regional finals.
7:10 p.m.: Line Mountain sophomore Cameron Newman fell to Triston Law, a Forest Hills sophomore, 5-0 in the third-round of consolations. Newman will wrestle for seventh on Saturday afternoon against Tyshawn White of Bishop McDevitt.
Southern Columbia sophomore Kent Lane with a 3-1 win over Wyoming Area's Andrew Schultz in the consolation at 126. Lane will wrestle again later and is still alive for third.
1:20: Mifflinburg state champion Nazar Mironenko is out of states after he was disqualified in the middle of his consolation match against Biglerville's Alex Stover. He was disqualified after a flagrant misconduct call by the official at 285 pounds. Mironenko ends the seaosn at 35-5.
Also out at heavyweight is Southern Columbia senior Jake Becker, who was pinned in the consolation by West Branch's Morgan Selepack. Becker ends the year 37-6.
11:55: Southern Columbia freshman Blake Marks picks up his first state medal with a 4-3, tiebreak win over Conemaugh Township's Taylor Cahill in the consolation round. Marks (36-6) meets Freedom senior Joe Bonzo, the SE regional champ, in the third-round of consolations later at 152 pounds.
11:40: Juniata's Sean Heggs (138) bows out of states with a default loss to Tri-Valley sophomore Hunter Harner. Heggs finishes his stellar career with a 38-6 senior season, including a state medal last year.
At 145, Midd-West's Zach Heeter also drops a tough decision, falling 3-2 on a late takedown against Brookville's Zach Vroman. Heeter ends the year 39-7.
11:25: Southern Columbia sophomore Kent Lane rebounded from first loss of season to secure state medal with a 3-0 win over Williamson's Logan Everett. Lane, now 39-1, will meet Wyoming Area's Andrew Shultz in the third-round of consolations in a rematch of last week's NE regional final.
Mifflinburg sophomore Cole Walter continued his march back through consolation bracket, securing a second state medal with a 9-0 win over Southern Huntingdon's Brennon Shields. Walter, now 36-5, meets Lake-Lehman's Austin Harry in the third-round of consolations in another NE Regional rematch.
11:05: Line Mountain sophomore Cameron secures a state medal with a 7-5 victory over Wilson's Jaryd Flank in the second-round of consolations at 106 pounds.
Newman (36-8) will now meet Triston Law, a Forest Hills sophomore in the third-round of consolations later. Law (31-5) topped Lewisburg freshman Brian Friery, 8-1, in the consolation round. Friery ends the season at 33-11.
10:45: The Valley's other quarterfinalist at heavyweight goes down as Southern Columbia senior Jake Becker drops a tough 5-4 decision to Bethlehem Catholic sophomore Andrew Dunn.
Becker, now 37-5, needs to beat West Branch's Morgan Selepack (36-7) in the consolation round to secure a state medal.
That also wraps up the quarterfinals. Second-round consolations to start soon.
10:35: Lewisburg senior Brandon Smith is also into the semifinals thanks to a 4-2 win over Fort LeBeouf senior Evan Daley. Smith (35-1) will meet SW Regional champ Jake Temple (39-1) in the 220 semifinals later this evening.
Returning state champion Nazar Mironenko of Mifflinburg lost his bid for a second state title in a 6-2 loss to Port Allegheny senior Nicholas Budd at 285 pounds. Mironenko, now 35-4, will take on Biglerville senior Trevor Stover in the consolations later. He needs 1 victory to secure a state medal.
10:25: Milton senior Ryan Solomon wins his 140th career match, reaching the state semifinals for the fourth time in his career with a 7-0 win over Bethlehem Catholic senior Josh Alpha, 7-0 at 195 pounds. Solomon, now 38-0, meets Kittining senior Zac Croyle (30-11) in the semifinals tonight.
10:05: At 152 pounds, Milton gets its first semifinalist as junior Ryan Priesch continues his dominant postseason run with a 3-0 victory over Halifax senior Robbie Moretz. Priesch, who has now outscored his first two opponents, 11-0, is now 31-4 and will meet Reynolds' senior Austin Mathrews (47-1) in tonight's semifinals.
At 160, Mifflinburg senior Ty Walter, the NE regional champ, shut down Fort LeBeouf senior Taylor Fox for a 6-2 win in the quarterfinals. Walter, now 34-3, meets unbeaten Forest Hills senior Cody Law (32-0) in the semifinals.
10 a.m.: At 145, Benton gets another semifinalist when Colt Cotten tops Bermudian Springs' sophomore Briton Shelton, 8-2. Cotten (42-5) will meet Tri-Valley's Blake Bowman (37-8) in the semifinals.
Midd-West senior Zach Heeter dropped out of the championship bracket with a tough 7-0 loss to two-time champ Michael Racciato of Pen Argyl, 7-0. Heeter, now 39-6, will meet Zach Vroman of Brookville in the consolation round.
At 152, Southern Columbia freshman Blake Marks dropped into the consolation round with a tough 10-7 setback to SE regional champion Ty Herzog of Northern Lehigh. Marks (35-6) will now meet Conemaugh Township's Taylor Cahill in the consolations.
9:50: Former teammates Zain Retherford and Seth Lansberry are moved within one match of meeting in the state title match with quarterfinals at 138 pounds.
Lansberry, a senior at Line Mountain, got an overtime takedown to beat Charleroi's Nick Gavazzi, 3-1. Lansberry, now 37-4, meets Sharon senior Michael Bonner in the semifinals later.
Bonner (35-3) advanced the semifinals with an 8-6 quarterfinal win over Juniata's Sean Heggs. Heggs, who was a state medalist for East Juniata last year, dropped to 38-5 and will wrestle in the consolation round later this morning.
In bottom half of the 138-pound bracket, former Line Mountain state champion Zain Retherford picked his second first-period fall in as many matches, decking Burrell junior Steve Edwards in 1:36. Retherford (45-0) meets Brookville junior Brock Zacherl (34-4) in the semifinals.
9:40: At 106 pounds, Lewisburg freshman Brian Friery dropped his quarterfinal bout, falling 11-3 to Bethlehem Catholic freshman Luke Karam. Friery, now 33-10, will meet Forest Hills' Triston Law (30-5) in the consolation round later this morning. Karam (31-2), the SE regional champ, advances to meet SW champ Collin Glorioso (37-4) in tonight's semifinal.
At 126, Southern Columbia sophomore Kent Lane lost his first match of the season in the quarterfinals. He fell 6-2 to Jefferson-Morgan's John Demaske, 6-2. Lane, now 38-1, meets Williamson's Logan Everett in the consolation round. Demaske (28-4) takes on SE regional champion Ryan Diehl in the semifinals.
