Cole Grove

HERSHEY — A grueling day at Hersheypark Arena on Friday produced at least four happy Franklin County wrestlers.

The District 3 Wrestling Championships got under way and of 17 county entries, four have reached the semifinals and four more are alive in the consolations in Class 3A.

Chambersburg leads the way with three semifinalists — Cole Grove (126 pounds), Tate Nichter (145) and Luke Nichter (170) — and two in the wrestlebacks — Karl Shindledecker (113) and Seth Runshaw (152).

The Trojans sit in fourth place in the team standings.

Waynesboro’s Matt McCann (138) also won twice to reach the semifinals and Shippensburg’s Jeffrey Russell (120) and Dylan Ramsey (126) are alive in the consys. The top four placewinners qualify for states.

Wrestling begins Saturday at 10 a.m., with finals slated for a 3:45 start.

Chambersburg’s three two-time winners piled up the bonus points. Grove won 9-1 and 14-1, Tate Nichter had a pin and defending champion Luke Nichter scored a technical fall and pin.

In Grove’s quarterfinal win over Andrew Bliss of Lampeter-Strasburg, he led 2-0 after one period and was on bottom. Within 30 seconds, Grove escaped, took Bliss down and put him on his back for an 8-0 advantage.

Trojan coach Matt Mentzer said, “Cole was outstanding. In the quarterfinal, we’d heard that kid was tough on top, but Cole got out quickly on a stand-up, and closed it out strong. He scored from all three positions.”

Tate Nichter rolled to an 8-0 lead before pinning his first foe, then scored five takedowns in an 11-4 win over Mitchell Arch of Central Dauphin.

“Arch always scares me because he pins a lot of guys, but Tate got a bucketful of takedowns and rode him well,” Mentzer said. “Luke did what he’s supposed to do.”

Luke Nichter’s tech fall took only 2:40 and his pin over Franklin Klinger of Dallastown took only 20 seconds.

Waynesboro’s McCann advanced on the strength of 9-2 and 9-3 decisions.

In the semis, Grove (23-10) takes on Carlisle’s Rafael Portilla (23-5), McCann (29-9) meets Connor Zeamer of Manheim Central (28-14), Tate Nichter (29-4) faces Luke Sainato of Gettysburg (35-8) and Luke Nichter (35-2) takes on Anthony Hinson of Spring Grove (31-2).

The Trojans’ Shindledecker won his first match, then fell 5-1 to Gavin Richard of Daniel Boone. It was 0-0 until the final 20 seconds of the second period when Richard escaped and took down Shindledecker with a front head lock.

Mentzer said, “Karl’s kid was really strong on his defense and he just couldn’t get to the guy’s legs.”

Runshaw also won his first bout, then couldn’t find any offense in a 3-1 loss to Wilson’s Kolbe Eidle.

“Seth had three really good matches,” Mentzer said. “That Eidle has been around for a long time and Seth was in position to win at the end.”

Shippensburg’s Russell and Ramsey each lost in the first round, but came back for a pair of consolation victories. Ramsey scored a late escape and takedown to beat Bliss, 5-3.

District 3 Class 3A Wrestling
Friday’s Local Results
PRELIMINARY ROUND
106 — Ayden Bertoldi (Hershey) d Corbyn Fogelsonger (Way), 5-0
113 — Karl Shindledecker (Chbg) md Zach Emory (York Suburban), 15-6
113 — Liam Strouse (Northern) md Bodie Rouzer (Way), 12-4
120 — Tim Uhler (New Oxford) d Jeffrey Russell (Ship), 6-4
126 — Cole Grove (Chbg) md Canton Dolla (Daniel Boone), 9-1
126 — Josh Groff (Garden Spot) d Dylan Ramsey (Ship), 6-2
132 — Cade Zeamer (Manheim Central) d Laken Rouzer (Way), 7-2
138 — Matt McCann (Way) d Austin Rider (Conestoga Valley), 9-3
138 — Tye Weathersby (C. Dauphin) md Jared Miller (G-A), 11-1
145 — Tate Nichter (Chbg) p Elijah Ortega (Reading), 1:49
152 — Seth Runshaw (Chbg) md Garrett Young (Gettysburg), 9-1
160 — Bubba Vogelbacher (McCaskey) d Carson Mello (Chbg), 6-2
160 — Johnny Arentz (Gov. Mifflin) p Carson McGregor (Way), 2:28
170 — Luke Nichter (Chbg) tf Will Small (Donegal), 16-1, 2:40
195 — Ben Sola (Cocalico) d Guy Lozius (Chbg), 5-3
220 — Wyatt Hull (Chbg) p Jacob Sharp (York Tech), 2:56
QUARTERFINALS
113 — Gavin Richard (Daniel Boone) d Shindledecker (Chbg), 5-1
126 — Grove (Chbg) md Andrew Bliss (Lampeter-Strasburg), 14-1
138 — McCann (Way) d Dylan Coleman (Penn Manor), 9-2
145 — T.Nichter (Chbg) d Mitchell Arch (C. Dauphin), 11-4
152 — Kolbe Eidle (Wilson) d Se.Runshaw (Chbg), 3-1
170 — L.Nichter (Chbg) p Franklin Klinger (Dallastown), 0:20
220 — Marques Holten (C. Dauphin) d Hull (Chbg), 6-3
CONSOLATIONS
First Round
106 — Aiden Dojan (Wilson) d Fogelsonger (Way), 4-3
113 — B.Rouzer (Way) d Jackson Houghton (Solanco), 5-2
120 — Russell (Ship) d Rafael Rodriguez (Conestoga Valley), 5-0
126 — Ramsey (Ship) d Chase Charles (Solanco), 2-0
132 — L.Rouzer (Way) tf Owen Dautrich (Conrad Weiser), 15-0, 4:25
138 — Nick Nettleton (Exeter Twp.) d Miller (G-A), 4-2
160 — Anthony Steinmeyer (Wilson) d Mello (Chbg), 5-1
160 — Kole Marley (Penn Manor) p McGregor (Way), 0:32
195 — Lozius (Chbg) d Christian Connor (Gettysburg), 5-3
Second Round
113 — Shindledecker (Chbg) p B.Rouzer (Way), 0:42
120 — Russell (Ship) p Jose Tirado (McCaskey), 0:48
126 — Ramsey (Ship) d Bliss (L-S), 5-3
132 — Mason Lewis (Dover) d L.Rouzer (Way), 6-4
152 — Se.Runshaw (Chbg) md Hunter Sweitzer (Dallastown), 14-1
195 — Eric Glass (Spring Grove) p Lozius (Chbg), 2:50
220 — Tyler Phenegar (Lampeter-Strasburg) d Hull (Chbg), 9-4
District 3 Class 2A Wrestling
Friday’s Local Results
PRELIMINARY ROUND
195 — Hunter Smith (JB) d Matthew Mitchell (Middletown), 11-5
QUARTERFINALS
195 — Dominic Kelly (Trinity) p Smith (JB), 2:48
CONSOLATIONS
First Round
195 — Larson Stichler (N. Lebanon) md Smith (JB), 12-4