Whyte earns medal
West Greene junior takes fourth at PIAA wrestling championships
HERSHEY 无毛视频� Colin Whyte usually doesn无毛视频檛 wear his emotions on his sleeve, but after earning a victory in the quarterfinals and assuring himself a spot on the podium Friday in the PIAA Class 2A Individual Wrestling Championships, the West Greene junior had to let it out as he pointed into the stands at the Giant Center.
Whyte, who opened with a 4-1 decision over Luke Sottolano of Williamson, had just defeated Brookville无毛视频檚 Gavin Hannah, 9-6, to advance into the semifinals.
无毛视频淚t is just a moment (placing at the state tournament) I have been working for a long time,无毛视频� Whyte said. 无毛视频淟ast year, I lost in the blood round here, and my goal from there was to get back to states and get on the podium.无毛视频�
Whyte assured himself of at least sixth place in the state at 285 pounds, and wound up earning a fourth-place medal.
Whyte had a much better Friday morning after the quarterfinals, knowing he wasn无毛视频檛 going to be in a win-or-go-home scenario.
无毛视频淚 gained some experience wrestling in tense matches when I was in the blood round at Powerade,无毛视频� Whyte said. 无毛视频淭hat really helped me for tense matches here at the state tournament, but I think I will be a little more calm wrestling tonight knowing that I am going to place. I will just go out there and wrestle my match.无毛视频�
Whyte wound up fourth after dropping a 13-2 major decision to Faith Christian无毛视频檚 Mark Effendian in the semifinals, earning a 10-3 consolation win over Laurel无毛视频檚 Casey White and then suffering a controversial 4-3 loss in the consolation finals to Bishop McCort无毛视频檚 Caleb Rodriguez.
The match was tied at 1-1 when Rodriguez was awarded the takedown with 20 seconds remaining in the third period.
The Pioneers无毛视频� coaches protested the call, arguing that Rodriguez was out of bounds, but the takedown was awarded for a 4-1 advantage.
Whyte was awarded a penalty point and escaped to cut the deficit to one.
Whyte upped his high school career to 116-30 heading into his senior year.
Waynesburg Central senior Jake Stephenson went 1-2 at 189.
Stephenson opened with a 6-2 decision over Blue Mountain无毛视频檚 Bradley Renninger but then lost by 19-2 technical fall in 5:18 to Sun Valley无毛视频檚 Brandon Carr, then lost by fall to Kiski无毛视频檚 Mark Gray in 1:27.
Stephenson finished his career with an 80-42 record.