Warrior Run advances 9 to regionals, finishes 2nd in team standings

Feb. 24—WILLIAMSPORT — It's not often that both of the Milheim brothers are pushed to the brink on the same night.

However, that's exactly what happened to the Warrior Run wrestlers on the second day of the District 4 Class 2A championships on Saturday at Williamsport High School.

Reagan and Cameron Milheim both won district titles at 145 and 152 pounds, respectively, but their final matches didn't come easy. Reagan Milheim secured a last-second reversal on Southern Columbia's Mason Barvitskie, while Cameron Milheim bested Montoursville's Gage Wentzel in an ultimate tiebreak.

Overall, the Defenders advanced nine wrestlers to regionals after each earned a top-six finish. Despite that, Warrior Run wasn't able to defend its district title after coming up six points short against Montoursville. The Warriors won the District 4 crown with 163 points and had eight wrestlers finish in the top four.

Besides the Milheims, Max Wirnsberger (133), Tyler Ulrich (139), Eli Butler (160), Cole Shupp (172), Isaiah Betz (189), Connor Parker (215) and Stone Allison (285) will also move onto regionals for the Defenders.

"It just shows how well (Montoursville) and how well our kids wrestled and how well the other kids in the district wrestled that were scrapping for points and trying to find every place," said Warrior Run coach Jeremy Betz, who won the District 4 Coach of the Year on Saturday. "But to get nine to regionals, the third step of the trip and one step to states is almost crazy to think about."

Reagan and Cameron Milheim were the only two gold medalists from Warrior Run. Reagan Milheim fell behind 1-0 in his final after Barvitskie earned an escape early in the second period. From that point on, Milheim was searching to find his offense against Barvitskie. After Barvitskie initially wouldn't budge, Milehim got a reversal in the final second to win 2-1 in a rematch of last week's Southern Sectional title match.

"It's good for them to be able to be able to gut those wins out because when you get to the state tournament, things aren't gonna go your way in matches that you gotta a pull off a win to advance in the bracket," Betz said. "It's nice to be able to have that and have that background before you get to Hershey."

Cameron Milheim's win was just as dramatic as his brother's. His match with Wentzel went into overtime tied 1-1. After each wrestler scored a point, Milheim picked up a two-point nearfall in the ultimate tiebreak to pick up a 4-2 win, which got the crowd at the Magic Dome going.

It was Cameron Milheim's first district title after he finished as a runner-up in each of the last two years.

"I'm a pretty confident person — I don't doubt myself much," Cameron Milheim said. "But getting these gutty wins just shows a lot about myself."

Southern Columbia finished in sixth place with 74.5 points and advanced four wrestlers to regionals. Barvitskie, Rowen Humphrey (107), Garrett Garcia (189) and Jude Bremigen (285) will represent the Tigers next week at Williamsport.

Garcia was Southern's only gold medalist after he secured a 9-1 major decision against Towanda's Mason Higley in the final. It was Garcia's second district title and the first since his sophomore season two years ago. Garcia wasn't able to wrestle last season after he suffered an injury in the first game of football season that year.

Garcia improved to 27-0 on the season with the win.

"I would prefer not to wait, but this one feels pretty good because it's the last one," Garcia said. "It just felt good to get back out in front of this crowd. It's usually a fun crowd to wrestle in front of... It gives a little more goosebumps and prepares you for states."

Line Mountain finished right below Southern in the team standings with 72.5 points. The Eagles advanced Brock Rothermel (114), Nolan Baumert (139) and Dalton Schadel to next week's regional tournament.

Rothermel won a gold medal in his first district tournament as a freshman, defeating Canton's Lyle Vermilya in a 23-8 technical fall in a match that ended early in the third period.

"A big crowd like this, it's fun to score points and just staying relentless in pursuit of points," Rothermel said. "If you keep scoring, you're probably going to win."

Midd-West ended up in eighth place and will be bringing four wrestlers back to Williamsport next week. One of those wrestlers was Matthew Smith, who won the gold medal at 139. Evan Maneval (133), Grant Yount (172) and Bryce Hackenburg (215) will be joining Smith.

In a rematch of last year's district final against Ulrich, the pair were tied 2-2 until Smith finished with three consecutive points via a takedown and an escape to secure his second consecutive district title.

"It feels really good," Smith said. "I made some minor adjustments over the summer and really tried to get better at different things. I really feel like I'm doing a lot better than last year and I'm really grateful for that."

