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HERSHEY —After making school history on Friday morning at the PIAA Class 3A Team Championships, Tunkhannock was out for bigger things on Friday night and looking for District 2 lore at Giant Center.

For more than half of the Tigers’ second round consolation match against Canon McMillan, they were in position to become the first Wyoming Valley Conference team to ever win two duals at the state tournament.

Then the Big Macs reeled off wins in five of the last six matches and ended Tunkhannock’s aspirations with a 34-18 victory. Tunkhannock also lost two matches by one point, and two others by three. Now, the team has time to relax and get ready for the individual postseason, which gets underway with the District 2 Championships on Feb. 26 at the Kingston Armory.

“I think we kinda let one get away there maybe. We lost a couple close matches,” Tigers coach Bob Hegedty said. “I told them ‘Me and coach (Cory) Ray are very proud of them for what they accomplished so far.’ We wrestled some real good teams down here. We’ll get back in the room on Monday and get back at it again.”

The Tigers won the first three bouts in the dual against Canon McMillan on decisions from Jake Richards (138), Connor Munley (145) and Bill Manley (152) to go ahead 9-0. After Mike Manley lost a tough 1-0 bout, Dalton Ray extended Tunkhannock’s lead to 12-3 with a decision at 170.

But Canon McMillan, the runner-up from the WPIAL, got consecutive pins at 182 and 195 to take its first lead, 15-12 at the halfway point of the dual. A decision by the Tigers’ Sam Rice at 220 pulled them back even, tying the score at 15-15.

Even after the Big Macs won the next three matches to take a 29-15 lead, Tunkhannock still showed fight with three weights remaining. Tom Bachman (120) won by decision to inch the Tigers closer, and CM lost a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct as the deficit was cut to 28-18. With two matches to go and two of the team’s top wrestlers still waiting to hit the mat, the stage was set for more Tunkhannock drama — like it has mustered all season. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Tommy Traver and Dakota Quick both lost by decision to conclude Tunkhannock’s chance at becoming just the second Class 3A team in District 2 history to win two duals at the state tournament. Delaware Valley’s run in 2012 and 2013 remains as the only double dose of victory by District 2 team in the PIAA tournament.

“When we got down to the end, Tommy and Dakota both lost tough matches,” Hegedty said. “I thought our guys wrestled tough all weekend. They wrestled hard and really didn’t back down. They went at kids.”

The Tigers joined the 2014 Wyoming Valley West team as the only squads from the WVC in Class 3A to win a meet at the state tournament when they defeated District 12 champion Father Judge 45-22 in the first consolation round on Friday morning. Berwick in 2008 also won a dual at Giant Center in Class 2A.

Before the Tigers’ victory, Lake-Lehman was ousted from the event in Class 2A after a 58-9 loss to returning state runner-up Chestnut Ridge.

In the match against Father Judge, the Tigers clinched the win with five weights remaining when 195-pounder Sam Rice notched a pin in 29 seconds, giving Tunkhannock a 39-6 lead.

Right after that match, 220-pounder Ricky Stevens turned in an impressive victory, making sure that even if there were penalty points, the Tigers would win. Stevens was losing by five points late in the third period before getting an escape, then hitting a headlock that turned into a fall with just 23 seconds left in the match.

“I was on bottom and was thinking roll or something, then I got out and I was thinking something big. I just hit that move and there it was,” Stevens said. “I have 20 pins this year and it was like any other pin, really. I was looking for anything I could get. I tried the headlock before and I couldn’t get it. I just had to keep going and knew at some point I’d hit something.”

Traver set the tone for the dual starting off with a pin in 2:34, giving the Tigers a 6-0 lead against fellow freshman Caesar Fountain. After that, the Tigers picked up five more pins to turn the match into a rout as they rebounded nicely after a loss to nationally-ranked Bethlehem Catholic on Thursday night.

Munley, who hasn’t been in the Tunkhannock lineup a whole lot this season, also picked up a big pin for the team by sticking his opponent on his back in 3:44 in the 145-pound match four bouts into the dual.

