Parker Kearns celebrates with coach Tyler Bedelyon after defeating Meadville's Brighton Anderson 9-8 in the 152lb 3rd place match.

ALTOONA — Four Mifflin County wrestlers took the ultimate step on the tournament trail by earning a trip to Hershey on day two at the Northwest Regional Class 3A championships on Saturday.

Hunter Johnson (121), Avery Aurand (172), and Peyton Kearns (285) finished second, and Parker Kearns (152) took third to qualify for the PIAA Championships in two weeks at the Giant Center in Hershey.

It will be Johnson’s second trip to the Giant Center. For the others, this will be their first time. Johnson is a senior, Parker Kearns is a junior, and Aurand and Peyton Kearns are sophomores.

“Four is a great number. There are a lot of teams out there that would like to have four guys going to Hershey,” Mifflin County coach Kirby Martin said. “I’m super proud of them. I’m very thankful for this group and how they’ve stayed the course and worked really hard to get to this position.”

Junior Blake Aumiller just missed joining his teammates after finishing fourth at 133. The top three in each weight advanced.

Styers Oden (114), Kamden Everly (127), Jake Cunningham (145), Deakon Schaeffer (160), Gavin Mickey (189), and Truitt Davis (215) suffered losses in the consolations and saw their seasons end.

Johnson (19-3) earned his second trip to Chocolatetown with a 5-0 win over Erie Prep’s Keegan Oler in the semifinals. He forfeited to Williamsport’s Cael Nasdeo in the finals after re-injuring a hurt ankle in the semis.

“I’m excited. To get another opportunity to go back to the Giant Center. I sprained my ankle and re-aggravated it, stepping off the mat. I talked it over with my parents, and we thought it was the best decision to rest it so that I can be healthy for states,” Johnson said.

Aurand (24-12) beat Jacob Weaver of Central Mountain 3-2 in the semifinals. It was his fourth win over Weaver this season. The Husky sophomore dropped a tough 3-1 loss to State College’s Carter Weaverling in the finals. Weaverling countered an Aurand shot for the decisive takedown in the first period.

“If you had told me at the beginning of the season that I would be a state qualifier, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. This feels great. It’s the greatest feeling ever,” Aurand said. “I was light last year. I was 160 pounds, and I wrestled 172. That experience helped. It got me to where I am today.”

Peyton Kearns (10-5) continued his improbable run with a fall in 7:40 of the ultimate tiebreaker against Jack Sroka of Erie McDowell. The Husky hit a modified Peterson and got the fall over Sroka.

Despite popping out his shoulder in the semis, Peyton gave it a go in the finals and lost by fall to second-ranked Nick Pavlechko of State College in 1:56.

“I hurt my shoulder (in the semifinals), and they popped it back in. I had a bad muscle knot, and they were working on it. It’s feeling a little better now. It should be alright. I have two weeks to heal,” Peyton said. “It’s pretty exciting to be going to Hershey. Coming in here as a sophomore, I was a little nervous, but I was confident. I felt good coming in. It’s awesome going to states with my brother (Parker). I was happy to see him win.”

Parker Kearns (32-6) bounced back from his semifinal loss to Artis Simmons of McDowell with a 10-4 victory over Central Mountain’s Braylen Corter. The third-place match was the most exciting of the day, with Parker getting a reversal with only two seconds on the clock to defeat Meadville’s Brighton Anderson 9-8.

Anderson opened with a takedown, but the Huskie junior reversed him to make it 2-2 after one. The Meadville junior escaped and scored the first takedown before Parker escaped to set the score at 5-3 after two.

The third period alone was worth the price of admission. Parker chose down and got his second reversal to even it up at 5-5. Anderson escaped for one before Parker scored his first takedown to take a 7-6 lead with 1:16 left in regulation.

Anderson hit a picture-perfect switch with nine seconds on the clock for the 8-7 advantage. The Husky junior kept his composure and scored his third reversal of the match, near the edge, with just two ticks on the clock.

Exhausted from the effort, Kearns embraced assistant coach Tyler Bedelyon and celebrated his accomplishment.

“I had to stay calm. I knew my offense was better than that kid’s (Anderson). I knew if I kept attacking, I’d get a takedown,” Parker said. “It was tough early in the match, and then I gave up a reversal with nine seconds left. I looked up at the clock, saw the time, and said just get one, you need one, but I got the reversal.”

“It’s awesome. I know I’m the hardest worker there is, and it’s paying off. It’s awesome to be going to states with Peyton,” the Husky junior continued. “I’m super proud of him. I push him all the time. He’s really wrestled well.”

Aumiller (26-12) used his patented headlock to pin Javarie Blue of Erie McDowell in the consolation quarters. He followed up with a 7-4 win over Brady Moyer of Columbia Montour Vo-Tech in the consy semis.

The Husky lost a heartbreaker to Shikellamy’s Isaac McGregor for third by a 2-1 score. A takedown in the second period was the clincher for McGregor.

“He put together a good tournament. He’s wrestled McGregor before, and it wasn’t close. This one was close. He wrestled outstanding. He just couldn’t get that takedown,” Martin said.