Mifflinburg took home ninth place with 66.5 points and will bring four wrestlers to regionals: Jack Gramly (107), Bradley Wagner (121), Ben Straub (127) and Lane Kenamond (133). Wagner and Straub each took home sliver medals while Gramly and Kenamond ended up in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Milton picked up 40 points, which was good enough for 13th place. The Black Panthers will be advancing three wrestlers: Ty Locke (121), Alex Hoffman (172) and Cale Bastian (215). Hoffman dropped a 2-1 decision to Montgomery's Caden Finck after Finck earned an escape in a tiebreak in the title match.

After winning both of his matches on Friday, Bastian suffered a minor injury and didn't wrestle at all on Saturday. As a result, Bastian had to take injury defaults on all of his matches and fell to sixth place, which was still good enough for a spot at regionals.

Lewisburg ended Saturday's matches in 15th place with 39.5 points and advanced two wrestles to regionals. Landon Michaels (121) and Landen Wagner will represent the Green Dragons at regionals.

Danville, Mount Carmel and Shamokin all saw their individual postseasons come to an end on Saturday.

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District 4 Class 2A Championships

Team key: Athens, Ath; Benton, Ben; Bloomsburg, Bloom; Canton, Can; Central Columbia, CC; Danville, Dan; Hughesville, Hugh; Lewisburg, Lew; Line Mountain, LM; Loyalsock, Loy; Midd-West, MW; Mifflinburg, Miff; Milton, Milt; Montgomery, Mtg; Montoursville, Mtv; Mount Carmel, MC; Muncy, Mun; Northeast Bradford, NB; North Penn-Liberty, NPL; Sayre, Say; Shamokin, Sham; Southern Columbia, SC; South Williamsport, SW; Sugar Valley Charter, SV; Sullivan County, Sull; Towanda, Tow; Troy, Tr; Warrior Run, WR; Wellsboro, Well; Williamson, Will; Wyalusing, Wy.

Team standings (top 10)

1. Montoursville, 163; 2. Warrior Run, 157; 3. Montgomery, 132.5; 4. Towanda, 96; 5. Canton, 79; 6. Southern Columbia, 74.5; 7. Line Mountain, 72.5; 8. Midd-West, 71.5; 9. Mifflinburg, 66.5; 10. Athens, 64.5.

Consolation first round

107: Bryce Pequignot, NPL, maj. dec. Curtis Maynard, Tow, 11-2; Seth Kolb, Ben, pinned Roman Maiorana, Mun, 3:56; Mason Alexander, NB, maj. dec. Mason Kerstetter, MW, 15-2; Rowen Humphrey, SC, dec. Ryan Kemock, WR, 7-0.

114: Mason Vanderpool, Ath, tech. fall Kaden Zachman, SC, 16-0 (4:31); Hunter Simonds, Will, pinned Tyler Stokes, Milt, 2:25; Aiden Hartman, Ben, dec. Nolan Altoft, 8-7; Porter Hall, Mtg, maj. dec. Jonah Caputo, SW, 19-8.

121: Cole Patrick, Wy, maj. dec. Ryan Aguirre, Mtv, 14-1; Brayden Pequignot, NPL, pinned Zaine Campbell, Ath, 2:28; Josh Hill, Mun, maj. dec. Victor Ottman, Mtg, 8-0; Landon Michaels, Lew, dec. Bradyn Schadel, LM, 4-0.

127: Seth McClintock, Mtg, dec. Lukas Carpenter, MC, 4-1; Kruz McCusker, Sull, dec. Gavin Hunter, WR, 4-0; Brayden Spencer, Tow, pinned Gavin Brown, SC, 4:18; Lucas Persun, Ath, dec. Hunter Comstock, NB, 6-4.

133: Karson Sipley, Ath, maj. dec. Keegan Bagley, Sull, 10-2; Carson Rockwell, Can, pinned Julius Serrano, Bloom, :50; Quinton Bartlett, Lew, dec. Jazick Brown, Can, 6-4; Lane Kenamond, Miff, maj. dec. Jarren McCloskey, 9-0.

139: Alex Hosler, CC, dec. Rylee Sluyter, Tow, 7-2; Dylan Brokenshire, Ben, pinned Jonathan Earle, Wy; AJ Kroft, Mtg, dec. Brendan Cooke, Ath, 7-2; Kile Hartman, Hugh, dec. Cohen Landis, Can, 6-2.

145: Chase Pensyl, Sham, pinned Riley Oakes, NPL, 1:56; Hayden Harvey, Mtv, maj. dec. Charley Paige, 9-0; Cooper Robinson, Ath, maj. dec. Cameron Quick, SV, 11-3; Nevin Beachel, Mtg, pinned Josiah Hosler, CC, :57.

