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Bassett advances to states

WILLIAMSPORT — A tough opening round Friday night saw just one Midd-West wrestler advance to the semifinal round of the PIAA Class 2A Northeast Regional tournament Saturday in Williamsport.

Avery Bassett was that wrestler, and Saturday at Williamsport Area High School became the lone Mustang wrestler to advance to the PIAA State tournament next week in Hershey.

The road wasn’t easy for Bassett, who earned a fall at 126 pounds over Lake-Lehman’s Robert Long Friday night.

In his semifinal match on Saturday, Bassett dropped a close 3-2 decision to A.J. Burkhart of Athens, but bounced back in the consolation bracket.

Bassett wrestled another close match, but this time came away with a victory over Muncy’s Bryce Vollman via a 5-4 decision. The win put him in a third-place match with Warrior Run’s Jeremy Hanford — a place winner in the state tournament last season.

“Avery (Bassett) wrestled hard and deserves to move on,” Midd-West coach Dale Franquet said. “In a bracket that had two state place winners and two state qualifiers he had a really good weekend.”

In the third-place match, Bassett suffered an 11-6 loss to Wachter, but still qualified for the state tournament.

Midd-West nearly had a second wrestler advance to the state tournament in the 145-pound bracket where Noah Ettinger nearly fought his way back from an opening round loss.

Ettinger — who entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed — lost a close 11-10 decision in the opening round before topping North Penn-Mansfield’s Riley Walker 7-5 in the consi-quarters.

With a trip to Hershey on the line, Ettinger lost a close 4-2 decision to Benton’s Colton Babcock in the consolation semifinals. In his fifth-place bout, Ettinger bounced back and earned a quick fall. Hepinned Adam Roe of Blue Ridge in just 42 seconds.

Wyatt Bassett was also eliminated in the consi-semis at 152 pounds, dropping a 6-2 decision to Canton’s Timmy Ward.

“I really thought Noah and Wyatt had a good chance of getting to states,” Franquet said. “Noah had a tough loss last night and Wyatt just had a flat weekend.”

At 285 pounds, Owen Hosler fell to Valley View’s John Shnipes via fall in 36 seconds in consi-quarters to conclude his season.

“Overall it was a little disappointing,” Franquet said. “You want to see the kids that work as hard as these guys do get to states. Its just unfortunate that it didn’t work out for all of them.”

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