Senior Camden Baum and junior Greyson Music are two of the most experienced wrestlers on the Bishop McDevitt squad, and on Friday night, both came through when called upon.
The Crusaders were holding on to a five-point lead through 10 bouts when Baum (19-2) stepped up at 139 pounds and placed a technical fall on Montgomery’s Hudson Wolbert in two minutes to open a 10-point.
Music (29-3), next up at 145 points, wasted no time putting a headlock on Emmett Floch, pinning him in 30 seconds, to clinch an eventual 39-20 quarterfinal victory over Montgomery at the PIAA Team Wrestling Class 2A Championship at 1st Summit Arena in Johnstown.
“Lost a couple where we didn’t take any shots. You can’t win, it’s like a boxer going into a match and throwing no punches,” said Bishop McDevitt head coach Mike Nauman.
“As far as (Reynolds), they’re tough. We’re light up top, that’s our worst spot. We survived that pretty good. I thought we’d get beat up worse. We did what we had to do,” Nauman said.
Bishop McDevitt (17-0) will take on Faith Christian Academy (18-1) Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m., with the winner moving on to the 3 p.m. championship round.
Defending 2A champion Faith Christian Academy defeated Derry Area, 52-9, in its quarterfinal dual meet Friday night.
McDevitt is eager to avenge last season’s semifinal round loss to the District 1 powerhouse.
“They think they can beat them (Faith Christian,” Nauman said of his team’s mindset going into Saturday. “I’ve got a (107) pounder (freshman Jo Jo LaRocco) that would really help us but the PIAA, he should be cleared but he hasn’t been cleared yet. That’d really help us.
“But, the kids are up for the challenge. Last year was a good one. We lost two close matches, I think we lost by 10. Gotta survive up top again, without getting pinned. They’re really tough up top,” Nauman saaid,
Saturday’s other semifinal dual meet will feature Bishop McCort (14-0) against Chestnut Ridge (14-3).
HOW IT HAPPENED
McDevitt started out strong with bonus point wins from Nicky Negron (technical fall) at 160 and a fall by Johannes Giifol at 172.
Reynolds actually took a 14-11 lead after three bouts, buy Blake Klipp’s technical fall at 107 followed by a 43-second pin by defending state champion Braiden Lotier at 114, gave the Crusaders a 22-14 edge.
After a decision by Aiken Smith at 121, followed by Montgomery victories at 129 and 133 — Baum and Music took care of business and punched the Crusaders’ semifinal ticket.
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THEY SAID IT
“The kids have been talking about it all week, like, ‘Hey, we can do this.’ Gotta wrestle well, things gotta fall your way and you gotta wrestle,” — Bishop McDevitt head coach Mike Nauman.
“We’ve been thinking about (Faith Christian) all year, since last year even. We had a good match with them last year, we think we can have a better one this year. I’m excited. I have trust in every one of our guys. I think it’ll be a great match.
“It’s definitely gonna take a great team effort, everyone is gonna have to do their part. Big part of the team stuff is not giving up points, not giving up those pins, and getting bonus where you can. We’re going to have to be good there. That’s going to decide the match overall,” — Bishop McDevitt’s Easton Comp.
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BISHOP MCDEVITT 39, REYNOLDS 20
160: Nicky Negron (BM) tf. Elijah Miller, 21-6, 1:55
172: Johannes Gilfoil (BM) p. Chris Elliot, 3:27
189: Emery Johnson (RY) md. Ryan Lengal, 12-4
215: Rocky Floch (RY) md. David Smith, 11-3
285: Colton Tuner (RY) p. Christopher Thompson, 1:32
107: Blake Klipp (BM) tf. Nico Lamonte, 16-4, 2:00
114: Braiden Loiter (BM) p. Parker Grosse, 22-14
121: Aiken Smith (BM) d. Waylon Waite, 10-4
129: Logan Stewart (BM) d. Zane Crouse. 4-0
133: Camden Baum (BM) tf. Hudson Wolbert, 19-4, 2:00
145: Greyson Music (BM) p. Emmett Floch. 0:30
152: Easton Comp (BM) d. Grayden Gustner, 6-0