152: Brennan Emery, Mtg, dec. Ben Miller, MC, 11-7; Dalton Schadel, LM, pinned Bryan Reeder, Miff, 2:20; Owen Cummings, Will, pinned Ethan Bartenope, SV, 3:58; Kenyan Slater, Tr, pinned Chase Geurin, Tow, 1:20.

160: Braden Vincenzes, Loy, pinned Jay Yount, MW, 4:34; Kohen Shingara, LM, pinned Connor Davidson, Ath, 1:18; Conor Knight, Hugh, pinned Jordan Brown, Say, 4:05; Jacob Hinman, Tr, dec. Sam Meloy, Dan, 6-3.

172: Jace Gunther, Tow, dec. Landyn Gephart, SW, 4-2; Easton Pequignot, NPL, won by forfeit; Owen Kleinman, Mtv, pinned Ryder Brown, Well, 2:56; Chase Wenrich, Lew, pinned William Steele, Tr, :55.

189: Maxim Johnson, LM, dec. Josh Worthington, CC, 3-2; Isaiah Betz, WR, dec. Cyrus Douty, 4-0; Coy Bryson, Mtg, tech. fall Reid Breidt, Tr, 15-0 (4:21); Joel Hultz, Will, dec. Jayden Hamm, 6-4.

215: Troy Raup, Dan, pinned Ben Freeman, Will, 2:51; Caleb Nason, Ath, pinned Owen Bird, SW; Bryce Hackenburg, MW, dec. Zack Lantz, Tow, 15-8; Reed Palmer, dec. Clayton Whitenight, CC, 1-0

285: Mason Harold, Can, pinned Maddox Lamas, MC, 2:18; Jude Bremigen, SC, pinned Luke Sottolano, Will, 2:56; Aiden Hilday, CC, dec. Ethan French, Loy, 5-3; Josh Nittinger, Ath, pinned Jackson Kauwell, LM, 2:08.

Semifinals

107: Teli Bobotas, Mtv, dec. Andrew Kapec, Sull, 8-2; Manny Stoltzfus, Mtg, maj. dec. Jack Gramly, Miff, 12-2.

114: Brock Rothermel, LM, pinned Tanner Vanderpool, Tow, 3:33; Lyle Vermilya, Can, maj. dec. Ivan Baker, Loy, 12-0.

121: Colton Wade, Sull, pinned Ty Locke, Milt, :35; Bradley Wagner, Miff, pinned Chase Shaner, Hugh, 5:42.

127: David Kennedy, Mtv, inj. default Kayvan Shams, SW; Ben Straub, Miff, dec. Anthony Barra, 9-6.

133: Brandt Harer, Mtg, tech. fall Evan Maneval, MW, 1:56; Max Wirnsberger, WR, dec. Blaize Vogel, Mtv, 8-1.

139: Tyler Ulrich, WR, dec. Nolan Baumert, LM, 6-1; Matthew Smith, MW, dec. Landen Wagner, Lew, 5-0.

145: Reagan Milheim, WR, maj. dec. Holden Ward, Can, 13-5; Mason Barvitskie, SC, dec. Riley Vanderpool, Tow, 10-4.

152: Cameron Milheim, WR, tech. fall Keagan Smith, Hugh, 25-10 (5:07); Gage Wentzel, Mtv, maj. dec. Ayden Hunsinger, Wy, 15-2.

160: Conner Harer, Mtg, pinned Eli Butler, WR, :17; Hudson Ward, Can, dec. Sam Persun, SW, 7-2.

172: Caden Finck, Mtg, dec. Cole Shupp, WR, 10-4; Alex Hoffman, Milt, dec. Grant Yount, MW, 5-0.

189: Garrett Garcia, SC, pinned Michael Davis, Can, 3:06; Mason Higley, Tow, dec. Kaden Rodarmel, Loy, 8-3.

215: Austin Johnson, Mun, pinned Connor Parker, WR, :23; Cole Yonkin, Mtv, won via forfeit vs. Cale Bastian, Milt.

285: Landon Morehart, Mtv, dec. Stone Allison, WR, 2-1; Sawyer Robinson, Tow, pinned Ryan Casella, SW, 5:54.

Consolation quarterfinals

107: Bry. Pequignot dec. Kolb, 4-1; Humphrey dec. Alexander, 6-5.

114: M. Vanderpool maj. dec. Simonds, 10-0; Hall dec. Hartman, 4-1.

121: Bra. Pequignot maj. dec. Patrick, 16-7; Michaels dec. Hill, 4-2.

