DISTRICT 4 WRESTLING: GALASSO WINS NORTH SECTION TITLE - SIX OTHER WILDCATS ADVANCE TO DISTRICTS (30 PHOTOS) (2019-02-16)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportTROY - Athens will advance seven wrestlers, including its only North Section champion - senior David Galasso - to next weekend's District 4, Class AA Championships.
Galasso was joined on the podium by runners-up freshman Gavin Bradley and junior Alex West, third-place finisher freshman Karter Rude, and fourth-place finishers junior Keegan Braund, sophomore Ben Pernaselli, and freshman Kaden Setzer.
Troy and Wyalusing will also advance seven to Districts, while North Section champion Towanda will advance nine.
The Black Knights tallied 157.5 points to claim the team title, while runner-up Wyalusing had 133 points, third-place Troy had 126.5 points, and fourth-place Jersey Shore had 103 points, edging fifth-place Athens by 1 point. Sayre finished 11th in the 11-team field with 16 points.
Galasso, the top seed, was simply dominant in his run to the 170-pound title.
He opened his day by forging a 19-4 technical fall win over Towanda's Will Bowen, then disposed of fourth-seed Kenric Ricci by fall in 3:03.
Galasso squared off with third-seed Garrett Storch of Canton in the finals and piled up an 18-4 major decision. (Storch advanced to the finals with a 7-4 decision over second-seeded Kyle Tomb of Jersey Shore.)
Perhaps the most impressive run of the day was put together by West, who was the seventh seed at 160 pounds.
He opened his day in the pigtail round with a pin of Wyalusing's Hank Shaw in 5:15, then edged second-seed Christian Ward, 4-2, in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, West forged a 17-2 technical fall of NEB's Dale Brown.
Top-seed Cooper Mosier kept West off the top step of the award's podium, winning the 160-pound title with a pin at 1:00. Mosier was 3-0 on the day with three first-period falls.
Bradley, the second seed at 106 pounds, pinned Wyalusing's Alex Boyd in 3:31 in the quarterfinals, then dominated third-seed Isaac Landis in a 16-5 major decision in the semifinals.
In the finals, unbeaten top-seed Sheldon Seymour, a returning state place-winner, rolled to a 15-5 win over Bradley.
Rude was 1-1 on the day, and finished third in the five-man 126-pound bracket.
Rude, who received a bye in the quarterfinals, dropped a 4-2 decision to fourth-seed Nick Woodruff of Wyalusing in the semifinals. (Woodruff edged Rude 5-4 in a dual earlier this month.)
After receiving a bye into the third-place match, Rude edged second-seed Bryant Green of Towanda, 3-2.
At 113 pounds, Setzer, the fifth seed, lost via fall to fourth-seed Seth Seymour of Troy in the quarterfinals, but bounced back with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket.
Setzer decked Sayre freshman Cam McCutcheon in 44 seconds, then forged a 12-5 decision over Wyalusing's Hunter Mahan in the consolation semifinals.
In the third-place match, top-seed Tyler Hawley of Towanda topped Setzer, 5-1.
At 195 pounds, Pernaselli, the fourth seed, lost a pair of hard-fought decisions to fifth-seed Derek Atherton-Ely of Canton, sandwiched around a win.
In the quarterfinals, Atherton-Ely edged Pernaselli, 6-5. After a bye into the consolation semi-finals, Pernaselli won a 7-5 decision over sixth-seed Eric Stone of Troy.
After being pinned in 1:36 by eventual champion Clay Green of Towanda in the semifinals, Atherton-Ely edged Pernaselli, 7-5, in the third-place match.
At 285 pounds, Braund opened his day with a pin of Sayre freshman Nik Polzella in 1:26 in the quarterfinals, then dropped a 9-4 decision to eventual champion Dawson Brown in the semifinals. (Brown upended top-seed Randy Wildrick of Wyalusing, 7-4, in the finals.)
Braund bounced back with a pin of Canton's Jaden Hulslander in 4:26 in the consolation semifinals, but dropped a 5-1 decision to North Penn-Liberty's John Minnich in the third-place match.
At 182 pounds, junior Dylan Comstock dropped a wild 17-9 decision to Williamson's Robert McDowell in the quarterfinals, but bounced back in wrestlebacks with a pin of Towanda's Clay Watkins in 3:41.
In the consolation semifinals, Comstock suffered a first-period pin at the hands of Troy's third-seeded Tyler Williams.
At 132 pounds, sophomore Lucas Forbes was also 1-2 on the day.
He dropped a 15-0 technical fall to NEB's Destin Moore in the quarterfinals, but bounced back with a pin of Towanda's Tekay Moyer in 2:41 in his first wrestleback bout.
In the consolation semifinals, third-seed Trevor Williams of Troy ended Forbes' day with a fall in 48 seconds.
Sophomore Zach Stafursky was 0-2 at 145 pounds, and junior Collin Martin was 0-2 at 138 pounds.
The District 4 Championships begin Friday at 5 p.m. at Williamsport High School.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens senior David Galasso. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
