Friday’s Class 3A action provided a series of reminders on just how evenly matched many of the competitors are in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Wrestling Championships.
Luke Sirianni reached the semifinals of the state tournament and Abington Heights teammate Caleb Marzolino clinched a top eight finish as the five bouts featuring four Comets wrestlers were decided by an average of just two points.
Sirianni, a senior 107-pounder, became District 2’s only Class 3A semifinalist, assuring himself of a top-six finish.
Crestwood’s Magnus Bibla and West Scranton’s Michael Turi also began the day in the quarterfinals, but lost, then bounced back to remain alive in the consolation brackets.
When the day was over, each Class 3A weight class consisted of four semifinalists and four other consolation wrestlers, who still have the chance to finish as high as third.
It was not easy for Bibla and Turi to make it to third and final day at The Giant Center in Hershey.
Turi needed the ultimate tiebreaker to get through his 127-pound consolation bout. Bibla won his by a single point.
A total of four wrestlers made it to Saturday in the consolation round while seven others from District 2 were eliminated.
Marzolino and Wallenpaupack’s Gunnar Myers each won twice in the consolation brackets to extend their stays in Hershey. Marzolino won two- and four-point decisions at 189 while Meyers followed up a major decision with a one-point win at 133.
Austin Smith and Brian Heard from Abington Heights, Aiden Black from Delaware Valley, Simon Zamudio from Hazleton Area, Jimmy Spindler from Pittston Area, Austin Cook from West Scranton and Dorian Hoffman from Wyoming Valley West were all eliminated with losses in their first bouts of the day.
Hoffman, who had won his opener Thursday, suffered his second straight one-point loss.
Smith and Spindler also had their seasons end in one-point losses while Heard lost by two points.
Sirianni beat Tanner Mizenko from Canon-McMillan, 4-3, in the quarterfinals.
The three-time District 2 champion is 42-3 this season and 131-26 for his career. Sirianni, an Army West Point commit, was sixth in the state as a sophomore and seventh last season.
Bibla beat Corey Boerio from Greater Latrobe, 1-0, in the 215 consolations.
Spindler dropped a 1-0 decision to Adam Rohan from North Allegheny.
Turi extended his season with a 5-4 win over Tyler Adams from York Suburban.
Abington Heights is tied for 20th in the state team standings with 21 points.