Mifflin County finished fourth in the team race with 107.5 points. Central Mountain won the team title with 145.5.

The PIAA championships begin on Thursday, March 9.

Northwest Regional AAA Wrestling

Mifflin County results

Championship Round 1

114 — Luke Segraves (Williamsport) pinned Styers Oden, 0:43

127 — Kamden Everly pinned Cameron Suzensky (Obama Academy), 1:00

133 — Blake Aumiller pinned Khalil Collins (Obama Academy), 0:14

145 — Jacob Cunningham dec. Ryder Say (Meadville), 2-0

152 — Parker Kearns dec. Carter Wilson (DuBois), 7-2

160 — Deakon Schaeffer pinned Nathan Lundy (Williamsport), 2:18

172 — Avery Aurand pinned Jackson Raker (Williamsport), 1:09

189 — Gavin Mickey won by tech. fall over Etienne Mahano (Brashear), 17-1 2:00

215 — Slate Sechrist (Jersey Shore) pinned Truitt Davis, 2:46

285 — Peyton Kearns won by inj. default over Owen Vandruff (Jersey Shore), 0-0 2:37

Championship Quarterfinals

121 — Hunter Johnson major dec. Jordan Rutan (Punxsutawney), 12-0

127 — Sam Staab (Erie Cathedral Prep) dec. Kamden Everly, 5-0

133 — Brendan Orr (DuBois) dec. Blake Aumiller, 3-2

145 — Jordan Thompson (Bradford) dec. Jacob Cunningham, 8-6

152 — Parker Kearns pinned Brice Rowan (Punxsutawney), 2:38

160 — Connor Wetzel (Shikellamy) dec. Deakon Schaeffer, 3-2 UTB

172 — Avery Aurand dec. Owen Shetler (Erie Cathedral Prep), 3-1 SV

189 — Hadyn Packer (Jersey Shore) pinned Gavin Mickey, 1:47

285 — Peyton Kearns dec. Zach Gallagher (DuBois), 4-3

Consolation Round 2

114 — Tyler Boyle (Hickory) pinned Styers Oden, 4:33

127 — Kamden Everly pinned Stephen Ernst (Meadville), 1:30

133 — Blake Aumiller major dec. Alex Kinder (Meadville), 10-1

145 — Jacob Cunningham won by forfeit over Christian Hawkins (Obama Academy)

160 — Mitchell Baronner (Hollidaysburg) dec. Deakon Schaeffer, 3-2

189 — Gavin Mickey major dec. Isaiah Harrick (Erie Cathedral Prep), 10-0

215 — Truitt Davis major dec. Brenden Gioan (Hickory), 11-0

Championship Semifinals

121 — Hunter Johnson dec. Keagan Oler (Erie Cathedral Prep), 5-0

152 — Artis Simmons (Erie McDowell) dec. Parker Kearns, 3-1

172 — Avery Aurand dec. Jacob Weaver (Central Mountain), 3-2

285 — Peyton Kearns pinned Jack Sroka (Erie McDowell), 7:40

Consolation Quarterfinals

127 — Caleb Fasick (Altoona) dec. Kamden Everly, 7-2

133 — Blake Aumiller pinned Javarie Blue (Erie McDowell), 2:47

145 — Elijah Elser (Carrick) dec. Jacob Cunningham, 6-5

189 — Landon Martz (Punxsutawney) dec. Gavin Mickey, 11-5

215 — Rhoan Woodrow (Meadville) pinned Truitt Davis, 0:59

Consolation Semifinals

133 — Blake Aumiller dec. Brady Moyer (Columbia Montour Vo-Tech), 7-4

152 — Parker Kearns dec. Braylen Corter (Central Mountain), 10-4

Third Place

133 — Isaac McGregor (Shikellamy) dec. Blake Aumiller, 2-1

152 — Parker Kearns dec. Brighton Anderson (Meadville), 9-8

Championship Finals

121 — Cael Nasdeo (Williamsport) won by forfeit over Hunter Johnson

172 — Carter Weaverling (State College) dec. Avery Aurand, 3-1

285 — Nick Pavlechko (State College) pinned Peyton Kearns, 1:56

Team Standings

(1) Central Mountain 145.5, (2) State College 140.0, (3) Shikellamy 125.0, (4) Mifflin County 107.5, (5) Selinsgrove 102.5, (6) Erie McDowell 101.5, (7) Hickory 96.0, (8) Williamsport 91.0, (9) Erie Cathedral Prep 79.5, (10) Meadville 76.5, (11) Punxsutawney 66.0, (12) Altoona 64.5, (13) DuBois 61.0, (14) Jersey Shore 46.0, (15) Westinghouse 28.0, (16) Obama Academy 25.0, (17) Columbia Montour Vo-Tech 22.0, (18) Bradford 18.0, (19) Carrick 12.0, (19) Taylor Allderdice 12.0, (21) Hollidaysburg 9.0, (22) Brashear 4.0, (23) Greater Johnstown 3.0