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Mustangs send 10 to D4 titles

CATAWISSA — Wrestlers are dreamers.

They see no reason why it shouldn’t be them at the top of the sectional podium or winning a state title.

Midd-West’s Avery Bassett is one of those dreamers and he took another step toward fulfilling that dream Saturday night as the Mustang sophomore captured his second straight District 4 Class 2A Southern Section title in the Southern Columbia gym.

Bassett, now 29-1 on the season, joins nine other Midd-West grapplers who qualified for the District 4 Class 2A championships.

In a normal year, against normal competition, Midd-West would be celebrating a sectional championship. But there is Southern Columbia, which crowned seven champions and qualified the whole team — 14 wrestlers — for the eistrict event, which begins Friday in Williamsport.

Midd-West coach Dale Franquet was happy with his team’s effort.

“It’s hard to compete with a team that has 14 wrestlers. Two of the kids on the team are first year wrestlers. Ben Umstead, a first-year guy, got his first win today. He beat a kid who beat him and that’s a moment he’ll never forget. Overall I was happy with the kids. They battled, they hand fought. To come out of the Southern Section with 10 kids is a pretty good day.”

Bassett was the one Mustang who was on the top rung of the podium. Five others took silver medals, including Avery’s brother, Wyatt, at 152 pounds. Four other grabbed bronze as the Mustangs finished in second place in the team race with 199.5 points. Southern, the state’s team runner-up, won with 307 points, a record for the section.

It is also believed that it is the first time that a team has sent all members to district from the section.

Bassett’s dream includes a state championship and a college scholarship.

His second sectional title didn’t come easy in the final, which followed a pair of falls.

He led Mifflinburg junior Clayton Reed (29-4) 1-0 after a second period escape. Reed took neutral in the third and the score stayed for most of the third before Bassett hit a five-point move to secure the lead.

“It was a tough match. We call that a junk (the final takedown), “ Bassett said.

The Midd-West sophomore said he’s improved greatly since last year when he qualified for states.

“I think I’ve improved a lot. I’ve been in the weight room a lot and I’ve drilled a lot,” Bassett said.

Franquet agreed.

“Avery from last year to this year as far as improvement goes has been mentally,” the coach said. “Physically he’s gone from 126 to 138. He’s dangerous from all situations. When you wrestle a kid in the finals of the Southern Section and he doesn’t want to go on bottom shows that.”

Five other Mustangs just couldn’t come through in the finals. Avery’s brother, Wyatt, fell by fall at 152 to Shamokin freshman Maximus Madden. Bassett led throughout most of the bout but Madden rallied to get the pin late.

Other Midd-West runners-up were Ethan Zevan at 126, Kameron Kline at 145, Joshua Rodriguez at 160 and Owen Zechman at 285. Three of those lost to Southern Columbia wrestlers.

Finishing third were Aidan Steininger at 120, Joe Rodriquez at 182, Trey Lauver at 195 and Carter Sauer at 220.

District 4 Class 2A Southern Section

Key and team scoring and number advancing to District 4 championships: 1. Southern Columbia, SC 307, 14; 2. Midd-West MW, 10; 3. Mifflinburg, M, 117.5, 6; 4. Lewisburg, 109, L, 6; 5. Mount Carmel, 108, MC, 6; 6. Line Mountain, LM, 94.5, 4; 7. Milton, Milt, 92, 4; 8. Danville, D, 60, 3;9. Shamokin, S, 47, 1; 10. Sugar Valley Charter, SV, 17, 1; 11. Columbia-Montour Votech, 4, 0.

Championship finals

106 – Wirt, LM, dec. Wagner, L, 5-2. 113 – Gramly, M, dec. Biscoe, SC, 5-0. 120 – Crawford, Milt, dec. Krebs, SC, 9-2. 126 – Yoder, SC, maj dec. Zevan, MW, 14-2.

132 — Edmondson, SC, pinned Coller, LM, 3:30. 138 – Bassett, ME, dec. Reed, M, 6-0. 145 – Garcia, SC, pinned Kline, MW, 3:05. 152 – Madden, S, pinned Bassett, MW, 5:14. 160 – Linn, SC, dec. Rodriquez, MW, 6-2. 170 – Houdeshell, M, dec. Feese, LM, 6-4. 182 – Waltman, SC, dec. Weidner, MC, 11-4. 195 – Garcia, SC, pinned Aksenov, L, :07. 220 – Snyder, L, dec. Zachman, 2-1. 285 – Quinton, SC, pinned Zechman, MW, 3:05.

Consolation finals — third

106 – Johnson, D, dec. Feese, SC, 6-5. 113 – Leshock, LM, dec. Hopper, D, 11-4. 120 – Steininger, MW, dec. Bingaman, M, 4-0. 126 – Walter, Milt, pinned McDonald, MC, 1:36. 132 – Reed, MC, dec. Gessner, L, 7-3. 138 -Miner, SC, dec. Bartlett, L, 6-0. 145 – Gessner, M, tech fall Berkoski, MC, 15-0, 3:24. 152 – Miller, SC, pinned Valladares, Milt, 3:47. 160 – Carl, MC, pinned Sampsell, M, 2:44. 170 – Gedman, SC, pinned Backes, S, 2:13. 182 – Rodriquez, MW, dec. Dunkle, D, 6-3. 195 – Lauver, MW, pinned Tressler, SV, 1:30. 220 — Sauer, MW, won by injury default over Reed, MC. 285 – Rauch, Milt, de. Adams, L, 5.4.

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