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Bassett leads Mustangs to regionals

Sentinel photo by FRANK DIMON
Midd-West's Avery Bassett, right, collects the leg of Sullivan County's Nathan Higley during their 145-pound final at the District IV Class AA wrestling tournament on Saturday.

WILLIAMSPORT–Don’t expect Midd-West’s Avery Bassett to dwell on his Saturday night loss to Sullivan County’s Nathan Higley for very long.

Sure, championships are nice, but this time of year the real goal is to simply keep advancing on the road to Hershey and Bassett did that at the District 4 Class 2A wrestling tournament in Williamsport.

The relentless Higley converted three takedowns and countered Bassett’s attacks for an 8-4 decision in their 145-pound final at the Magic Dome in Williamsport. It was Higley’s first district title and made Bassett a runner-up for the second-straight year.

Still, Bassett moves on to the Northeast Regional tournament next weekend where he’ll face Lackawanna Trail freshman Seth Ross in the quarterfinals.

Also advancing for the Mustangs were freshman Conner Heckman, who was third at 113, and senior Carter Sauer who was fifth at 220. Heckman will wrestle Cael Davis of Hanover Area in his opening bout at the regional tournament while Sauer gets District 4 champion Cameron Wood of Montoursville.

Bassett reached the final with an 8-0 major decision over Southern Columbia’s Brandon Gedman but he had no answer for Higley who was ranked fifth in the state.

“Give credit to Higley,” Midd-West coach Dale Franquet said. “He has great hips and Avery was in on his leg a couple of times and couldn’t finish his shots. You can’t let (Higley) use his hips and (Avery) was caught off balance a couple of times. Avery will be fine. He won’t totally forget about this loss, but he’ll learn from it. He’ll bounce right back.”

In his first district tournament, Heckman gave No. 1 seed Gavin Bradley a good battle in the semifinals before falling, 14-9. Heckman advanced to the consolation final with a 4-3 decision over Dylan Granahan of Benton and then slipped past Kaden Majcher of Warrior Run, 6-4, for third place.

“Conner had a good weekend,” Franquet said. “He was a little out-matched in the semifinals and needs to make some adjustments for (Bradley). He’ll be ready to compete next weekend.”

Sauer bounced back from his Friday night loss to Wood with a 12-3 major decision over Alex Perex of Towanda and 9-6 win over Mifflinburg’s Quentin Doane. He fell to Benton’s Zach Poust, 3-1, in the consolation semifinals but pinned Trevor Williams in the third period to advance to extend his season.

“Carter had a good weekend,” Franquet said. “He’s staying in good positions and doing smart things.”

Southern Columbia ran away with its third-consecutive district champions with six champions and a pair of silvers. The Tigers topped Line Mountain, 205.5-155. Midd-West was eighth with 68 points.

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