Tate Nichter, center, is congratulated by Chambersburg assistant Chris Kochinsky, right, and coach Matt Mentzer, left, after winning the District 3 145-pound title.

HERSHEY — It wasn’t an unfamiliar position for Tate Nichter to be in, and partly for that reason he can call himself a District 3 Class 3A wrestling champion.

Nichter’s 3-2 win in the 145-pound final was the highlight of an excellent Saturday for Franklin County wrestlers at Hersheypark Arena.

He was the only champion, but there were also two runners-up, a pair of thirds and two fourths. All told, seven wrestlers placed in the top four and qualified for the PIAA Tournament in two weeks.

Chambersburg’s Luke Nichter lost his second titanic battle with Edmond Ruth of Susquehanna Township in the 170 final, 7-4, and Waynesboro’s Matt McCann was pinned in the 138 final by T.T. Elhajj of Lower Dauphin.

The Trojans’ Karl Shindledecker (113) and Cole Grove (126) took third, and teammate Seth Runshaw (152) and Shippensburg’s Jeffrey Russell (120) were fourth.

Chambersburg placed third in the team standings — its highest finish ever — and scored the most points (103) ever.

Tate Nichter found himself in a battle of wills with Wilson’s Brandon Connor. It was 1-1 midway through the third period and although the sophomore felt he was wearing Connor down, he hadn’t been able to get many good shots.

“It was hard to get inside his ties,” Nichter said. “I just kept snapping his head the whole time and the one time he was thinking that I got behind him.”

The snap-and-spin takedown with just over a minute left gave Nichter a 3-1 lead. After Connor escaped, he took a deep shot on Nichter and grabbed a single, but Nichter was able to hold on tight with a counter until time ran out.

“I’ve relied on my leg defense all season and it helped there,” Nichter said.

Trojan coach Matt Mentzer said, “That kid was big and kept Tate away from him. Then he started to snap him and it paid dividends later.”

Luke Nichter, who was a defending district champion, was not able to solve Ruth on his feet for the second straight week. It was a 7-3 defeat last time and 7-4 on Saturday.

Nichter said, “I was getting into his legs, pressing the pace more and got some opportunities to attack better than last time. But he’s fast and strong and he’s great countering.”

Ruth scored two takedowns late in the second, the first with 0:36 left. After Nichter escaped and they went out of bounds, Ruth hit a quick one off the whistle that put Nichter in a 4-2 hole.

“He’s getting closer,” Mentzer said. “Last week he had no scoring opportunities and today he had two. But he’ll need at least two takedowns to beat that kid.”

Elhajj was too much for McCann, who gave up a five-point move on a funk roll in the first and another five on a petersen in the second to trail 10-0 when Elhajj cradled him for the pin.

In the first session Saturday morning, area wrestlers went 7-1, winning three of four semifinal matches, and going 4-for-4 in third-round consolations.

In the consolation semifinals, which decide the final two spots for states, county wrestlers went an impressive 4-for-5.

Luke Nichter roughed up his semifinal opponent, Anthony Hinson of Spring Grove, who had only two losses coming in. But it took only 2:36 for Nichter, a junior, to wrap up an impressive 17-2 technical fall.

Tate Nichter saw a familiar opponent in the semifinals, Luke Sainato of Gettysburg, and he was able to score takedowns in each period (2 in the first) to capture a 9-4 victory.

McCann won 4-0 in his semifinal over Conner Zeamer of Manheim Central. It was scoreless until the second period, when McCann escaped and took Zeamer down. The only scoring in the third was another McCann escape.

In the semifinals, Grove met up with Rafael Portilla of Carlisle. The cagey match was tied 1-1 in the third when Portilla got in on Grove’s legs for the first time and completed a takedown with 0:34 left for a 3-2 victory.

Grove came back to dominate Cael Turnbull of Dallastown, 9-1, taking the lead early to go ahead 7-0 after periods in a 9-1 major. He then beat Josh Groff of Garden Spot 12-0 in the bout for third place.

Grove, a senior who finished with four majors in the tournament, said, “I wanted to set the tone early and stay aggressive. And I had worked on getting off bottom and it helped. It feels good to finally get to states after some tough losses here.”

Shindledecker, a freshman, was tough on his feet in his first two bouts, scoring four takedowns to none for his opponents. In his second, he held off Northern York’s Liam Strouse, a state qualifier last year, 3-2.