Lake-Lehman, the District 2 Class 2A champion, had trouble the entire match against Chestnut Ridge on Friday morning while not being able to get anything going. The Black Knights trailed 29-0 before 182-pounder Kris Rosencrans won by decision to get them on the board. Two weights later, 220-pounder Mike Slivinski bounced back after a tough, late loss on Thursday night to notch a pin in 27 seconds and cut the lead to 35-9, the closest Lehman would get in the dual.

Another positive for Lehman came at 120 when Garrett Kolb led 1-0 in the third period on Dylan Williams, who is ranked No. 15 in the state by PA Power Wrestling. But Williams hit a five-point move late in the match to pull out a 5-1 victory.

PIAA Team Championships

Class 3A First Round Consolations

106: Liam Logue (FJ) dec David Gavek 5-2; 113: Tim McCall (FJ) dec Josh Beeman 3-0; 120: Mike Metzger (FJ) maj dec Tom Bachman 13-4; 126: Tommy Traver (Tun) pinned Caesar Fountain 2:34; 132: Trevor Elfvin (FJ) pinned Dakota Quick 4:08; 138: Jake Richards (Tun) pinned Dan Dugan 2:33; 145: Connor Munley (Tun) pinned Mike Davis 3:44; 152: Bill Manley (Tun) pinned Stephen Pons :38; 160: Mike Manley (Tun) dec Anthony Armstrong 3-1; 170: Dalton Ray (Tun) dec Adam White 8-4; 182: Jarod Bernosky (Tun) dec Erik Lindeman 7-3; 195: Sam Rice (Tun) pinned Robert Ortiz :29; 220: Ricky Stevens (Tun) pinned Sean Armstrong 4:37; 285: Dean Jakemon (FJ) pinned John Walsh :16

Note: Match started at 126 pounds

Class 3A Second Round Consolations

*Canon McMillan 34, Tunkhannock 18

106: Michael Binni (CM) dec David Gavek 9-8, OT; 113: Logan Macri (CM) tech fall Josh Beeman 24-8, 3:43; 120: Tom Bachman (Tun) dec Skyler Adams 6-1; 126: Matt Oblock (CM) dec Tommy Traver 7-4; 132: Tim Hritsko (CM) dec Dakota Quick 8-3; 138: Jake Richards (Tun) dec Dmitri Pihiou 9-3; 145: Connor Munley (Tun) dec Stefen Richer 4-2; 152: Bill Manley (Tun) dec Micah Kusturis 5-0; 160: Blaze Kansco (CM) dec Mike Manley 1-0; 170: Dalton Ray (Tun) dec Tommy James 7-2; 182: James Zeremenko (CM) pinned Jarod Bernosky 2:15; 195: Nick Konyk (CM) pinned Josh Flaherty 2:28; 220: Sam Rice (Tun) dec Dave Ainscough 3-2; 285: Brendan Furman (CM) pinned Ricky Stevens 2:54

Note: Match started at 132 pound. *Canon McMillan lost 1 team point for unsportsmanlike conduct

Class 2A First Round Consolations

Chestnut Ridge 58, Lake-Lehman 9

106: Aaron Burkett (CR) tech fall Bobby Long 16-1, 2:56; 113: Seth Harbaugh (CR) pinned Austin Schuler 3:38; 120: Dylan Williams (CR) dec Garrett Kolb 5-1; 126: Scott Miller (CR) pinned Dylan Meehan :55; 132: Jared McGill (CR) won by forfeit; 138: Justin McCoy (CR) dec Bob Lipski 4-0; 145: Levi Hobson (CR) won by forfeit; 152: Morgan Deremer (CR) pinned Jake Tomolonis 1:49; 160: Josh McGill (CR) tech fall Chris Hadsall 17-2, 4:17; 170: Brandyn Beaver (CR) dec Tommy Williams 7-3; 182: Kris Rosencrans (LL) dec Austin Crouse 9-2; 195: Connor Buttry (CR) pinned Charles Harry :25; 220: Mike Slivinski (LL) pinned Brandon Clark :27; 285: Joel Evans (CR) dec Kaleb Konigus 4-2

Note: Match started at 132 pounds

Lake-Lehman ousted from state duals on Friday morning

By Dave Rosengrant

[email protected]

For exclusive video highlights from Tunkhannock’s day at the PIAA Team Championships visit www.timesleader.com

Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant

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