Seth Runshaw placed 2nd at 152 for Chambersburg in the Section III Tournament. (File photo by Darby Sells)
MECHANICSBURG — You could make a case that Chambersburg had a really good day at the District 3 Class 3A Section III wrestling tournament on Saturday at Mechanicsburg.
The Trojans finished second in the standings among 15 teams and advanced eight wrestlers to next weekend’s District 3 Championships. And coach Matt Mentzer was very pleased with several of his kids.
But Chambersburg also did not crown a sectional champion for the first time in at least 10 years, had a couple of really tough breaks and had one wrestler lose a chance to move on because of an injury.
“We had a really rough semifinal round, but we came back well in the wrestlebacks and that softened it a little bit,” Mentzer said.
Chambersburg’s district qualifiers included runners-up Seth Runshaw (152), Luke Nichter (170) and Wyatt Hull (220), third-place finishers Karl Shindledecker (113), Cole Grove (126), Tate Nichter (145) and Carson Mello (160) and fourth-place Guy Lozius (195).
Other placewinners were Zae Kirk (5th at 182), Kelby Mixell (6th at 132) and Spencer Runshaw, who was sixth after forfeiting two bouts because he injured his shoulder in the semifinals.
The bout that received plenty of hype even before the season started was the final at 170 between Luke Nichter, who was second in the state in 3A last year, and Susquehanna Township’s Edmond Ruth, who is a two-time defending 2A PIAA champion.
For Nichter, it was not the best of results — Ruth took him down three times in a 7-3 victory.
“I tried to hand fight him and break him that way,” Nichter said. “I tried to push the pace, but not necessarily score a lot of points. But I’ll need a different mentality next time — I’ll have to try to score more points.
“He took me down three times, so kudos to him.”
Those takedowns came on two outside shots to a single leg, and once by countering an attempted inside trip by Nichter. Ruth never let Nichter get to his legs.
Neither of the three Trojans in the final registered a takedown. In addition to Nichter, Seth Runshaw fell 10-3 to Colton Zimmerman of Carlisle and Hull was edged 3-2 by Dylan Rodenhaber of Red Land.
Runshaw said, “Every time I got taken down, I let his hand get inside mine. If I wrestle him again, I’ll need to use more underhooks.”
Hull got in deep on a single in the first period, but Rodenhaber pulled free. From then until the final seconds of the match, Hull had no good shots. A throw-by from Rodenhaber late in the first period for a takedown made the difference.
“I needed to wrestle earlier the way I did in the last 40 seconds,” Hull said. “He was tough to take down; he was pretty quick.”
The Trojans had two tough breaks go against them — both in one-point losses to Cumberland Valley wrestlers.
In a 120-pound quarterfinal, Anthony Colangelo appeared to have eventual runner-up Ruston Dzielak pinned twice, but the official was not in the right spot to call it, and Dzielak rallied to win, 12-11.
At 113 in the semifinals, Shindledecker trailed eventual champ Ben Monn 1-0. But in the final 10 seconds, Shindledecker got in on a single, came out the back door and got his arm through. Just before the buzzer, the official signaled a takedown, but seconds later he waived it off, deciding Shindledecker did not have control.
“That was a controversial ending,” Mentzer said. “I was interested in seeing how Karl came back from that. And he did well, winning twice, including beating a state qualifier for third place.”
In the semifinals, Spencer Runshaw trailed Carlisle’s Colton Jumper 1-0 when he injured his shoulder on a Jumper takedown in the third. He finished that match, but was ruled out by a trainer.
Mentzer said, “It’s a shame he din’t get to keep wrestling, but only one wrestler at the end of each season is happy. Anything short of making states, he wouldn’t have been happy. But that’s tough.”
Minutes later, No. 1 seed Tate Nichter was upset 14-7 by Big Spring’s Hunter Gregoris. Nichter led 4-0 into the second and was in complete control. But Gregoris hit a five-point move from his feet to take the lead.
Nichter reversed to open the third to regain the lead, 6-5, but Gregoris reversed him to his back for another five points.
The District 3 tournament is this Friday and Saturday at Hersheypark Arena.
Shippensburg: The Greyhounds advanced two to districts — Jeffrey Russell at 120 and Dylan Ramsey at 126.
Russell lost in the semis, but notched two pins to place third. Ramsey’s only two losses in six bouts were both to Grove and he took fourth.
Greencastle-Antrim: The Blue Devils brought only four wrestlers, but one — Jared Miller — managed to advance to next week.
Miller was 3-2, with both losses to CV’s Jake McKenzie, and he placed fourth at 138.
District 3 Class 3A Section III
Team Standings
1.Cedar Cliff 224.5; 2.Chambersburg 181; 3.Cumberland Valley 161; 4.Carlisle 142.5; 5.Red Land 123; 12.Shippensburg 49; 15.Greencastle-Antrim 18.
Results
(Local wrestlers only)
FINALS
152 — Colton Zimmerman (Car) d Seth Runshaw (Ch), 10-3; 170 — Edmond Ruth (ST) d Luke Nichter (Ch), 7-3; 220 — Dylan Rodenhaber (RL) d Wyatt Hull (Ch), 3-2
FOR 3RD PLACE
113 — Karl Shindledecker (Ch) d Liam Strouse (NY), 5-1; 120 — Jeffrey Russell (Sh) p Creed Bogardus (CC), 2:52; 126 — Cole Grove (Ch) d Dylan Ramsey (Sh), 8-4; 138 — Jake McKenzie (CV) d Jared Miller (G-A), 7-2; 145 — Tate Nichter (Ch) p Sean Donnelly (LD), 2:24; 160 — Carson Mello (Ch) won by medical forfeit over Ediel Ramirez (Har); 195 — Hunter Hefflefinger (BS) d Guy Lozius (Ch), 6-2
FOR 5TH PLACE
132 — Michael Dunleavy (CDE) d Kelby Mixell (Ch), 8-2; 138 — Philip Strayer (RL) won by medical forfeit over Spencer Runshaw (Ch); 182 — Zae Kirk (Ch) won by medical forfeit over Gannon Ulrey (LD)
—–
Chambersburg Results
106 — April Rump 1-2; 113 — Karl Shindledecker 3-1 (3rd); 120 — Anthony Colangelo 2-2; 126 — Cole Grove 4-1 (3rd); 132 — Kelby Mixell 3-2 (6th); 138 — Spencer Runshaw 1-1; 145 — Tate Nichter 3-1 (3rd); 152 — Seth Runshaw 2-1 (2nd); 160 — Carson Mello 3-1 (3rd); 170 — Luke Nichter 2-1 (2nd); 182 — Zae Kirk 2-2 (5th); 195 — Guy Lozius 2-2 (4th); 220 — Wyatt Hull 2-1 (2nd); 285 — Joey Fuller 0-2
Shippensburg Results
106 — Tristyn Keefer 2-2; 120 — Jeffrey Russell 3-1 (3rd); 126 — Dylan Ramsey 4-2 (4th); 132 — Owen Diehl 0-2; 138 — Kurt Holderbaum 1-2; 145 — Avian Vasquaz 0-2; 152 — Tyler Mullen 0-2; 160 — Ayden Reed 2-2; 195 — Richard Morris 0-2; 285 — Sean Hess 0-2
Greencastle Results
126 — Jack Miller 2-2; 132 — Wesley Shubert 0-2; 138 — Jared Miller 3-2 (4th); 182 — Seth Hoch 0-2