Perry in Finals; Simcox Drops a Tight One Walizer Will Go for 7th.

By Tom Elling

HERSHEY, PA-  As always in the state tournament it comes down to close bouts. Dalton Perry edged fellow super frosh Maddox Shaw from Thomas Jefferson, 3-1 to lead off the morning. After a scoreless first period, Shaw escape for a 1-0 lead with 0:51 to go. Perry came back with a key takedown 16 seconds later to take a 2-1 lead into the final period. Perry chose down and escaped at the 1:15 mark. He was able to thwart a couple double leg shots from Shaw and became a finalist for Central Mountain. His opposition for the 126-pound title will be Ethan Lebin (Hempfield Area – WPIAL) who edged returning state champ Jake VanDee, 3-2. (Perry had pinned VanDee last week in overtime.)

At 132, Luke Simcox took on a familiar foe in Matt Repos of Central Dauphin. Last year in the Super Regionals, Simcox had nipped Repos, 5-3. Period number one went scoreless, and Simcox took the lead in the second with at escape at 1:39. Repos answered in the third with an escape of his own. Then he was awarded a takedown to take a 3-1 lead. The TD was iffy as there was no reaction time given and control was tenuous, at best. Simcox escaped to make it 3-2, but time ran out, and he was pushed into wrestlebacks with a 3-2 loss. His opponent will be Collin Gaj (Quakertown). If he wins, he’ll go for 3rd; if not then 5th. He was a 5th-place winner last year (as a freshman).

Griffin Walizer also wrestled extremely tough at 145 consolations. He and Nicholas Foster (Nazareth) went into the 3rd period 0-0. Walizer gave up an uncontested escape to give Foster a 1-0 lead. Neither came close to a takedown until with seconds remaining, Walizer tried a cement mixer. Foster scored on that desperation shot and the final was a 3-0 decision for the Nazareth entry. Walizer will now wrestle for 7th against  Williamsport’s Riley Bower. The two have met previously with Bower taking both.

For District fans, explosive Pierson Manville electrified the sparse crowd with a stunning fall over returning PIAA Champ Tyler Kasak (Beth Catholic),  using a slick stepover to a fall in 5:39. He will wrestle another returning state champ Briar Priest  tonight for the title. 

The AAA final will begin at 7:00 PM. You can follow on Flo Arena or get my brief summary on Tom’s Wrestling Page on Facebook.