In the match for third, he faced Daniel Boone’s Gavin Richard, who beat him 5-1 Friday. This time, Shindledecker turned him with a bar early in the second period and pinned him in 1:23.

“In the first match he was tough to get in on,” Shindledecker said, “so when it was 0-0 after one, I wanted to be on top and try to turn him from there.”

Runshaw was also strong on his feet in his first two matches, holding a 5-1 advantage in takedowns. A double-leg shot late secured a 7-4 win over South Western’s Cavin Sullivan in the first one. In the third-place match, he was pinned by Susquehannock’s Colby Romjue.

Mentzer said, “He’s lost three earlier matches in his career to get him to states, and that gets heavy. Because of all the time he’s put into this sport, it feels really good that he made it this time.”

The Trojan senior said, “It feels pretty great to finally get that weight off my shoulders. Really, I was still focusing on the fact that I’d made states and don’t think I was ready for that last one.”

“The kids competed great from the first match to the last,” Mentzer said. “We got a lot of bonus points and that shows extra effort.”

In Russell’s first bout of the day, he led 4-0 until he got caught in a four-point move by Arik Harnish of Lampeter-Strasburg. In the third, Russell rode the whole time so it remained 4-4. In overtime, he was able to turn Harnish for a winning nearfall.

He was beaten 9-4 by Kody Evans of Susquehanna Twp. in the third-place bout.

The Greyhounds’ Dylan Ramsey ended up placing fifth, taking a 5-4 win over Cael Turnbull of Dallastown in his final bout, thanks to an escape with 1:32 left. Both of Ship’s wrestlers are juniors.

NOTES: Section III wrestlers dominated districts, with half (28) of the 56 state qualifiers coming from the Mechanicsburg tournament … That included 17 of 28 finalists … Five of 14 finals matched two Section III wrestlers … The state tournament is March 7-9 at Giant Center.

District 3 Class 3A Wrestling
Saturday’s Results
Team standings: 1.Cedar Cliff 124.5, 2.Dallastown 120.5, 3.Chambersburg 103, 4.Central Dauphin 80.5, 5.Lower Dauphin 71.5; 27.Shippensburg 23, 28.Waynesboro 21.5
SEMIFINALS
126 — Rafael Portilla (Carlisle) d Cole Grove (Chbg), 3-2
138 — Matt McCann (Way) d Conner Zeamer (Manheim Central), 9-2
145 — Tate Nichter (Chbg) d Luke Sainato (Gettysburg), 9-4
170 — Luke Nichter (Chbg) tf Anthony Hinson (Spring Grove), 17-2, 2:36
FINALS
138 — T.T. Elhajj (Lower Dauphin) p McCann (Way), 2:41
145 — T.Nichter (Chbg) d Brandon Connor (Wilson), 3-2
170 — Edmond Ruth (Susquehanna Twp.) d L.Nichter (Chbg), 7-4
CONSOLATIONS
Third Round
113 — Karl Shindledecker (Chbg) d Thomas Gradwell (Northeastern), 7-1
120 — Jeffrey Russell (Ship) d Arik Harnish (Lampeter-Strasburg), 6-4
126 — Dylan Ramsey (Ship) d Logan Paluch (Central York), 3-1
152 — Seth Runshaw (Chbg) d Cavin Sullivan (South Western), 7-4
Semifinals
113 — Shindledecker (Chbg) d Liam Strouse (Northern York), 3-2
120 — Russell (Ship) d Garrett Gehr (Garden Spot), 6-4
126 — Grove (Chbg) md Cael Turnbull (Dallastown), 9-1
126 — Josh Groff (Garden Spot) d Ramsey (Ship), 4-3
152 — Se.Runshaw (Chbg) d Colt Barley (Penn Manor), 4-1
For Third Place
113 — Shindledecker (Chbg) p Gavin Richard (Daniel Boone), 1:23
120 — Kody Evans (Susquehanna Twp.) d Russell (Ship), 9-4
126 — Grove (Chbg) md Josh Groff (Garden Spot), 12-0
152 — Colby Romjue (Susquehannock) p Se.Rushaw (Chbg), 3:28
For Fifth Place
126 — Ramsey (Ship) d Cael Turnbull (Dallastown), 5-4