127: McCusker dec. McClintock, 4-2; Persun dec. Spencer, 4-3.

133: Sipley dec. Rockwell, 7-4; Kenamond dec. Bartlett, 7-3.

139: Brokenshire dec. Hosler, 7-0; Hartman dec. Kroft, 1-0.

145: Harvey pinned Pensyl, 4:59; C. Robinson maj. dec. Beachel, 15-6.

152: D. Schadel pinned Emery, 2:21; Cummings pinned Slater, 1:50.

160: Vincenzes dec. Shingara, 3-2; Knight dec. Hinman, 6-2.

172: Gunther pinned E. Pequignot, :59; Kleinman dec. Wenrich, 9-6.

189: Betz dec. M. Johnson, 10-3; Bryson pinned Hultz, 3:49.

215: Nason pinned Raup, :46; Hackenburg pinned Palmer, 1:49.

285: Bremigen pinned Harold, :45; Hidlay dec. Nittinger, 4-2 TB2.

Consolation semifinals

107: Bry. Pequignot dec. Kapec, 4-0; Gramly pinned Humphrey, 3:53.

114: M. Vanderpool pinned T. Vanderpool, :50; Baker pinned Hall, 2:11.

121: Bra. Pequignot pinned Locke, 4:02; Shaner dec. Michaels, 3-2.

127: McCusker won via forfeit; Barra pinned Persun, 1:54.

133: Maneval pinned Sipley, 1:41; Vogel tech. fall Kenamond, 16-0 (4:19).

139: Baumert maj. dec. Brokenshire, 8-0; Wagner pinned Hartman, 4:04.

145: Harvey dec. Ho. Ward, 9-7; R. Vanderpool pinned C. Robinson, 1:34.

152: D. Schadel dec. Smith, 8-2; Hunsinger dec. Cummings, 8-7.

160: Vincenzes dec. Butler, 5-2; Persun dec. Knight, 7-3.

172: Shupp won via forfeit; Kleinman pinned G. Yount, :57.

189: Davis dec. Betz, 4-0; Rodarmel dec. Bryson, 6-5.

215: Parker dec. Nason, 4-1; Hackenburg won via forfeit.

285: Bremigen dec. Allison, 3-2 UTB; Hidlay won via forfeit.

Fifth-place matches (both advance to regionals)

107: Kapec pinned Humphrey, :34.

114: T. Vanderpool pinned Hall, 4:05.

121: Locke dec. Michaels, 6-4.

127: Persun won via forfeit vs. Shams.

133: Kenamond maj. dec. Sipley, 14-4.

139: Brokenshire maj. dec. Hartman, 9-1.

145: Ho. Ward maj. dec. C. Robinson, 13-0.

152: Smith dec. Cummings, 6-5.

160: Butler dec. Knight, 6-1.

172: G. Yount won via forfeit vs. Gunther.

189: Bryson dec. Betz, 4-3.

215: Nason won via forfeit vs. Bastian.

285: Allison won via forfeit vs. Casella.

Third-place matches (both advance to regionals)

107: Bry. Pequignot dec. Gramly, 6-1.

114: M. Vanderpool maj. dec. Baker, 10-2.

121: Shaner dec. Bra. Pequignot, 5-0.

127: McCusker dec. Barra, 6-4.

133: Vogel maj. dec. Maneval, 12-3.

139: Baumert dec. Wagner, 3-0.

145: R. Vanderpool dec. Harvey, 4-2.

152: Hunsinger dec. D. Schadel, 5-3.

160: Vincenzes dec. Persun, 5-2.

172: Shupp dec. Kleinman, 2-1.

189: Rodarmel dec. Davis, 9-3.

215: Parker pinned Hackenburg, 2:48.

285: Hidlay dec. Bremigen, 6-5 UTB.

Finals (both advance to regionals)

107: Bobotas maj. dec. Stoltzfus, 13-4.

114: Rothermel tech. fall Vermilya, 23-8 (4:17).

121: Wade dec. Wagner, 4-3.

127: Kennedy maj. dec. Straub, 15-5.

133: B. Harer dec. Wirnsberger, 6-2.

139: Smith dec. Ulrich, 5-2.

145: R. Milheim dec. Barvitskie, 2-1.

152: C. Milheim dec. Wentzel, 4-2 UTB.

160: C. Harer won by forfeit vs. Hu. Ward.

172: Finck dec. Hoffman, 2-1.

189: Garcia maj. dec. Higley, 9-1.

215: A. Johnson pinned Yonkin, :35.

285: S. Robinson maj. dec. Morehart, 12-3.

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