SPRING GROVE — It’s never easy qualifying for the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships.

But Chambersburg earned a berth in the event for the first time since the 2019-20 season by edging Boiling Springs 33-31 in a consolation semifinal match of the District 3 Class 3A tournament Thursday night at Spring Grove.

Rylan Carter

The Trojans fell to No. 1 seed Central Dauphin 38-19 in the semifinals earlier in the day.

Chambersburg (17-3) will now take on No. 2 seed Wilson (14-2) in the third-place match on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Cumberland Valley.

The winner will host a first-round PIAA match Monday night against the No. 4 team from District 1, while the loser must travel to the Philadelphia area to face the 3rd-place team from District 1.

In a match earlier this season, the Trojans had beaten Boiling Springs 40-29.

“I knew it’d be tighter this time,” Chambersburg coach Matt Mentzer said. “We had some things go our way the first time, so I knew it’d be closer.”

It pretty much came down to the 121-pound bout between the Bubblers’ Ian Longenberger vs. Rylan Carter.  In a topsy-turvy, back-and-forth match, Carter emerged with a wild 13-10 victory that gave his team a 27-18 lead, and when Boiling Springs did not have anybody to wrestle at 127, Luke Mentzer’s forfeit win clinched it.

Carter was still exhausted after the match ended.

“After being sick last week, it took about everything I had,” Carter said.

Here’s the way the bout went: Carter takedown, Longenberger reversal and cradle for back points, Longenberger penalty point for a called slam against Carter, and Carter reversal. The Bubbler led 5-4 after one.

Avery Kuhns

In the second, Carter got a reversal, Longenberger escaped, Carter got a takedown and Longenberger escaped for an 8-7 lead for Carter after two.

Carter let Longenberger up to start the third to tie it up, then Carter hit the move of the match, taking his foe down to his back for 5 points. Longenberger reversed and tried everything to get a turn, but Carter held on.

“I didn’t know for sure what the score was (in the third); there were so many points scored,” Carter said.

Mentzer said, “Rylan showed a lot of guts to finish that one off. We normally don’t worry about the score, but that was a big moment so he asked me. He wanted to know the situation.”

The Bubblers (16-4) rolled to a 16-0 lead after three weights, but the Trojans roared back on pins by Jaccob Stoner at 172, Aiden Hight at 189 and Avery Kuhns at 285, plus a major decision by Zach Evans at 215. That put Chambersburg up 22-16.

The teams traded wins at 107 for Boiling Springs and at 114 for the Trojans’ Zach Sherman to set it up for Carter.

Mentzer said, “A lot of our kids had tight, stressful matches against CD, and then had to come right back out. It was not easy to be ready for that. Guys like Sherman and Carter put a lot of effort and energy into the first one.

“We had good wins from Stoner and Hight. Aiden pinned a good kid (Collin Neal) and Jaccob came up big again. He hit a couple of moves we just went through in practice yesterday. That makes the coaches happy.”

Against the powerful Rams, Chambersburg fell behind 25-0. Starting at 139 put the meat of CD’s lineup against the Trojans’ inexperienced part of their lineup.

A major by Hight and pins by Evans and Kuhns brought it back to 25-16, but Central Dauphin got a major at 107, and Luke Hitchcock (114) and Liam Flanagan (127) won close bouts to seal the deal.

Carter did come through with a 4-3 win over C.J. Ferree, reversing an earlier loss to him.

Mentzer said, “I think from 107 through 160, CD can wrestle with anybody. We needed to be perfect against them. I can’t fault our kids’ effort.”

NOTES: In the first 5 Bouts against the Rams, Chambersburg scored just 2 points on the mat … The Trojans lost one bout in each match in sudden victory … Central Dauphin (14-0) will face Cumberland Valley (21-2) in the final Saturday at CV at 1 p.m.

Central Dauphin 38, Chambersburg 19
139 — Gavin Reynolds (CD) md Logan Mickey, 10-0
145 — Matt Repos (CD) p Riley Beecher, 1:39
152 — Mike Beers (CD) tf Tyler Frye, 16-0, 5:34
160 — Brian Lange (CD) md Noah Valentine, 13-2
172 — Ryan Garvick (CD) p Jaccob Stoner, 1:38
189 — Aiden Hight (Ch) md Arthur Ruud, 15-5
215 — Zach Evans (Ch) p Eli Poyer, 1:34
285 — Avery Kuhns (Ch) p Luke Nye, 1:47
107 — Thunder Beard (CD) md Ben Hoover, 11-0
114 — Luke Hitchcock (CD) d Zach Sherman, 9-6
121 — Rylan Carter (Ch) d C.J. Ferree, 4-3
127 — Liam Flanagan (CD) d Luke Mentzer, 11-7, SV
133 — Dallas Schoor (CD) d Ashton Romberger, 8-1

Chambersburg 33, Boiling Springs 31
145 — Ean Wilson (BS) p Frye, 4:24
152 — Michael Duggan (BS) tf Valentine, 21-6
160 — Preston Warner (BS) tf Judge Rieck, 17-2
172 — Stoner (Ch) p Demetri White, 2:37
189 — Hight (Ch) p Collin Neal, 1:42
215 — Evans (Ch) md Deion White, `16-3
285 — Kuhns (Ch) p Julyan Dodson, 1:59
107 — Alex Mentzer (BS) d Hoover, 7-3, SV
114 — Sherman (Ch) d Drew Scherer, 6-0
121 — Carter (Ch) d Ian Longenberger, 13-10
127 — Mentzer (Ch) won by forfeit
133 — Eli Bounds (BS) won by forfeit
139 — Sawyer Young (BS) won by forfeit
Note: Both teams had 1 team point deducted at 121.